AP LIT vs CC English course vs 4 year for Ivy AdmissionsAnswered
The AP Literature class at my school is really hard and I doubt my ability to succeed there. As an alternative, I have been looking into doing an English course at a college. I feel that a Community college course instead of AP Lit does not present well. Would it be better to take an English class at WashU or another 4 year college?
My target schools are NYU, Georgetown, and USC and I plan to premed and major in Epidemiology/ public health/ genetics.
For reference, I am a junior and I will have taken a total of 9 AP classes by the time I graduate and my school offers 23. I will also have taken 6.5 weighted classes in addition to the APs. I am President of our HOSA chapter, President and Founder of GirlUp M.A.D. (Focused on social justice in our community), President of Junior Class Officers, Director of Outreach at a Girl empowering medical nonprofit (Girls for Med), and member of NHS. I also have won the Collegeboard National Recognition Program and am expected to be a NMSQT commended scholar. My current ACT is a 30 form sophomore year, but I am awaiting results from the December test and expecting a 34. I am a lacrosse goalie and play JV tennis. I also founded a Gen Z targeted public health podcast and am in search of a research position.
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2 answers
I would opt in for AP Lit versus a community college course because otherwise the colleges you are applying to will see this as taking the path of least resistance versus challenging yourself with the hardest available APs that your school offers, (which is always preferred over dual enrollment).
The ability to excel that expository writing is a skill that will serve you well no matter what your major is and that most successful admits have AP Lang and AP Lit under their belts. But you already know that.
As an alternative I would look into not taking a CC course but an actual college level writing course at a Top50 school. But honestly I do not think those will be any easier or have less of a work load. Plus if you took a basic English course at WashU, your parents would be out $6,780 or $9,040 depending on whether it was a 3 or 4 credit class plus you have to pay registration and activity fees. There is no guaranty that NYU, Georgetown or USC would transfer these credits or exempt you from their core English classes either. That seems like a very risky expensive proposition just to get out of taking AP Lit.
Of course the choice is yours and if your parents have the means to accommodate the cost, well that's their choice to make as well.
Good luck.
So I'm a senior that just finished AP Lit. My personal experience (with a sibling attending Emory and good support at school) concludes that taking an AP class is your better bet. I personally was afraid to take the course, but I know that how well I did isn't what shows; what shows is me taking on a challenge and doing my best. I also know that some colleges/universities won't take CC course credits because unlike AP, it isn't a standardized curriculum. For instance, my CC English class that my school offers is far less enriching than the AP class. It's essentially English 101 when someone like you, who seems to be doing very well in school, should be in at least English 201 (emphasis on at least).
Essentially, consider your GPA, if those schools will take CC credits, what scores those schools will take on your AP test, and the coursework for the classes you're considering.
In terms of taking a class at somewhere like WashU or another 4y college, I'm not sure about that realm of possibility. If another person on this forum can't help you out with that, possibly ask your school counselor (if possible) or maybe email the schools directly?
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Thanks for your input!! Considering what you both said, I'll probably just take AP LIt.