When applying to a college, if your academic transcript contains, say, twelve passed AP Exams, it will look twice as impressive as that of a high-school valedictorian.
Minor nitpick here. At least at my High School, it was impossible to even be valedictorian without taking more AP classes than everyone else.
Otherwise I agree with the general message. When I was doing my college shopping several years ago, I actually found that colleges were far more impressed if you were taking straight up college courses during High School than if you were taking AP classes. Of course, not everyone lives close enough to a University or Community College to pull it off, but it’s definitely something worth doing.
Minor nitpick here. At least at my High School, it was impossible to even be valedictorian without taking more AP classes than everyone else.
Otherwise I agree with the general message. When I was doing my college shopping several years ago, I actually found that colleges were far more impressed if you were taking straight up college courses during High School than if you were taking AP classes. Of course, not everyone lives close enough to a University or Community College to pull it off, but it’s definitely something worth doing.