AP classes are easier than when we were kids, right?

[Anonymous]

I’m blown by hearing about all these kids taking 10+ AP classes in HS. First, my high school never had that many classes. But more importantly, there was A LOT of work, lots of assignments and projects that took a lot of time. More of a college workload in terms of readings etc but without the extra study time that comes with not having a full day of classes. There is no way people could handle so many AP classes at once, just from a time perspective. Are AP classes the new Honors?

People who took a handful of AP classes went on to Ivy and top 25 schools. Now, kids need so many!

Have classes gotten easier, is there grade inflation, or are kids truly overwhelmed with increased expectations?

[Anonymous]

I wonder that too. My AP classes were much harder than any class I took in college, even AP English. We were expected to do 2 hours of homework a night for those classes.

[Anonymous]

I had one or two AP classes that were as you described in high school, but most of them were just going through the text and teaching material to pass the test. I graduated in 2002. Really though, I found college classes at my state university to be equivalent or easier than my high school AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Definitely easier.

[Anonymous]

Clearly everything was easier when we were kids.

We have all become our parents.

[Anonymous]

I don't recall my AP tests to be all that hard. I agree the classes assigned more work.

I think nowadays the class is designed so that you do well on the test. The APUSH test does not require you write a 5 page (or even a 2 page) essay on a topic, so the teachers don't see the point in assigning something like that as homework.

[Anonymous]

I graduated HS in 2005 and my high school limited the number of APs you could take.

[Anonymous]

At our local public HS, any kid who wants can elect to take an AP class. Many do because of the grade bump in college admissions. But it has made the classes much larger and easier.

[Anonymous]

Actual curriculum is not easier.
The way teachers enact it is likely variable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't recall my AP tests to be all that hard. I agree the classes assigned more work.

I think nowadays the class is designed so that you do well on the test. The APUSH test does not require you write a 5 page (or even a 2 page) essay on a topic, so the teachers don't see the point in assigning something like that as homework.

Pretty much same. I don’t remember them being too hard (class of 91) but we definitely did more extensive writing of the untimed variety. My kid has received very little feedback on their writing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m blown by hearing about all these kids taking 10+ AP classes in HS. First, my high school never had that many classes. But more importantly, there was A LOT of work, lots of assignments and projects that took a lot of time. More of a college workload in terms of readings etc but without the extra study time that comes with not having a full day of classes. There is no way people could handle so many AP classes at once, just from a time perspective. Are AP classes the new Honors?

People who took a handful of AP classes went on to Ivy and top 25 schools. Now, kids need so many!

Have classes gotten easier, is there grade inflation, or are kids truly overwhelmed with increased expectations?

It's this. My kid is only in 10th and taking 1 and it is a LOT of work. DC is taking 3 next year. But we've encouraged opting out of the AP rat race. It's absurd. If a college wants to pass on my kid as not "college ready" bc she took 6 or 7 APs (and the rest honors) instead of 10-12, so be it. There is zero reason to take APs in classes DC has no interest or as high an aptitude. And colleges should be ashamed of themselves for requiring it of these kids, many of whom are stressed out and not enjoying their HS years. It's grotesque.

[Anonymous]

I agree. I actually didn’t take AP classes. Not many people did at my high school (NJ). Only a handful of kids did and, yes, they went to Ivy Leagues or comparable.

Most of the “smart” kids took honors, but even our “regular” classes, which I took, were good and involved quite a bit of heavy reading and essays.

[Anonymous]

In high school I took four AP classes (and one other AP exam based off a class that wasn't billed as AP but covered similar material). I didn't take any until my junior year (AP US History) and most of them I took as a senior. None of them were hard compared to college classes, but I went to a pretty non-descript public high school and then a much more prestigious university with a reputation for difficulty. It seemed like they were effectively the equivalent of a college class at an average or slightly below difficulty university.

That made sense to me. What happens now baffles me.

[Anonymous]

My kids' AP classes are a ton of work. Way more than I remember doing. They use the same texts as the state flagship uni.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m blown by hearing about all these kids taking 10+ AP classes in HS. First, my high school never had that many classes. But more importantly, there was A LOT of work, lots of assignments and projects that took a lot of time. More of a college workload in terms of readings etc but without the extra study time that comes with not having a full day of classes. There is no way people could handle so many AP classes at once, just from a time perspective. Are AP classes the new Honors?

People who took a handful of AP classes went on to Ivy and top 25 schools. Now, kids need so many!

Have classes gotten easier, is there grade inflation, or are kids truly overwhelmed with increased expectations?

It's this. My kid is only in 10th and taking 1 and it is a LOT of work. DC is taking 3 next year. But we've encouraged opting out of the AP rat race. It's absurd. If a college wants to pass on my kid as not "college ready" bc she took 6 or 7 APs (and the rest honors) instead of 10-12, so be it. There is zero reason to take APs in classes DC has no interest or as high an aptitude. And colleges should be ashamed of themselves for requiring it of these kids, many of whom are stressed out and not enjoying their HS years. It's grotesque.

I agree it’s a grotesque arms race that only seems to reward kids that are willing to forego sleep. My sense is that the difficulty of the classes varies, as it did when I was a teen in the late 80s, but they tend to be a lot of work even if not overly difficult. I hate that the kids feel they have to take them to keep up with the pack and the college board keeps adding more (like the new AP pre calc).