Taking 4 AP Classes in Junior Year -- appreciate your thoughts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems normal for a student aiming for a top college

Correct.

[Anonymous]

My kid did this schedule in 11th with AP Chem as a single period and 3 other classes. It was hard but doable. Biggest factor is quality of teaching for BC and Chem. For mine, BC teacher was great, but Chem was not. So, she had to add extra work and tutoring hours to the schedule.

[Anonymous]

If the students are required to take the AP Exam, grades with more aligned with their likely AP score ~ If they are on track to get a 3, they should be receiving a C in the class. There will be grade inflation if the AP Exam is not required.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the students are required to take the AP Exam, grades with more aligned with their likely AP score ~ If they are on track to get a 3, they should be receiving a C in the class. There will be grade inflation if the AP Exam is not required.

Name one school or district where this AP test based grading happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is thinking about taking 4 AP classes in Junior year and I feel the specific types of AP he is taking is too much. Maybe I am wrong. Can parents comment so that we get a view on your own child's experiences with these particular classes?

AP Comp & Language
AP World History
AP Calc BC
AP Chem (double period)
Band
French 5

He can also do AP Java rather than AP World History in 11th (just wait until 12th grade for AP World).

Thoughts/Opinions would be appreciated.

French 5 is a waste. Take AP French.

How is French 5 a waste? Also, some schools offer French 6 before the AP. Is that for kids who want to slow down? I'm afraid of counseling my kid (who started French 1 A/B in 6th) to skip 5 & 6 out of fear that AP would be too hard. Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child did a similar schedule and it was fine. I encourage as many APs as possible for kids who can handle it because MCPS honors courses are generally not truly honors, making AP the best way to prepare for rigorous college work.

What can we do to eliminate the word "rigorous" on this forum? It is so overused and so annoying. When I see it I want to scream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is thinking about taking 4 AP classes in Junior year and I feel the specific types of AP he is taking is too much. Maybe I am wrong. Can parents comment so that we get a view on your own child's experiences with these particular classes?

AP Comp & Language
AP World History
AP Calc BC
AP Chem (double period)
Band
French 5

He can also do AP Java rather than AP World History in 11th (just wait until 12th grade for AP World).

Thoughts/Opinions would be appreciated.

French 5 is a waste. Take AP French.

How is French 5 a waste? Also, some schools offer French 6 before the AP. Is that for kids who want to slow down? I'm afraid of counseling my kid (who started French 1 A/B in 6th) to skip 5 & 6 out of fear that AP would be too hard. Thoughts?

My kids Spanish 4 teacher said that all kids should take Spanish 5 before AP. Kid is a freshman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is thinking about taking 4 AP classes in Junior year and I feel the specific types of AP he is taking is too much. Maybe I am wrong. Can parents comment so that we get a view on your own child's experiences with these particular classes?

AP Comp & Language
AP World History
AP Calc BC
AP Chem (double period)
Band
French 5

He can also do AP Java rather than AP World History in 11th (just wait until 12th grade for AP World).

Thoughts/Opinions would be appreciated.

French 5 is a waste. Take AP French.

How is French 5 a waste? Also, some schools offer French 6 before the AP. Is that for kids who want to slow down? I'm afraid of counseling my kid (who started French 1 A/B in 6th) to skip 5 & 6 out of fear that AP would be too hard. Thoughts?

My kids Spanish 4 teacher said that all kids should take Spanish 5 before AP. Kid is a freshman.

That sounds reasonable to me. Not sure why someone would say that it's a waste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child did a similar schedule and it was fine. I encourage as many APs as possible for kids who can handle it because MCPS honors courses are generally not truly honors, making AP the best way to prepare for rigorous college work.

What can we do to eliminate the word "rigorous" on this forum? It is so overused and so annoying. When I see it I want to scream.

Agree completely! Hate hate hate it.

[Anonymous]

AP Chem is *hard*. AP World is not, really. I've heard AP Java is quite difficult, but surely this depends a lot on the kid.

The schedule seems pretty typical for a top college-bound-kid. If it were my kid, I'd do World in 11th and Java in 12th.

Some schools will let you skip Language 5 and go straight to AP. Not suggesting it here, given that you are already concerned about workload. But just a note that some kids will be doing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP Chem is *hard*. AP World is not, really. I've heard AP Java is quite difficult, but surely this depends a lot on the kid.

The schedule seems pretty typical for a top college-bound-kid. If it were my kid, I'd do World in 11th and Java in 12th.

Some schools will let you skip Language 5 and go straight to AP. Not suggesting it here, given that you are already concerned about workload. But just a note that some kids will be doing it.

Agree, typical schedule. Not that many kids skip 5 when there is still time to do the AP in Sr. year. It is mostly a move when they won't reach it without the skip, or there is some compelling reason to drop FL from the schedule in the following year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP Chem is *hard*. AP World is not, really. I've heard AP Java is quite difficult, but surely this depends a lot on the kid.

The schedule seems pretty typical for a top college-bound-kid. If it were my kid, I'd do World in 11th and Java in 12th.

Some schools will let you skip Language 5 and go straight to AP. Not suggesting it here, given that you are already concerned about workload. But just a note that some kids will be doing it.

How does AP Chem compare to AP Physics C?

[Anonymous]

AP Physics C is calculus-based and is generally considered harder than AP Chem because of the math requirements. DS took at at the same time as Calc BC and it was a lot of work. He loved it and went on to major in physics, but the first couple of months were a lot. He found AP Chem the next year to be pretty easy.

[Anonymous]

I've been stressing about this too OP. But I think my DA seems lined up for maybe easier APs? Here's what it's looking like:

AP World
AP Eng Comp
AP Human Geography
AP CS Principles
Calculus with applications
Physics (should bump this to Honors)
Band

If some juniors are doing 4 APs with STEM classes maybe this schedule isn't as crazy as I'm worried about? I have thought about having him do AP Calc AB instead of AP CS - save that for senior year...