People often ask, “How many APs do I need for getting accepted into UCLA?” It’s not easy to quantify how much is “good” and how much you “should” have. This is because when students ask how many APs they need to take for UCLA, they don’t realize that this question is quite problematic.
This question implies that UCLA has a soft counter for how many APs are mandatory. This is not true. You can find a list of UCLA’s admissions requirements here.
However, it is accurate to say that most accepted UCLA applicants at least have a certain amount of APs. Of course, more is better. Though, how much you want to take should vary depending on your unique circumstances.
Below we will cover some of the important factors that come into play when considering how many APs to take for UCLA.
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How Important Are AP Classes for UCLA?
It’s important to know how important AP classes are for UCLA.
Roughly speaking, having at least a few AP courses are quite important for getting accepted into UCLA. The level of importance changes depending on just how many APs are in your schedule. For instance, the difference between having 3 APs in your transcript vs 0 is astounding because one demonstrates a much stronger workload. If, however, you look at one student who has 9 APs and another who has 10, the difference between the two starts to become negligible. Admissions officers typically cannot differentiate between just a few AP courses taken, as the overall courseload comparison would just amount to splitting hairs.
Here is a general rule: if you want to have a good chance of getting considered for UCLA, you need to have at least a small handful of APs ranging from 3-5. If you want to have a more solid chance of staying competitive in the UCLA admissions pool, you want at least 8 APs.
Note that this is a general rule. This is not a solid rule, but we base this advice on our experience working with clients who were accepted into UCLA.
At this point, AP classes will not really be the final deciding factor that makes or breaks your application. It may make you more competitive and lump you in with other qualified applicants. But, there are more important factors that go into the UCLA admissions process than just APs alone.
How Many APs Should I Take for UCLA?
As mentioned earlier, there are many factors that contribute to the UCLA admissions decision. These can have varying effects on the weight of your AP courses depending on your unique circumstances.
It’s also important to note that many applications are truly unique. There are so many variables that go into the UCLA admissions decisions that it’s impossible to quantify admissions chances or weight just on singular, monolithic variables. That’s why it’s hard to provide accurate answers to questions like, “How important are APs for UCLA” or “How many APs do I need to take for UCLA?”
This is also exactly why personal admissions consultations that factor analyze each element of your application can be very useful. Here at PenningPapers, we can provide deeper answers that show just what you need to do to get accepted into UCLA like GPA and AP class estimates.
8 APs, The Magic Number
So, let’s say you want the perfect amount of APs. You want to take enough to stay competitive amongst other UCLA applicants, but you want enough that you’re not overloading yourself with too difficult a workload. That’s fair. In fact, this is exactly what you should be doing: maximizing your chances of acceptance to UCLA whilst minimizing the work needed for it.
So, what is that magic number? From the clients we’ve had who were admitted to UCLA, the average number was 8 AP classes in total.
It’s important to note that not every school has the right amount of APs available. Some schools have more AP classes available to students, and others have only a slim amount due to a lack of resources. If you are one of the students who cannot fit 8 AP classes due to attending a school with limited resources, don’t fret! Simply estimate the proper school equivalence of 8 APs to get a good idea of how many APs you need to take.
UCLA typically will not make discriminations based on external factors that are beyond your control; so, they will still take your lack of resources to take 8 or more AP courses into consideration. This also goes for students looking to take major-related APs that are not available in their school such as AP Comp Sci.
GPA
While it’s great to have many APs in your application, it’s also important to have a high GPA pairing it. If you took 9 AP courses and have a low GPA compared to the average accepted UCLA applicant, you may still have some trouble with getting accepted.
If you believe that your GPA will take a dip upon taking one more AP course, we would heavily recommend NOT taking it. Instead, take the maximum amount of APs you can handle if you can guarantee your academic performance stays in maintenance or higher.
Your academic performance and stability over time are critical to your admissions profile; they should not be compromised for the sake of having a higher amount of APs.
If you are applying for UCLA and you have a lower GPA due to taking more AP classes than you could handle, it’s important to clarify your situation to the admissions office through the application personal insight questions. Be sure to demonstrate to admissions officers that you can in fact handle the academic rigor of a UCLA education.
Strong Extracurriculars
Sometimes, it is understandable for students to have fewer than 8 AP courses if they are taking on strong extracurriculars. This is because the value of the extracurriculars and the kinds of projects or events conducted in them demonstrate ability and rigor that is greater than or equal to the value of the AP courses.
There are no hard rules on just how many and what kind of strong extracurriculars could compensate for a lack of APs. Quantifying a solid number isn’t easy. However, you can generally look at the extracurricular activities you have and compare your achievements in them with the difficulty of an AP course.
Let’s say you are president of two clubs.
This could “potentially” make up for only having 5-6 AP courses in your transcript. However, many admissions officers already understand that students often use president positions solely for admissions purposes. They would take on the position without upholding any responsibility. So, officer or president positions are often disregarded as marginal in value.
Now, let’s say you’ve grown a website to 2,000 visitors a month for a self-conducted small business project. Let’s also say that you’ve self-taught basic swing trading principles and learned to make a small but consistent income per month.
This is a very valuable set of extracurriculars and arguably more valuable than many AP courses. This demonstrates to admissions officers that you are capable of teaching yourself valuable skills and also have the time-management skills to persistently learn skills that take a long time to master. Learning both stock trading and growing a small online business is monumentally difficult. But, doing so could certainly compensate for a lack of AP courses. It is more than reasonable to assume that someone with fewer APs but these sets of skills has a strong chance of getting accepted into UCLA.
If you’re unsure about where to start when it comes to having a strong extracurricular project, you may want to consider speaking with us! At PenningPapers, we also help students develop strong extracurriculars in the shortest amount of time. Simply contact us for a free consultation, and we’ll guide you on how to make a strong extracurricular that will help you get accepted into UCLA.
Major
Depending on the field and major you plan to apply for at UCLA, you may need to apply for more AP courses to have a solid shot at getting accepted.
In particular, the more impacted your major is at UCLA, the more APs you will need to take to differentiate yourself from the admissions pool. You can see a list of majors available at UCLA plus their level of competition here. Here they are below.
- Psychology
- Mathematics
- Integrative Biology and Physiology
- Economics
- Neuroscience
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
- Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Society and Genetics
- Anthropology
The higher up the scale your intended major is, the more you should consider having more APs to stay competitive in the admissions pool. Though, we’ve seen many aspiring Psychology majors get rejected from UCLA even with many AP courses. What we’ve found to work most often were extracurriculars with a lot of value. These were often unique projects the student undertook on their own that demonstrated their skills and independence outside of the conventional academic setting.
Final Thoughts
It’s not easy to know how many APs you need to take to get accepted into UCLA. Every student has a different background that is unique to their personal experiences and varying strengths. Some have higher GPAs whilst others have lower. Some are reaching for more competitive majors and others are aiming for less impacted ones. Your unique background determines how many APs you need to get into UCLA. Though, the average amount for everyone is 8 or more APs. Take the time to consider how strong your transcript is, and make the right decisions accordingly.
If you’re still wondering just how many APs for UCLA is appropriate for your transcript, you may want to consider scheduling a free advising consultation with us. Our small team of college admissions experts will evaluate your background through factors like GPA, extracurriculars, major, etc to determine the right amount of APs you should take to get accepted into UCLA.