My school does not offer AP courses :(Answered
I am an Indian and my school does not offer any AP courses. Also there is no test center in my city. Currently I am in standard 10th. I am a top achiever of my school and want to pursue my university education from US. Please Help.
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3 answers
I am about to graduate this year from an Indian high school and my school too didn't offer any AP courses. It is not necessary that your school must offer AP courses. If you are going to study 11th and 12th grade in India(especially if you aspire for a career in STEM), you will definitely have coursework more rigorous than most AP classes. Universities in US have regional admissions counselors who are aware of the curriculum of the areas they have been allocated. They will consider your situation.
You do not need to take an AP class to give AP exams, though you may need to join an AP class just for registration purposes.
If you are planning to use AP credits to increase your admission chances, you will have to take AP exams before beginning 12th grade(since AP exams are conducted only in May). I am going to give the AP in India and know that it is expensive, which can seem like a demerit(I had to pay Rs. 18,000 per AP exam), but it is worth it because earning the same amount of credit while at a university would be even more expensive. You can yourself google "cost per credit hour at (name of university you wish to attend)" to see the benefit of APs. I don't know which city you are from, but if I'm not wrong, there must be another city in your state with a test center. If you are really eager, you can try giving your AP exams over there.
Moreover, you should check the required AP score to earn credit at various universities at https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/getting-credit-placement/search-policies.
As compared to AP, SAT/ACT is a more relevant factor that can increase your admission chances. You should consider giving the SAT, which surely has more test centers than AP. You will be applying for Fall 2024; many universities may not extend their test-optional policy till then, so it would be a good idea to give the SAT/ACT.
To know the differences between SAT/ACT, read the following:
https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/global/International-ACT-SAT-Comparison.pdf.
I hope the answer helps.
Most colleges in the US will evaluate your high school performance based on what was offered at your high school. So if you don't have APs, don't worry! Just make sure that you're taking the highest level courses offered at your school (honors, IB, etc) and you'll be fine. Also, if you're able to take dual-enrollment courses at your local community college, that will greatly up your desirability to colleges. But again, if you don't have those then just do the best that you can with the resources that you've been given. It sounds like you're already doing well since you're at the top of your class, so keep it up!
Colleges also really like seeing that you're involved outside of the classroom. If you're able to volunteer, do research, get a job, play sports, etc they really want to hear about that. Good luck!
Colleges will look at the aps offered by your school, so don't worry too much about that, and if you can't take the sat a lot of schools are test optional, or you could look for testing sites elsewhere.
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