Do colleges care about AP coursework?Answered
Hey !!
I’m a high school junior currently with a 4.0 GPA and 1540 SAT… I’m really concerned though because I want to go into political science but I only have credit for IB American history and AP european history, with no experience in AP gov, politics or law. Does anyone know if that will hinder me in admissions? I don’t even know if colleges consider these types of things 😅
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2 answers
AP and IB courses are important. These courses contribute to the coursework/course rigor factor which is important to schools because it shows schools that you are ready for college and will succeed. Don't worry too much because college takes into account the school you go to and what courses are offered. If your school offers 2 AP courses and you take both of them you aren't at a disadvantage to someone who took 4 at a school that offers 12. That being said if you are being offered all of these courses and you elected to only take 2 then you might be in trouble. Long story short: Take all of the opportunities that you can to show that you are a dedicated student, but if you don't have these opportunities don't worry too much.
Colleges use IB & AP coursework as a way of seeing if you challenged yourself and if your up to the challenge that is college. If your school only offers the APs that you took then colleges will recognize that you took the hardest challenge you could. Assuming your school didn’t offer an immense amount of APs, your coursework should not hinder your admissions. If it still worries you, then try finding another way to demonstrate that you challenged yourself.
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My school offers a lot of AP and IB courses, I ended up doing the IB diploma but I still have some AP credits, I hope that’s rigorous enough… sometimes I wish I could go back in time and take more APs instead of electives as a freshman and sophomore 😅