[Bruce Wang]

AP courses must be harder than they used to be.  Let me preface my comments by saying I'm near the lower end of the intelligence curve for a Stanford graduate.  I just barely got in (waiting list) in the easiest year to apply since the start of the Cold War (Loma Prieta year).  I took 6 AP courses my senior year of high school and got AP credit for all of them.  I found Stanford to be much more challenging than anything in high school.

To be best prepared for Stanford you really should take as many AP classes as offered.  I don't think the problem is the number of AP courses.  The problem is the fierce competition for every 3rd or 4th significant digit on the GPA and class rank.  That's what takes a lot of work and stresses kids out.  Getting As and A-'s are relatively easy.  Getting all A+'s takes way too much work.  I didn't have the time to engage in that competition due to work obligations in the family businesses and extracurriculars.  To a certain extent, I think Stanford sees through that and emphasizes class rank less than the other schools.  Stanford accepted 4 kids from my public high school class.  The highest ranked was 5th or 6th in my class and he was by far the smartest person in the class.  My classmates ranked 1-3 did not get in the most elite schools and did not end up being the most successful people from my class.  1-3 avoided AP Physics to protect their GPA and jockey for valedictorian.  The most successful people from my high school class were all in that class even at the cost of Bs and Cs.

[Bruce Wang]

AP courses must be harder than they used to be.  Let me preface my comments by saying I'm near the lower end of the intelligence curve for a Stanford graduate.  I just barely got in (waiting list) in the easiest year to apply since the start of the Cold War (Loma Prieta year).  I took 6 AP courses my senior year of high school and got AP credit for all of them.  I found Stanford to be much more challenging than anything in high school.

To be best prepared for Stanford you really should take as many AP classes as offered.  I don't think the problem is the number of AP courses.  The problem is the fierce competition for every 3rd or 4th significant digit on the GPA and class rank.  That's what takes a lot of work and stresses kids out.  Getting As and A-'s are relatively easy.  Getting all A+'s takes way too much work.  I didn't have the time to engage in that competition due to work obligations in the family businesses and extracurriculars.  To a certain extent, I think Stanford sees through that and emphasizes class rank less than the other schools.  Stanford accepted 4 kids from my public high school class.  The highest ranked was 5th or 6th in my class and he was by far the smartest person in the class.  My classmates ranked 1-3 did not get in the most elite schools and did not end up being the most successful people from my class.  1-3 avoided AP Physics to protect their GPA and jockey for valedictorian.  The most successful people from my high school class were all in that class even at the cost of Bs and Cs.