"I'm surprised that they were taking AP physics." A lot of schools really heavily incentivize taking AP classes, because one of the main high school rankings (

"I'm surprised that they were taking AP physics." A lot of schools really heavily incentivize taking AP classes, because one of the main high school rankings (Newsweek/Washington Post) is literally "(AP tests taken)/(seniors graduated)". Yes, that's "taken", not "passed" or "aced". So you wind up in a situation in some schools where your options are "Physics for Jocks" or "AP Physics with a free +1.0 to your GPA". I was in a situation my senior year where I wound up taking 7 AP classes, not because I specifically wanted 7 AP classes, but because the alternatives were AP or "class that barely targets the standardized test you could already pass on Day 1"