AP classes in Public High School

[Anonymous]

I hear you, OP. I have two in a very highly ranked public high school and my oldest already has five AP classes under his belt as a junior and is taking four more AP classes as a junior. The kids today have to take the hardest classes available in their school.

Sucks - I know.

[Anonymous]

When I was 15, I went to our local community college and took biology instead of taking the high school class. I was the only kid in the class. It started out with more than 30 students (most of them were in their 30's), and by the second month more than half of the class had quit. I had no problem passing the class, so it's entirely possible for a teenager to do college level work.

[Anonymous]

Mine did AP Gov in 9th grade. It was not a hard class and he got a 5 on the test. Even if it's college level it's not college pace because you cover in a year what would be covered in a semester in college.

Honestly I think people are getting confused about rigor and APs. Colleges are looking for rigor in CORE classes. They may not even really look at things like art history, unless the student is on an overall arts track. Many selective schools calculate a GPA that includes only core classes and leave out electives, whether AP or not. So filling a schedule with a bunch of random APs is not going to be much of a boost and you may want to encourage your kid to focus on the core classes rather than get distracted by extraneous APs.

[Anonymous]

I did AP classes in high school. I'm a parent. Two classes in 12th grade. I remember the workload. I wouldn't have worked any harder and I remember getting a 3 on each test. Since I have those memories, I did not expect my own children to take many APs (2-3 cumulative) When their HS counselors or teachers pushed for more, I asked, "have YOU ever taken an AP class, because if you haven't I'm sorry, but since I have, I can't take your advice" And as a parent, you have responsibility re: your child's overall wellbeing.

[Anonymous]

I was initially concerned about DC taking AP US History in 9th grade, but it turned out to be no big deal. It was DC's only freshman year class that gave significant homework. DC got a 3 on the exam, which won't merit credit at many universities, but DC feels more confident about taking more AP classes in the future. The class had a great peer group and a very talented teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was initially concerned about DC taking AP US History in 9th grade, but it turned out to be no big deal. It was DC's only freshman year class that gave significant homework. DC got a 3 on the exam, which won't merit credit at many universities, but DC feels more confident about taking more AP classes in the future. The class had a great peer group and a very talented teacher.

AP US History is one of the hardest AP exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some public school districts don't allow freshmen to take AP courses. I know Arlington is one of them.

Same for most in Fairfax, plus there are only a few allowed sophomore year (inc. AP World and AP Stats).

[Anonymous]

I hear you, OP. I have two in a very highly ranked public high school and my oldest already has five AP classes under his belt as a junior and is taking four more AP classes as a junior. The kids today have to take the hardest classes available in their school.

It really depends on what school they are aiming for. If they need a GPA in the 4.6 range, then I guess it makes sense. I wouldn't go through high school with the mindset that any class that isn't AP isn't worthwhile. My kid had a very high 10th grade PSAT score and all As sophomore year and his counselor wouldn't even let him take more than two APs junior year (which is fine). I think it's because he isn't "gifted." There are four that he wants to take next year, but if some kids have 14 when they graduate, and he has 6, I still believe it will be feasible for him to go to a decent college with only a weighted 4.0. or so.

Honestly I think people are getting confused about rigor and APs. Colleges are looking for rigor in CORE classes. They may not even really look at things like art history, unless the student is on an overall arts track. Many selective schools calculate a GPA that includes only core classes and leave out electives, whether AP or not. So filling a schedule with a bunch of random APs is not going to be much of a boost and you may want to encourage your kid to focus on the core classes rather than get distracted by extraneous APs.

I hate this theory of the "lesser" APs. My DS is interested in psych and music theory so he's going to take those along with physics, stats and calculus. He's not interested in English, government, or biology, so it wouldn't make sense for him to take those AP classes. He's not taking them to "boost" anything - he's just taking the classes he wants to take. Seems like the simplest route to having a happy kid with a balanced workload.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did AP classes in high school. I'm a parent. Two classes in 12th grade. I remember the workload. I wouldn't have worked any harder and I remember getting a 3 on each test. Since I have those memories, I did not expect my own children to take many APs (2-3 cumulative) When their HS counselors or teachers pushed for more, I asked, "have YOU ever taken an AP class, because if you haven't I'm sorry, but since I have, I can't take your advice" And as a parent, you have responsibility re: your child's overall wellbeing.

Parent how you choose, but never forget you were a kid a long time ago.

[Anonymous]

The problem in some schools is that the options are either regular, on-level classes (which, depending on the school, may actually be taught at a remedial level) or AP classes. In those cases, a motivated kid is going to end up taking a whole lot of AP classes. My high schooler has taken 9 so far, with 4 more this year. He is doing great, and is busy but not particularly stressed.

FWIW, although some of these classes are time-consuming (chem, physics, US hist, a few of the foreign language courses among them), none of them are truly college-level courses. We have found that ALL of them (including the ones that some PPs deride as not-really-AP) are useful preparation for kids who want a challenge in high school.

[Anonymous]

Honestly I think people are getting confused about rigor and APs. Colleges are looking for rigor in CORE classes. They may not even really look at things like art history, unless the student is on an overall arts track. Many selective schools calculate a GPA that includes only core classes and leave out electives, whether AP or not. So filling a schedule with a bunch of random APs is not going to be much of a boost and you may want to encourage your kid to focus on the core classes rather than get distracted by extraneous APs.


I hate this theory of the "lesser" APs. My DS is interested in psych and music theory so he's going to take those along with physics, stats and calculus. He's not interested in English, government, or biology, so it wouldn't make sense for him to take those AP classes. He's not taking them to "boost" anything - he's just taking the classes he wants to take. Seems like the simplest route to having a happy kid with a balanced workload.

Then that's great. My DC took AP Psych, loved it, and is now majoring in Psych. My point is that you should take elective APs because you are interested in them, not just because you think a college is looking for a particular number of APs. Colleges focused on rigor are looking at core classes, not the sheer number of APs. I think people overlook this point, and sometimes work in the core classes suffer because a kid is bogged down with the work in elective APs in which they may not even be interested.

I didn't call them lesser APs, but there are electives and core classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid did the same with basically two AP classes as electives freshman year and sophomore. Yes, it is nuts but apparently the way "the game" is played in college admissions for public high school kids. The tests are expensive and very few, if any, good colleges even accept the credit.

That said, it is what colleges are looking for. They look for kids to take the most challenging classes they can.

Exactly. Which is why many are opting for private schools with less of an emphasis on APs. The colleges are aware of what the schools offer, and as long as the kid is taking "the most challenging classes they can" in that particular school, they will be just as eligible as the public school kid taking twice as many APs. That is how the game is played.

This works at private high schools with reputations for rigor. Not so much at less rigorous private high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is crazy. It isn't really college work, but a move toward some semblance of a national curriculum combined with an arms race to up gpas (which are weighted)

Just to clarify, nobody is taking AP's to "up their GPAs" or because they "need a 4.6 GPA" like another pp said. Colleges only look at unweighted GPAs. Some colleges take your unweighted GPA and reweight it using their own proprietary weights, so that an A in Phys Es doesn't count as much as an A in Calc B/C. But public and private schools alike send unweighted GPAs on the transcripts they send to colleges. (Public schools may include the weighted GPA on the transcript, but colleges don't care.)

As PPs said, it's about demonstrating that you took the most rigorous classes classes available. Many kids also send AP test results of 4s or 5s with their college applications, even though sending the AP scores isn't necessary; they do its because it proves you did well in your AP classes. At top universities that don't give credit for AP classes, sending in your score with your application may be the only benefit you get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some public school districts don't allow freshmen to take AP courses. I know Arlington is one of them.

That isn't quite true. The pre-IB group is offered AP World History, and some number of them take it. Generally, though, you are correct.

A spillover of all the AP/IB classes is that there is no honors English offered in 11th because a school can only offer so many choices.

Not just the pre-IB group; Arlington allows other freshmen to take AP World History if recommended by their 8th grade geography teacher. IME, only a small number of students get recommended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some public school districts don't allow freshmen to take AP courses. I know Arlington is one of them.

That isn't quite true. The pre-IB group is offered AP World History, and some number of them take it. Generally, though, you are correct.

A spillover of all the AP/IB classes is that there is no honors English offered in 11th because a school can only offer so many choices.

Not just the pre-IB group; Arlington allows other freshmen to take AP World History if recommended by their 8th grade geography teacher. IME, only a small number of students get recommended.

When we went to the W-L freshman information meeting with the counselors they discouraged kids from taking the AP World History class, even if recommended (which my DS was). He's doing the intensified level instead of AP.