studying abroad, for one semester Options

[pink.x.r0se]

so i'm studying in a different country for half the school year next year (my junior year), so i can't take any ap's. my guidance counselor told me that that's okay, and that going to study abroad will look so much better in my college search (i want to get into a really good college, preferably ivy league). However, my friend is insisting to me that i basically won't get into college because of lack of ap's.
what do you think?

-edit-
i've taken two ap's from freshman/sophomore year, and am planning to just take more senior year

[Glamourouz]

You don't necessarily have to take AP's just to get into college...study abroad is great & does look good...colleges just want well rounded individuals plus your grades & test scores matter...but they look at the whole picture, so you should be fine

[Comptine]

Although having many AP credits would benefit you because it places you out of certain courses in college. It also boosts your standing. If you have enough credits from APs, you can have a higher class standing. Example: my friend is in his freshman year in college but he has a sophomore standing. Not only do you get to register for classes earlier than the rest of your year but you also usually get better housing options. You also don't have to take an icky intro courses.

Studying aboard isn't something everybody gets to do. It's expensive and very time consuming. I think you should do it.

You could always take APs during senior year. Most colleges like at least 2-4 APs in your curriculum. I did both my APs in my senior yera. And you don't necessarily have to take the course to take the AP exam (which is what gives you the credits). A guy in my high school took like 12 APs and aced all of them. But he didn't take the classes for some. You can just study the material on your own and then go take the exam (I think that's allowed in most schools). I wouldn't advise that though.

[misoshiru]

if you're looking to go to an Ivy League, APs are pretty much a requirement. It's not impossible to get in without APs, but it's definitely so much harder.

[ersatz]

You'll be fine; they'll understand why you didn't take them at that time.

[*paperplane*]

If you weren't taking any, it's be another story, but if you still take a decent amount it shouldn't be a big deal. My school didn't offer AP's for freshman or sophomore when I was an underclassmen, and I still had friends get into Ivies. If they can overlook it because of a lack of school offerings, they'll overlook it because of a lack of being in the country.

[Just_Dream]

Studying Abroad also looks really good, as you can put it in your college application essays and stuff. I mean, if you have the money to do it, and it's ONLY FOR A SEMESTER, why not?

I plan to study aboard during college, but IDK when I'll exactly do it yet.

[misoshiru]

^2 but most people aren't allowed to take APs until their junior/senior year.

[Comptine]

It depends on your school really. There are sophomore level AP classes. My school made up APs because the actual original ones filled up so quickly.

Instead of AP English, I had AP Ancient and Moderns. Took the same test as the next AP English person but my books were completely different and my teacher was awesome.

[*paperplane*]

Then this girl shouldn't worry if she's already taken some, I guess. I figured it wasn't abnormal to take APs a freshman or sophomore, since my high school has been offering some to them the last couple of years.

[misoshiru]

I took APs my sophomore year, but for most of the IB/AP classes, freshmen were definitely not allowed and only probably 2 were opened up to sophomores because of requirements.

[*paperplane*]

I think they've gotten rid of it again, but AP human geography was available for freshman for a year or two. Typically AP world is offered for sophomores too, but hardly anyone could take it because the people who were interested were all tied to pre-IB (or were like me and had band the one period it was offered). There may be more now, but I have no idea.

[Just_Dream]

^ Well, things might be different now. I know that recently more and more classes at my high school give GPA boosts on the 5.00 weightedscale instead of 4.00 scale. This includes honor classes. But the only two classes that I know that I could have taken if I was a sophomore is AP Spanish, AP European History or AP World History. I didn't take Spanish because I was a year behind in Spanish, so I took my third year of spanish my sophomore year, but my friend took AP Spanish (4th year of spanish) during her sophomore year.

As for AP European History - only students in a seminar program (20 students) were allowed to take it during their sophomore year. AP World History was offered when I was a Junior, but by then I was taking APUSH and I took honors world history during my sophomore year. So I couldn't go back and take that AP World History class. :[

[Comptine]

I say: Don't listen to your friend. Go aboard. Senior year, take APs, which a lot of people do. I had a friend who took like 6 APs senior year. APs are just like any other class. It just gives you extra credit for college if you do well on the exam. Most colleges, even Ivies, don't ask for more than 2-4. For them, for APs, it's not quantity but quality. They want to see that you do well. If you can fit at least 2 in there, you're pretty much set for a lot of top tier schools. Especially if they are big APs like AP Calc, APUSH, AP Bio/Chem.

[misoshiru]

^ Well, things might be different now. I know that recently more and more classes at my high school give GPA boosts on the 5.00 weightedscale instead of 4.00 scale. This includes honor classes. But the only two classes that I know that I could have taken if I was a sophomore is AP Spanish, AP European History or AP World History. I didn't take Spanish because I was a year behind in Spanish, so I took my third year of spanish my sophomore year, but my friend took AP Spanish (4th year of spanish) during her sophomore year.

As for AP European History - only students in a seminar program (20 students) were allowed to take it during their sophomore year. AP World History was offered when I was a Junior, but by then I was taking APUSH and I took honors world history during my sophomore year. So I couldn't go back and take that AP World History class. :[

wth? your gpa was out of a 5.0 scale? we could add 0.5 to whatever grade we took for honors/AP/IB, but it was still out of a 4.0 scale.

[*paperplane*]

^ Well, things might be different now. I know that recently more and more classes at my high school give GPA boosts on the 5.00 weightedscale instead of 4.00 scale. This includes honor classes. But the only two classes that I know that I could have taken if I was a sophomore is AP Spanish, AP European History or AP World History. I didn't take Spanish because I was a year behind in Spanish, so I took my third year of spanish my sophomore year, but my friend took AP Spanish (4th year of spanish) during her sophomore year.

As for AP European History - only students in a seminar program (20 students) were allowed to take it during their sophomore year. AP World History was offered when I was a Junior, but by then I was taking APUSH and I took honors world history during my sophomore year. So I couldn't go back and take that AP World History class. :[

That seems silly, because most schools are just going to recalculate the GPA anyway and disregard weighting for honors classes. I would have actually had a really good GPA if we weighted those, because that was the lowest level class I ever too. We were still technically on a 4.0 scale, it was just possible to get over a 4.0; it didn't raise the limit to 4.5 or 5.0

I couldn't go back to AP world either, and had to take APUSH as a junior. It was okay, though, because I just took the pre-IB world history class (usually for freshman) as a sophomore as gifted world history; that actually worked out well, because my class was tiny and fun.

[Just_Dream]

Well, for the weighted scale, my high school calculated AP classes (and some honor ones) on a 5.0 scale, but 4.0+ still meant an A+. Unweighted made my GPA 3.97 or something, but weighted gave me a 4.4.

My class valedictorian had something like 4.67 on the weighted scale. Although I'm not sure on the recalculation thing you're talking about, Nicki.

YanYan - wtf, so the max anyone could get is 4.0, even for weighted gpa? Eeek. But you did go to an International School ;]

[misoshiru]

well. max was 4.5, but no one every got that close. the most people would get would be 4.1s, but, idk, i never thought of it as out of a 4.5 scale.

[*paperplane*]

I guess it was 5.0 in that we could get 5.0 in a class, but it was impossible to get that as a GPA. I don't know what our valedictorian god.

Christina, I'm talking about how schools will look at your transcript with your GPA, and then calculate their own GPA for you anyway. Like some schools in my area weighted honors classes, but UGA would recalculate it with only APs weighted.

I think that's what I mean. Doesn't matter, we're past that

[aaayotiffany]

you don't need a lot of ap's to get into college. there's a lot of people out there who haven't taken any ap's and gotten into decent colleges. it would look great on your transcripts because it boosts your gpa like crazy. but if you're doing study abroad, it'll look good too because that means you have connections/experience working in a new environment... and all that stuff. lol.

[misoshiru]

well, the girl wants to go to an Ivy. there is NO way that she'd be able to get into an Ivy without ever taking APs.

[Rachel]

well, the girl wants to go to an Ivy. there is NO way that she'd be able to get into an Ivy without ever taking APs.

She has taken AP classes already. Girl has nothing to worry about. Plus, a lot of colleges have a limit on how many AP credits they'll take and have specific ones.

[misoshiru]

She has taken AP classes already. Girl has nothing to worry about. Plus, a lot of colleges have a limit on how many AP credits they'll take and have specific ones.

I was responding to what the girl above me had written. Yeah, my college doesn't even accept AP credits, and only when they do, it has to be a high 5. But AP classes and scores on trancscripts are important because Ivies want to see that you've pushed yourself to the max and can still get good grades.

[karmakiller]

I think that if you've already taken some AP classes you shouldn't worry too much. Not too many people get the chance to study abroad, so do it while you can. The experiences you have are well worth it.