Maitrayee Dhaka | February 16, 2009
"How Many APs Have YOU Done?"
I like numbers. I use them a lot. I associate very specific colours and other random things with numbers (4 is green, 2 is red, 13 is mustard, 9 is N etc.). I like them.
But I get a little annoyed with people talking about SAT scores being "not good enough", because after taking the SAT Reasoning and Subject Tests more than twice, I firmly believe that all ETS tests, is how good you are at surviving 4 hours on a Saturday, in a room that either has no air-conditioning, or air-conditioning that freezes your blood. So, if you think you are stupid because you got below an 800 in Writing, or Math or Critical Reading, you really are stupid to think that.
What really pisses me off, is when people ask me the number of APs I've taken. I'm fine if you ask me "Hey Tree, which APs are you taking this year? Are you finally taking Chem?" or "You did *Name of AP Subject* right? Can you help me out with it?" or "Did you like *Name of AP subject*?". You can even ask me to name all the APs I'm taking. But count them? Jeez, no.
A phenomenal number of people do this, even those from whom you don't expect this sort of triviality, and it annoys me. Why? Well, for one, no matter what you believe, I didn't take APs because I wanted to appear to be smart or cool or nerdy. I took them because I loved what was taught and the way it was done, even if it meant reading out of the Barron's Calc BC book because I didn't understand the 'different' methods my tutor used. In Junior Year, there was a massive jump in the level of difficulty of the Science curriculum when compared to the tenth grade. Yet we were being prepared for The Boards (ask any Indian student what it means and you will suddenly see fear on their faces), where rote-learning did the trick. I can't rote-learn, despite what some of my classmates believe. I can't mug equations and paragraphs and vomit them on paper. Barring Physics, I hated every subject in Junior Year. In Senior year, we were expected to rote-learn for every subject, even Physics, so I even stopped liking that, although the ISC curriculum is not a bad one. It's just, the way it's done isn't nice.
I took three APs in addition to the ISC curriculum in the beginning of senior year. No one in the history of the four year-old AP Program in my school had taken more. AP Mech was awesome, Calc BC made me like math, and CompSci AB was taught beautifully. I didn't take English AP. I liked English, but I wasn't sure I wanted to spend five more hours in class during weekends, and hours at home for assignments. One day, I saw one of my friends doing an English AP assignment; it was a critical appreciation of Auden's "If I Could Tell You". I read the poem. I read it again. Next day, I enrolled for AP English.
This raised a lot of eyebrows. It took me a while to convince my AP Coordinator to let me take English AP. People took a sudden interest in my well-being and suggested that I don't take "Five APs". No one in my school had taken so many ever before. Obviously, it was unacceptable, right?
Soon enough, I was "The girl who's taking FIVE APs". It really really annoyed me. I was fine with people telling me I wouldn't do well in a certain subject, but when the number of APs came up, I couldn't stand it. It just lowered the value of the subjects I was taking. It was demeaning. I liked APs. I was fiercely protective of them--I would wait for school to end and AP classed to start. It pissed me off.
The year passed, and the AP exams ended. I didn't finish them as well as I would have wanted because I was terribly sick, but I never, for a moment, regretted taking the APs. After the results came out, people still talked about the score and the number of exams. But it didn't matter anymore to me. I learnt so much more than I would have otherwise. And about English AP? I believe it was the best decision I took, after choosing to do APs.
I see a lot of people, applicants, parents and counselors worrying about the number of APs someone needs to take to 'get into college'. You don't need to. You don't need to take APs to get into college. Take them because you like the subject or the way it is taught. Don't think about the number of credit hours a college will give you because you took 7 APs. I know it's a Standardized Test in the end, but the classes are truly awesome. If you like to challenge yourself, and APs aren't available, don't think you won't get into college. There are so many ways in which you can challenge yourself. But if they are available, and you think you'd like to try it out, go ahead and give it everything you've got.
I'm redoing an exam I did badly in last year. My APs probably add up to five again, I really don't know. I learnt so much from the APs that I can't even explain.
A very smart man once said "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." The number of APs doesn't matter) and the same goes for any subject you do or any challenge you take up). Whether you love them, does. To a lot of people, the former matters. For me, the latter does. Which one matters for you?
*After note: feel free to ask me any questions that you might have about me, APs or anything you thought about because of this post. Any question. Except for "How many APs (did you)/(should I) take?" (I'm not joking about this.)*
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The author has filed this entry in the, "Admissions Statistics", "Requirements", "What we look for in Applicants" section; check it out for further reading on this topic. |
Responses To This Entry:
12 AP tests.
Taking 7 in my senior year was the worst mistake of my life. Seriously; totally unnecessary.
Posted by: JWC '12 on February 16, 2009 11:02 AM
i didn knw aps r available in india... atleast not in kolkata.... do schools provide this opportunity or u need to go somewhere else?
Posted by: rankeya on February 16, 2009 04:02 PM
My school is one of the five centres in India.
Posted by: Tree on February 16, 2009 04:02 PM
HAHAHAHAH I had the same story! I kept really quiet about it at first because I kind of knew what would happen. But then my math teacher found out, and he never keeps his mouth shut about anything, so he basically told the entire class how many AP's I was taking which caused a big ruckus of questions like "OMG WHAT'S YOUR SAT SCORE?!" to which I usually replied "What's yours?" and then after they'd answer, I'd tell them mine was lower, which it actually was in almost every case (else, I'd have to say "not much higher" and wince).
I took SAT's once and was like psshh, I'm done.
Posted by: Reena on February 16, 2009 06:02 PM
I took 5 in total from sophomore to senior year. BC Calc is not making me hate math but it's not really making me like it either, mainly because I'm more concerned with my end of year grade instead of actually understanding the material. The formulas all start to look the same after a while especially when you are stressed and having a teacher who doesnt believe in grading curves really puts you at a disadvantage when you dont study as much as you should. I think I'm ready for college now so this AP/SAT hype can be over.
Posted by: Mells on February 16, 2009 07:02 PM
ACT FTW!!
Posted by: Matt A. on February 16, 2009 09:02 PM
@ Matt A. *high fives!*
Posted by: Mark on February 16, 2009 11:02 PM
So you're Tree? Awesome!
(I did 14 APs. All I have to say now that I regret donating $83 x 14 to Collegeboard. Imagine how many hungry kids that can feed. (and I'm being totally serious))
Posted by: Oasis ´11 on February 17, 2009 01:02 AM
I agree Chris. Hah... I didn't take any!
Posted by: Ahana on February 17, 2009 03:02 AM
@Oasis
Yeh. I'm Tree :)
Fourteen APs? How many did you like? lol.
Imagine how much $83x14 could feed YOU! lol.
@Mells
I know how you feel. I ended up like that in the middle of the year. But trust me, take time to like Calc BC and it'll be much much better.
@Reena
I jumped with joy when I gave my last SAT ever. God, I wasted a lot of No. 2 pencils.
@Rankeya
Very few schools in India provide the APs. I was lucky that my school is a centre, but if you really want to do the exam then you can register at any of the centres in India. There was a kid who flew from Muscat to our school to give the exams. I personally wouldn't do that if APs weren't available close by. I would find another way to challenge myself, like taking College level classes.
APs are the highest level offered in school, so I took it. This year, I'm doing most on my own anyway because taking classes in school is expensive, although I've spoken to most of the teachers. The Macroeconomics AP teacher is an MIT-Sloan Alum :)
Posted by: Tree on February 17, 2009 03:02 AM
@tree: dats cool u knw.... but id prefer to learn by self study rather than attending an ap class i guess.... plus i am too lazy.......... i just didnt bother to search for ap centres cos i thght they werent offered in india.. nd i wud never really come over to the 5 centres for an exam.... dnt u think indian curriculum is as rigorous as an ap class? i wudnt really know......... anyway thnx a ton for the info.......
omg ur ap eco teacher was sloan alumnus? that's awesome........... the only college level experience ive had is preparing for jee which i dropped a few months back becos i never wanted to end up in an institution where ud have to end up as 10 point someones...... shish...........
Posted by: rankeya on February 17, 2009 09:02 AM
so... do i have to be not sad any more that there aren't any AP's in iran?
Posted by: sepideh on February 17, 2009 01:02 PM
haha my nickname at school is "5 APs" (ill graduate with 9)
Posted by: anonymous on February 18, 2009 06:02 AM
@Sepideh
YES. You shouldn't be sad. I wouldn't. Challenge yourself in other ways. Plus, I'm sure MIT knows APs aren't available in Iran.
Posted by: Tree on February 19, 2009 04:02 AM
@tree
yes i completely trust the admissions group. i am also waived from the SATs and i feel somehow unsecure. what makes me sad is that i have the complete knowledg for the SATs but however my location is wrong, i live in a country without even SATs. the only thing representing my academical knowledge are my transcripts. my chance is probably the slimest of all. though there is a little...very little hope cause i truly believe in MIT when they say grades and numbers are not everything...
Posted by: sepideh on February 19, 2009 09:02 AM
Sepideh, I've been seeing your comments around for awhile, and I know how it is over there. Stay strong!
And believe in yourself, not just in Admissions. Regardless of the outcome, know that you're a wonderful person and can achieve awesome things. Maybe this is said too much, but it's so true - where there's a will, there's always a way (MIT or not). I sincerely hope you get accepted. For now, best of luck!
Posted by: Reena on February 19, 2009 09:02 PM
thank you reena and all the others who really make me feel good. i have come to the conclusion that more than the final we get(decisons),the process we've been through has made me learn a lot of things about myself and the world. whatever happens at the end i am sure i'll be content with it because i have achieved a lot in this period. i wish the best for all of us. the applicants for the class of 2013 are really wonderful...just look at this site;) i'm happy that i'm among these people as another applicant.
Posted by: sepideh on February 20, 2009 04:02 AM
I am considerably more bothered by people who ask for my weighted GPA, because I have no idea what it is nor do I really care. Whether a class has a weighted 'A' or not doesn't make a difference.
Posted by: Chris on February 20, 2009 08:02 PM
What is the ISC curriculum?
Posted by: Abdel-karim on February 28, 2009 05:02 PM
