Taking AP courses in the UK during a gap year
Hey,
I will have sat 3 a levels this summer in the UK, but in order to bolster the strength of my application I intend to self-study for some additional AP courses during my gap year before an application to the US (T15s, Ivies, e.t.c. )
However, the only sittings are in May and application deadlines fall around January. Is there some form of predicted AP course grades similar to predicted A levels and if not how do colleges consider students who are sitting AP exams after application deadlines?
I will have sat 3 a levels this summer in the UK, but in order to bolster the strength of my application I intend to self-study for some additional AP courses during my gap year before an application to the US (T15s, Ivies, e.t.c. )
However, the only sittings are in May and application deadlines fall around January. Is there some form of predicted AP course grades similar to predicted A levels and if not how do colleges consider students who are sitting AP exams after application deadlines?
Reply 1
What are your predicted A-levels grades and did you sit SAT or ACT? A near-perfect SAT/ACT score adds a lot of strength to your academic profile in the eyes of US colleges.
As you mention, you will not have the AP grades at the time of the application, so they will not go towards your GPA and will not be a part of the admissions decision (although the fact you are taking extra coursework may strengthen your overall story).
1 A-level roughly equals to 2 APs. Not sure if you have looked at AP specs - they are very different from A-levels as they are more modular (far fewer topics than in A-levels of the same name) but go much deeper into those topics. It may be difficult to get the top score in APs with self-study only as you usually need to get a higher % of correct answers in APs than in A-levels to get the top grade.
Are you only thinking of this extra coursework because of potential US applications, e.g. trying to satisfy the wider recommended high school curriculum for Harvard? You may want to check out the actual online college courses with transferrable credits (the likes of Harvard summer school and various online platforms) - you may be able to do some of those over summer/autumn and have the actual grades before your application, and many US colleges count the relevant courses towards their programme credits if they admit you. They usually have this info on their websites, so do you research before choosing a course.
You will probably be better off using your gap year for improving extracurriculars and writing strong essays than doing APs.
As you mention, you will not have the AP grades at the time of the application, so they will not go towards your GPA and will not be a part of the admissions decision (although the fact you are taking extra coursework may strengthen your overall story).
1 A-level roughly equals to 2 APs. Not sure if you have looked at AP specs - they are very different from A-levels as they are more modular (far fewer topics than in A-levels of the same name) but go much deeper into those topics. It may be difficult to get the top score in APs with self-study only as you usually need to get a higher % of correct answers in APs than in A-levels to get the top grade.
Are you only thinking of this extra coursework because of potential US applications, e.g. trying to satisfy the wider recommended high school curriculum for Harvard? You may want to check out the actual online college courses with transferrable credits (the likes of Harvard summer school and various online platforms) - you may be able to do some of those over summer/autumn and have the actual grades before your application, and many US colleges count the relevant courses towards their programme credits if they admit you. They usually have this info on their websites, so do you research before choosing a course.
You will probably be better off using your gap year for improving extracurriculars and writing strong essays than doing APs.
Reply 2
Predicted A levels stand at A*A*A*, hopefully going to maintain that through to achieved grades.
My Ec's and Honours are strong, but the largest downside to my application is only doing 3 A Levels. I took 10 IGCSES, 9 on which were A*, 1 was an A. I have not yet sat the SAT/ACT as I am prepping for the slots later during this year.
In all honesty yes, I am looking to take AP courses to improve my academic profile as despite strong grades, the variety in subjects at a level is limited by only doing 3. Regarding the online courses, summer schools often pertain large costs i.e. Harvard's costs in excess of £4000, and I'm seeking alternatives that achieve the same wider goal.
Are you aware of any wider academic programmes that could aid towards bolstering my academic profile?
Thank you very much
My Ec's and Honours are strong, but the largest downside to my application is only doing 3 A Levels. I took 10 IGCSES, 9 on which were A*, 1 was an A. I have not yet sat the SAT/ACT as I am prepping for the slots later during this year.
In all honesty yes, I am looking to take AP courses to improve my academic profile as despite strong grades, the variety in subjects at a level is limited by only doing 3. Regarding the online courses, summer schools often pertain large costs i.e. Harvard's costs in excess of £4000, and I'm seeking alternatives that achieve the same wider goal.
Are you aware of any wider academic programmes that could aid towards bolstering my academic profile?
Thank you very much
Reply 3
Original post by Henry Theo
Predicted A levels stand at A*A*A*, hopefully going to maintain that through to achieved grades.
My Ec's and Honours are strong, but the largest downside to my application is only doing 3 A Levels. I took 10 IGCSES, 9 on which were A*, 1 was an A. I have not yet sat the SAT/ACT as I am prepping for the slots later during this year.
In all honesty yes, I am looking to take AP courses to improve my academic profile as despite strong grades, the variety in subjects at a level is limited by only doing 3. Regarding the online courses, summer schools often pertain large costs i.e. Harvard's costs in excess of £4000, and I'm seeking alternatives that achieve the same wider goal.
Are you aware of any wider academic programmes that could aid towards bolstering my academic profile?
Thank you very much
My Ec's and Honours are strong, but the largest downside to my application is only doing 3 A Levels. I took 10 IGCSES, 9 on which were A*, 1 was an A. I have not yet sat the SAT/ACT as I am prepping for the slots later during this year.
In all honesty yes, I am looking to take AP courses to improve my academic profile as despite strong grades, the variety in subjects at a level is limited by only doing 3. Regarding the online courses, summer schools often pertain large costs i.e. Harvard's costs in excess of £4000, and I'm seeking alternatives that achieve the same wider goal.
Are you aware of any wider academic programmes that could aid towards bolstering my academic profile?
Thank you very much
Your academics are excellent, congrats!
US colleges do not recognise A* anyway - both A and A* translate into an A for their GPA purposes. If you did a language and a social science in GCSEs, this may already be plenty to satisfy the breadth requirement. Remember that the standard US high school courses are GCSE equivalent (so the max grade is 4.0 for GPA purposes), and not all US high schools even offer APs. 1 A-level roughly equals to 2 APs, and the max grade is 5.0 for GPA purposes since these are advanced courses. Also, they consider your grades in the context of your school - they ask for average school grades in the school report, and if yours are better than average, it is very good. Actually, they ask for your class rank - but I have not come across a British school yet that does rankings, and schools usually just say in the report it is not their policy to rank.
For the courses, did you check if Harvard Summer school has a scholarship option this year? I did a course a couple of years back (for a different reason than yours), applied for a scholarship and got it. It reduce the fee by over 90%. The application itself was a pain and a bit like the actual college application but it acted as a dry run for the subsequent application for me.
Did you look at online platforms like EDX or Coursera? They usually have courses and programmes directly from top universities, some with credit, most with a certificate option (not free but usually less than £100 per course for certification).
Also, universities' own online platforms (MIT, Harvard, Yale have such platforms) offer certificate options for their standard courses.
For formal qualifications, there are online A-levels teaching companies that prepare you for A-levels over 1 school year and will provide you with predicted grades for admissions purposes. Again, not free but much less than £4,000 per course.
You may still be better off placing your main effort into showcasing your uniqueness via your extracurriculars and building a strong story of how you are using your gap year for personal growth and how your profile is the best fit for your chosen programme.
Reply 4
Original post by Anonymous
Your academics are excellent, congrats!
US colleges do not recognise A* anyway - both A and A* translate into an A for their GPA purposes. If you did a language and a social science in GCSEs, this may already be plenty to satisfy the breadth requirement. Remember that the standard US high school courses are GCSE equivalent (so the max grade is 4.0 for GPA purposes), and not all US high schools even offer APs. 1 A-level roughly equals to 2 APs, and the max grade is 5.0 for GPA purposes since these are advanced courses. Also, they consider your grades in the context of your school - they ask for average school grades in the school report, and if yours are better than average, it is very good. Actually, they ask for your class rank - but I have not come across a British school yet that does rankings, and schools usually just say in the report it is not their policy to rank.
For the courses, did you check if Harvard Summer school has a scholarship option this year? I did a course a couple of years back (for a different reason than yours), applied for a scholarship and got it. It reduce the fee by over 90%. The application itself was a pain and a bit like the actual college application but it acted as a dry run for the subsequent application for me.
Did you look at online platforms like EDX or Coursera? They usually have courses and programmes directly from top universities, some with credit, most with a certificate option (not free but usually less than £100 per course for certification).
Also, universities' own online platforms (MIT, Harvard, Yale have such platforms) offer certificate options for their standard courses.
For formal qualifications, there are online A-levels teaching companies that prepare you for A-levels over 1 school year and will provide you with predicted grades for admissions purposes. Again, not free but much less than £4,000 per course.
You may still be better off placing your main effort into showcasing your uniqueness via your extracurriculars and building a strong story of how you are using your gap year for personal growth and how your profile is the best fit for your chosen programme.
US colleges do not recognise A* anyway - both A and A* translate into an A for their GPA purposes. If you did a language and a social science in GCSEs, this may already be plenty to satisfy the breadth requirement. Remember that the standard US high school courses are GCSE equivalent (so the max grade is 4.0 for GPA purposes), and not all US high schools even offer APs. 1 A-level roughly equals to 2 APs, and the max grade is 5.0 for GPA purposes since these are advanced courses. Also, they consider your grades in the context of your school - they ask for average school grades in the school report, and if yours are better than average, it is very good. Actually, they ask for your class rank - but I have not come across a British school yet that does rankings, and schools usually just say in the report it is not their policy to rank.
For the courses, did you check if Harvard Summer school has a scholarship option this year? I did a course a couple of years back (for a different reason than yours), applied for a scholarship and got it. It reduce the fee by over 90%. The application itself was a pain and a bit like the actual college application but it acted as a dry run for the subsequent application for me.
Did you look at online platforms like EDX or Coursera? They usually have courses and programmes directly from top universities, some with credit, most with a certificate option (not free but usually less than £100 per course for certification).
Also, universities' own online platforms (MIT, Harvard, Yale have such platforms) offer certificate options for their standard courses.
For formal qualifications, there are online A-levels teaching companies that prepare you for A-levels over 1 school year and will provide you with predicted grades for admissions purposes. Again, not free but much less than £4,000 per course.
You may still be better off placing your main effort into showcasing your uniqueness via your extracurriculars and building a strong story of how you are using your gap year for personal growth and how your profile is the best fit for your chosen programme.
Hi, thank you for your rather encouraging response! In terms of the GCSE's I sat there was a quite substantial variety which should cover all disciplines, admittedly the same cannot be said for my A-Levels (Social Sciences/Humanities student 😉).
If you were to consider the various possibilities that you had laid out, which do you believe would be most productive use of the time given by a gap year. I almost wish to avoid sitting another A-Level and would rather branch out into other formal qualifications that cover less depth but more breadth in subject matter.
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