How many APs do TJ students take?
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Anonymous
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My DS is a freshman at TJ and we are realizing there are so many AP course options.
How many AP courses does a typical high school student in this area take through the 4 years? Do TJ students take more than the other high school students? We are coming from an IB base school and don’t have much insight into how AP credits work or how many a typical student should take. Would appreciate any help. |
Anonymous
I'm a sophomore parent and have no idea. I think my kid is taking 2 or 3 this year? They don't label them as AP so it's hard to know. We also came from an IB base so this is all new to me too. As far as I know they used to take less and not more class because math used to be separate tracks and not AP. But they are now more aligned. |
Anonymous
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TJ students tend to focus less on the total number of AP courses and more on selecting rigorous APs that serve as gateways to even more advanced coursework that align with their interests.
There are a few APs that entire class enrolls in for meeting minimum graduation requirements, like AP Calc AB or BC, AP English Lang, AP Gov, and AP Physics 1 & AP env science starting this year. AP Physics C M&EM, AP Chemistry, and AP Biology are popular science APs, however students look to demonstrate depth in one or more areas by enrolling in follow-on advanced courses like Electrodynamics (post AP Physics C), Organic Chemistry (post AP Chem), Neurobiology (post AP Biology). Top STEM focused students dont stop at AP Calculus BC, but go up to two levels beyond that by enrolling first in Mulitvariable/Linear, and following it up with Differential Equations, and Complex Analysis. Computer science focused students look to enroll in Machine Learning 1 & 2, which has AP Comp Science A, Artificial Intelligence 1& 2, and Multivariable as pre/co-requisites. AP US History is a common choice for social studies in junior year. More than half of the class enrolls in a AP world language credit. |
Anonymous
| My son is a freshman and had less AP options this year than at his base school. He will take at least 15 AP classes to qualify for the Early College Scholars Program. Sophomore year he will take AP Physics + either AP Bio or AP Chemistry, AP Calculus BC, AP English/AP US Government. Planning on at least 5 AP classes each year between 10th-12th. |
Anonymous
You might be getting mixed up with Early Online College program, where each course typically carries 3 credits, so 15 credits would equal about five courses. Those online courses are asynchronous and pretty much useless for TJ students. TJ courses are significantly more rigorous, even at the honors level, and many serve as prerequisites for AP-level classes. Talk to your counselor to better understand the dependencies and plan your student's courses accordingly |
Anonymous
| Our MoCo magnet kid took 16. |
pseudonymous
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I don't think any information from prior years will give you an accurate count because of the way the curriculum is changing.
My sophomore is taking two AP classes (AP Seminar and AP Precalculus) that were not available in previous years. I agree with the above response that kids should focus more on which classes to take and less on the quantity of APs. Besides, your kid has at least until 2026 before needing to do any planning on this. Now is the time to learn the ropes, make friends, and join some interesting clubs. |
Anonymous
+1 My TJ kid didn't take any AP class last year as freshman, he is taking 3 AP this year (Seminar, Calculus, and CS A). I was told the quality of AP matters more than the quantity. |
Anonymous
8-12 for class of 2027 Add one for class of 2028 add another 1 or 2 for class of 2029 or later. |
pseudonymous
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I think you gotta add more than one for 2028. Both AP Precalc and AP Seminar are new this year. I think AP Research is new for junior year, and they also have transformed the old Honors Physics into AP Physics. Obviously, it varies from kid to kid, but most will pick up at least 2 or 3. |
Anonymous
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Relatively low-effort AP courses—such as Psychology, Economics, Precalculus, Seminar, and Research—offer little to no transferable college credits, and are likely viewed by college admissions accordingly.
Top TJ students preferred choices: -------------------------- AP Physics C (Mechanics and E&M) AP Chemistry AP Calculus BC AP Biology AP U.S. History AP Literature and Composition Moderately preferred: ----------------------- AP Computer Science A AP Statistics AP Physics 1 (replaces honors) AP English Lang AP U.S. Government and Politics AP Environmental Science (replaces geosystems) AP Calculus AB (minimum graduation requirement) Least valued: ------------- AP Micro/Macro economics AP Psychology AP Seminar AP Research AP Precalculus |
Anonymous
| Do kids not take AP Foreign Langauge? I have read that many colleges will waive a foreign language requirement for kids with a high enough AP Foreign Language score. |
Anonymous
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What is the new AP seminar?
Are freshman allowed to take AP classes if they want? |
Anonymous
AP foreign/world language demonstrates a well rounded ged ed profile, and competitive universities recommend (not require) four credits including AP level. A minimum score of 4 or 5 usually grants credits. |
pseudonymous
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You can read a description of AP Seminar at the College Board's web site. At TJ, it is replacing Honors English 10. Students actually have a choice of electing to stick with English 10, though I'm not sure how many would want to do that, given that AP classes give a +1.0 boost to the weighted GPA, whereas it's +0.5 for honors. Freshmen are allowed to take AP classes, though it would only make sense in some narrow circumstances (e.g., if the student had taken Algebra II in 8th grade, they'd be in AP Precalc). |