Just to let you know (you probably do, but I’ll say it anyways), AP courses are year-round, so it is rather difficult to add one to a high school schedule for a second semester if you did not take it the first one (plus, my school had summer assignments for AP courses, so it was an all-or-nothing commitment).

Other than that, you gave some wonderful points! Definitely think that the earlier you work on an assignment, the better.

One more thing I want to add for those upcoming high school students out there: if you feel up to it, start taking AP courses in your freshman year (at least ones that don’t have any prerequites). I never did, but I think it would have helped tremendously in getting me some more credit for college. Plus, I would have felt less stressed about how many AP courses I had to take while in high school and would have been forced to learn how to study for AP courses earlier. In the end, you’re the only one who can decide your schedule, but definitely think about it. (You can always talk to counselors and teachers if you want advice!)

I share your amazement at the number of APs that some students appear to have room for in their schedule. I teach at a very highly-rated private school with a strong college admissions record, and it’s most unusual for our students to take more than 3-4 AP courses in a single year. As an AP teacher myself, I’ve had the responsibility of guiding students in making decisions about their courseloads, including occasionally counseling them to cut down on their activities (sometimes a sport, sometimes my own course). I’d be interested to hear more of the specifics from those students who are taking 6-9 AP courses.

I’d like to think that, when it comes to admissions, there is some awareness of the dangers of overload. The reality appears to be, however, that colleges give preference to students who can do it all: excel at a very high academic level, write amazing application essays, edit the school newspaper, volunteer at a local hospital, hold down a part-time job, tutor fellow students in AP Calculus, be captain of the soccer team, play in the school orchestra, and intern at a local research facility.

There may be comfort in finding the use of the word “balance” on some Letter of Recommendation forms. Perhaps some colleges and universities are starting to understand that a student’s ability to balance the commitments in his or her life is an important skill, and one that may have a significant impact on success in school.

We can hope!

Thanks again for your excellent blog. It has become a valued part of my regular online reading.

I think we have to be fair, though, in acknowledging that taking AP courses, when they are suitable to a student’s abilities and level, give that student an advantage when it comes time to college admissions.

I respect your insight; especially coming, as it does, from the perspective of a high school teacher who deals with these students daily. I think this caveat is crucial.

What I worry about — and I would be interested in your more experienced take — is the idea that overload impresses colleges. That is, students who sign up for 6, 7, or even, as someone just e-mailed me, 9 A.P.s at once, simply because they think — mistakenly, I hope! — that the sheer craziness of this volume is for some reason really impressive to colleges. There are few students that I know who could handle this much load without serious sacrifice, and it’s unclear that the jump from 2 – 3 A.P.s to 6 – 9 makes a big difference in high stakes admissions, where academic stardom alone cannot earn admission in a crowded field.

… at some point, high school students collectively decided that the more A.P. courses you take at once, the better your chances of getting accepted at a top college. This is masochistic nonsense. It has no basis in the reality of how admission decisions are made.

While the mysterious and arcane details of the college admissions process are somewhat hidden from us, common sense and my conversations with college admissions officers suggest that a student from High School X who takes significantly fewer AP courses than other students at that school will be judged accordingly. And regardless of the number of AP courses taken, admissions decisions ARE based on Grade Point Average, which is in turn based in part upon the enhanced grades available to some students in their AP courses.
As a teacher at a high school where many of our students do tend to take more AP classes than their schedules allow, I’m absolutely sympathetic to this concerns regarding balance, and appreciate your addressing this issue. I think we have to be fair, though, in acknowledging that taking AP courses, when they are suitable to a student’s abilities and level, give that student an advantage when it comes time to college admissions.
Respectfully, it would be disingenuous to suggest otherwise.

And taking too many AP courses won’t get you into Harvard either. My friend had an AP laden schedule and was in the top ten, but he was rejected by Harvard, and every other ivy league school he applied to. Your extracurricular activities/achievements have nearly the same value as grades and SAT scores when applying to top colleges.

I agree that 7 is too much, but while you are doing well you should also push yourself a little,perhaps 3 or 4 AP’s in my opinion.

Okay, okay, you might be right. Certainly under the right conditions 3 could be perfectly manageable. I might be going for a bit of shock value here; trying to jolt some students out of the mindset that it’s not the specific courses, but the overall impression given by having a crazy amount of courses that is important.