A ONE Institute
Apr 3, 2024
Course Rigor, AP questions, etc.
Today’s post is about course registration. As we approach the time to plan the schedule for the next semester, we have prepared today’s post based on various questions that are most frequently asked at our A-One Institute.
This is a time to answer the questions that you are most curious about when planning the schedule for the next semester/year.
Will it be okay if I take so many AP(IB) courses next semester?
Before I answer, let me ask you a question.
“If you go to a so-called prestigious university, you will have to take very difficult courses and the probability of dropping out will increase. "
"Would you still want to go to a prestigious university?”
What would you answer to this question?
Regardless of various situations, if you say “Yes! I will go to a prestigious university”, we recommend that you take many AP(IB) courses.
The reason universities look at transcripts is to evaluate how well the applicant has gone through the difficult process of high school. But what if you choose only difficult subjects and ruin your GPA, grades? If you don’t get good grades, admission to Top Tier universities or Top 20 may be difficult. But don’t be scared, apply and try to maintain good grades while digesting a tight schedule. That’s one of the processes of getting into a Top Tier university.
How many AP classes should I take?
If you search the internet with this question, you will find answers like Ivy League requires at least 8/ Top 20 requires at least 6/ Top 100 requires 4 to 8, etc.
However, this is the average value for the entire United States, so it is inappropriate to apply to Koreans.
Therefore, excluding these internet search results, I will tell you based on the admission results of our institute. It would be better to refer to the average number of APs of our institute students who have entered the Top 20 in the last 3 years.
Harvard 12.3 / MIT 12.4 / UPenn 11.8 / Brown 11.5/ Cornell 10.5/ NYU 8.5
If you are thinking about a prestigious university, you should refer to the average number of APs of our students and if you are not aiming for the Top 20, but thinking about a school outside the Top 50, it would be enough to take 1-2 APs.
Can I take an AP equivalent course from outside?
Do I have to take the AP exam in May?
To answer these questions at the same time, I created 6 situations.
AP taking in school & AP exam (4,5 points)
Taking an AP course in high school and scoring 4~5 points in the May AP exam is a very good case.
AP external course (course not available in school) & AP exam (4,5 points)
It can be seen as a good situation if you take an external course because the high school you are attending does not offer AP and get 4!% points in the May exam.
AP external course (course not available in school) & No AP exam
If you take an external course for a subject that is not open in school and do not take the AP exam, you can evaluate the student’s interests by looking at the record that the student took the course.
However, if you do not take the May exam, the admissions officer cannot verify the student’s ability, so you can only have doubts.
AP external course (course available in school) & AP exam (4,5 points)
If you take a course that exists in school from outside and get 4~5 points in the AP exam, From the perspective of the admissions officer, the applicant may have doubts about why the student took the course from outside, not his/her high school. It is not considered a very positive situation. But fortunately, if you say that you took the AP exam and got 4,5 points, you can somewhat understand the student’s interest and academic ability.
AP external course (course available in school) & No AP exam
If you take an AP course that is provided in your high school from outside and do not take the AP exam, it would be better to focus on something other than AP.
Only AP exam (4,5 points)
This is also possible. There are cases where you do not take a course and only take the AP exam. If the score is not bad, there is nothing to lose. Conclusion The conclusion is that if you do not take the AP exam, whether it is a course in school or a course not in school, the university does not see it as meaningful, and if you do not take the exam, you do not need to take the AP from outside.
Excluding the two cases where you do not take the AP exam, we have listed in order of what is generally considered good depending on the situation. We have marked the best cases in order as 1.2.3:
1- Received 4-5 points for AP taken in school
2- Finished the AP exam with a good score after taking an external course and showing objective criteria.
3- Whether you took an external course or just took the exam, you have proven your skills by taking the AP exam and receiving a relatively good score of 4-5 points.
In the case of taking AP externally, it can be divided into two cases.
• GPA can be combined
• GPA cannot be combined
If GPA can be combined, there is an advantage that if you get good grades, it can be combined with AP, which can have a good effect on the overall GPA.
If GPA cannot be combined, it can be considered an advantage that there is no minus factor even if the grade is bad when taking an external course.
Do I have to take English as AP even if my English is weak?
What we always emphasize at our A-One is the importance of English. Based on the results of our students, we investigated whether 30 students who entered the Top 20 took AP English. Looking at the statistics of 30 students who entered the top 20, we concluded that all successful students definitely took one of the two subjects, AP Lang and AP Lit. So if you are a student thinking about the top 20 including UCLA/UCB, regardless of STEM/Non-STEAM, it is good to take at least one of AP English lang or AP Lit!
Do I really have to do grade-skipping in math?
We often get questions about grade skipping in math, but if STEM is your goal for the Top 20, you should consider grade skipping.
But it’s not that we’re telling you to do grade skipping unconditionally, but students who want to major in STEM according to the school schedule should see if they can take at least AP Calculus BC, and if they are Non-STEM students, they should see if they can take at least Minimum Pre-Calculus and make a decision. If the minimum standard is met, you don’t need to skip grades, but if it’s hard to reach the minimum subject in 12th grade, it would be good to plan to skip grades using summer!
What should I do if I messed up my GPA in 10th (or 11th) grade?
If your GPA is not good only in that grade and it goes down on the graph, you’re in big trouble!
Sometimes there are cases where students overcome the weaknesses of GPA and get admitted to prestigious universities, but if your GPA noticeably drops in 10th (or 11th) grade, it is not a situation that Top 20 universities would accept. In the end, adjusting your eye level is a wise way.
Therefore, you must thoroughly manage not to ruin your GPA in even one grade! I’m conflicted between a general class related to the major I’m going to choose vs an AP class that’s not really related to the major I’m going to choose.
Since there is no correct answer to this question, if I were to give my personal opinion, it would be as follows. If the AP subject you need to choose is a Core subject, it would be good to choose AP even if it has nothing to do with the major, and if the AP subject you need to choose is an Elective subject, you can take the major-related subjects you think regardless of the major. There may be those who disagree with today’s content. This is because a few students have created exceptional cases.
It is true that there are exceptional students, such as those who have been admitted to prestigious universities despite ruining their GPA and those who have not been admitted to the university they want despite very good conditions. However, these exceptional situations blur the clarity of judgment, so today we spoke based on the cases of students who generally entered the Top 20. Please remember that.
Based on our conversation, we hope you have received help in selecting classes for the new semester/year, and we will conclude today’s posting.
Thank you.