AP classes vs. GPA

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navalacademy12

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I was wondering if the academy wanted more AP classes (psych, lang, us history) or a higher GPA
 
They want you take a rigorous course load and would prefer if you had an A- with all APs over an A+ with no APs. Just make sure you can still make decent grades though; you don't want to be failing even if you have hard courses.
 
What if it looks like, B's in AP's and maths and A's in the rest? I'm afraid they won't think I would be able to handle the rigors of the academy because of my grades. I always get B's in APs and math classes but I get A's in the rest of my classes.
 
USNA looks at class rank and courses taken. GPA is secondary, if not tertiary. Whether you take AP or regular depends on how well you think you'll do. APs are more valuable, but if you get a C in AP vs. an A in regular . . .
 
My son, a junior, got steamrolled by his school this year. They jammed two APs and two Honors classes into one semester this year--including AP Calculus--and he had a lousy AP Calculus teacher. This is a kid who had 90s in three honors math classes in hs first two years at his HS. Needless to say, his GPA took a hit and he will probably have to re-take calculus at a local college to prepare for college (his HS is small and it has only one AP Calculus teacher, so he cannot avoid her).

It has been a frustrating year for him and I suspect last semester could have killed his chances for USMA or USNA. So, if you plan to take AP classes, my advice would be to make sure that there is no misunderstanding that could arise between you and your school that could result in an overwhelming AP schedule.
 
One class won't make or break you. If on class looks bad on your transcript, while you're a consistent "A" student, I think Navy realizes that there may have been an issue with that class. They do realize that not every teacher is good. That's just my guess though.
 
I would think (for who really knows???) that they would much rather see AP Calc and normal psych/lang than the other way around.
 
navalacademy12 said:
I was wondering if the academy wanted more AP classes (psych, lang, us history) or a higher GPA
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Here's something I've been told many many times when asking such questions: "They want more AP classes AND a high GPA...". No, but really, just take the hardest classes you think you can handle and go with it...don't ever be lazy with school and try your hardest. That's all you can do.
 
A B ... or 2 or even 3 won't break your application ... if you show that you're taking the hardest classes, forging ahead ... my plebe son took bio, chem, ap chem, physics and ap physics ... along with math up through ap calc ... with a mix of As and Bs ... all you can do is apply ... and have the complete package (grades are only a part of the package) ... test scores, leadership, all the rest matter too
 
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