APS HS Intensified/Honors Classes -- Why No GPA Bump?

[Anonymous]

I get colleges want to see you have taken the most challenging classes available to you. And that, among other things, tips in favor of taking intensified or honors classes. But if these classes are harder and more in depth, why then don't APS students get a .5 GPA bump for those classes? This vague notion that counselors check a box to say you took the challenging curriculum or that colleges everywhere know what the most challenging classes available is at your school (particularly when they keep changing everything), isn't reassuring.

[Anonymous]

Do they not get a bump? My kids are still young but how does one get an over 4.0 GPA? Do You get a bump for AP classes? I don't know how any of this works lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they not get a bump? My kids are still young but how does one get an over 4.0 GPA? Do You get a bump for AP classes? I don't know how any of this works lol.

AP, IB, and DE get a bump, but not intensified. In FCPS, honors classes get a bump, but you need a 93 to have an A. This is why colleges recalculate GPAs in their own way (eg, some leave out electives, unweight grades, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get colleges want to see you have taken the most challenging classes available to you. And that, among other things, tips in favor of taking intensified or honors classes. But if these classes are harder and more in depth, why then don't APS students get a .5 GPA bump for those classes? This vague notion that counselors check a box to say you took the challenging curriculum or that colleges everywhere know what the most challenging classes available is at your school (particularly when they keep changing everything), isn't reassuring.

Because intensified classes are not worthy of a bump - they are what the baseline gen ed classes SHOULD be. They aren't really "advanced" classes; whereas AP classes are. Intensified classes just give the average and above average students a place to go and not be in classes geared toward just getting kids to graduate.

[Anonymous]

FYI - To get the bump for AP, your kid has to sit for the test.

[Anonymous]

They get above a 4.0 once they have taken one of the AP history classes in 10th grade. So, you won't see kids with GPAs as high as schools that give a bonus for honors/intensified or let students start taking AP in 9th grade. The first AP doesn't boost it too much. I think my straight-A student has a 4.05 after 1 AP sophomore year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They get above a 4.0 once they have taken one of the AP history classes in 10th grade. So, you won't see kids with GPAs as high as schools that give a bonus for honors/intensified or let students start taking AP in 9th grade. The first AP doesn't boost it too much. I think my straight-A student has a 4.05 after 1 AP sophomore year.

Wakefield (& probably WL & Yorktown?) allows 9th graders to take AP World History.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get colleges want to see you have taken the most challenging classes available to you. And that, among other things, tips in favor of taking intensified or honors classes. But if these classes are harder and more in depth, why then don't APS students get a .5 GPA bump for those classes? This vague notion that counselors check a box to say you took the challenging curriculum or that colleges everywhere know what the most challenging classes available is at your school (particularly when they keep changing everything), isn't reassuring.

Because intensified classes are not worthy of a bump - they are what the baseline gen ed classes SHOULD be. They aren't really "advanced" classes; whereas AP classes are. Intensified classes just give the average and above average students a place to go and not be in classes geared toward just getting kids to graduate.

^ This.

[Anonymous]

Remedial classes are now considered regular.

Regular classes are now considered intensified.

It’s not PC to make students feel bad.

Students read entire novels in the intensified classes. They read excerpts of novels in the regular classes. One doesn’t deserve a GPA boost because they’re capable of reading an entire novel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They get above a 4.0 once they have taken one of the AP history classes in 10th grade. So, you won't see kids with GPAs as high as schools that give a bonus for honors/intensified or let students start taking AP in 9th grade. The first AP doesn't boost it too much. I think my straight-A student has a 4.05 after 1 AP sophomore year.

Wakefield (& probably WL & Yorktown?) allows 9th graders to take AP World History.

Yorktown does not. 10th graders will take AP world, AP Euro or APHUG. That is why it matters that their grade is looked at compared to others in their school. There isn’t even consistency among the three primary high schools in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They get above a 4.0 once they have taken one of the AP history classes in 10th grade. So, you won't see kids with GPAs as high as schools that give a bonus for honors/intensified or let students start taking AP in 9th grade. The first AP doesn't boost it too much. I think my straight-A student has a 4.05 after 1 AP sophomore year.

Wakefield (& probably WL & Yorktown?) allows 9th graders to take AP World History.

No AP allowed at YHS for 9th grade. Floodgates open in 10th.

[Anonymous]

I’d suggest that AP floodgates open in 11th at YHS. It’s rare for a 10th grader to have an AP other than the history option. Most are still working through PE and their sequential. Maybe some can get into AP Econ. AP psych is supposed to be only for juniors and seniors, but they sometimes move sophomores and if there’s a scheduling issue. The AP math science and English is start as juniors.

[Anonymous]

At WHS, freshman can take AP World History, AP Human Geography, and maybe AP Comp Sci? In 10th, kids have a few AP options, including the immersion kids taking AP Spanish lang. But yes, generally (@ WHS & at most schools), AP ramps up in 11th grade, with the first chances (as far as I know) to take AP science, math, and English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At WHS, freshman can take AP World History, AP Human Geography, and maybe AP Comp Sci? In 10th, kids have a few AP options, including the immersion kids taking AP Spanish lang. But yes, generally (@ WHS & at most schools), AP ramps up in 11th grade, with the first chances (as far as I know) to take AP science, math, and English.

I thought the only AP open to freshmen at WHS was AP World History.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They get above a 4.0 once they have taken one of the AP history classes in 10th grade. So, you won't see kids with GPAs as high as schools that give a bonus for honors/intensified or let students start taking AP in 9th grade. The first AP doesn't boost it too much. I think my straight-A student has a 4.05 after 1 AP sophomore year.

Wakefield (& probably WL & Yorktown?) allows 9th graders to take AP World History.

Yorktown does not. 10th graders will take AP world, AP Euro or APHUG. That is why it matters that their grade is looked at compared to others in their school. There isn’t even consistency among the three primary high schools in Arlington.

I don't get why this is an issue.
It's the GPA when you're applying to colleges and graduating that counts. So what if you don't start taking AP courses until 10th or 11th.