how on earth are kids taking 10 AP classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Way back in the 90s I took 10 and it didn't seem too overwhelming or miserable:
- AP US Gov in 10th grade
- AP US history, AP Physics, AP Calc AB, AP Art History, in 11th
- AP English, AP Comp Government, AP Bio, AP Calc BC, AP French in 12th

At my school, you had to take Bio and Chem before the AP classes, but AP physics could be your first physics class.
I know a lot of schools skip AP Calc AB these days, so if my school did that I would have been down to 9, I guess.

When I was in HS back in the 80s, I think you could only take 5 total at my high school That's all that was offered, but this was also before they inflated your GPA so there was less incentive I guess. However, even back then half the kids in those classes really didn't belong there and mostly held others back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Starting AP in 8th and 9th grade is unnecessary, and could come back to haunt your student if they get a lower score than they would if they took it later in high school.

She got a 5 in AP World History and a 4 in AP Environmental Science in 8th grade so she's doing OK

Good for her, but it's no wonder colleges are devaluing the AP curriculum. These are supposedly college level courses.

New poster here. I have an 8th grader whose 7th grade ACT score was higher than either of his high school cousins and good enough to get him into many SLACs. He could do college level courses right now and would not be out of his depth. Not all kids (or college students) operate at the same level. If a younger student is capable of college-level work, that doesn’t mean the work isn’t college-level by virtue of the fact that a non-college student may be advanced enough to handle it.

[Anonymous]

02/06/2020 09:54 Interested to see where he is getting in for college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid at TJ:

9th - 2 APs - AP CSPrinc, AP Calc BC
10th - 3 APs + 2 DE (dual enrollment univ course) - AP Chem, AP CS A(B), AP World History + DE MultiCalc, DE Linear Algebra
11th - 6 APs + 2 DE - APUSH, AP Physics C&EM, AP Econ Micro&Macro, AP Latin + DE Complex Analysis, DE Diff Eq
12th - 5 APs (3 req'd + 2 elective) + 2 DE - AP LangComp, AP Gov't, AP Env Sci, AP Psych + DE prob/stats (AP stats), DE Advanced Math

14-16 APs (2 are half-year AP pairs, 3 are AP exams taken after similar non-AP or post-AP courses), and 6 semesters univ credit math (+ 4 semesters post-AP CS electives not shown above)

This is a very impressive schedule. Did your child attend an FCPS middle school? Did he or she take summer courses?

[Anonymous]

Some kids might be doing this. My kids won't be. I won't allow it. They can take a few, but I also want them to have a nice life outside of school. They play sports, are involved in other extra curricular activities. They also have time to just hang out with friends or to relax. My family just personally felt that we wanted to prioritize boundaries, taking care of one's mental health, etc. Maybe some kids are able to take 10 AP's, and play sports and do other extra curriculars and hang out with friends and sleep too. I'm not sure how, but I don't want my kids to try. Whether they go to our state flagship university or to an Ivy, the outcome of their life isn't dependent on where they end up going to college.

[Anonymous]

It's called NO LIFE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid at TJ:

9th - 2 APs - AP CSPrinc, AP Calc BC
10th - 3 APs + 2 DE (dual enrollment univ course) - AP Chem, AP CS A(B), AP World History + DE MultiCalc, DE Linear Algebra
11th - 6 APs + 2 DE - APUSH, AP Physics C&EM, AP Econ Micro&Macro, AP Latin + DE Complex Analysis, DE Diff Eq
12th - 5 APs (3 req'd + 2 elective) + 2 DE - AP LangComp, AP Gov't, AP Env Sci, AP Psych + DE prob/stats (AP stats), DE Advanced Math

14-16 APs (2 are half-year AP pairs, 3 are AP exams taken after similar non-AP or post-AP courses), and 6 semesters univ credit math (+ 4 semesters post-AP CS electives not shown above)

This is a very impressive schedule. Did your child attend an FCPS middle school? Did he or she take summer courses?

Why are you doing this to your children.

[Anonymous]

What a lot of striver parents don't realize is that this is starting to turn off college admissions officers. It paints the kids as automatons who are doing everything to get into college, rather than kids "pursuing their passions." The people who make their kids self-study for APs on top of school are the ones who really look like this. Let your child join a club instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some posters mention that their kids are taking 9-10 AP classes in high school. How is this even possible? You need to take bio, chem or physics before you take those APs, so that's only 1-2 AP sciences, max. And then maybe AP English, Government, a language, comp sci? that's still only 6. How do kids do it? And doesn't it mean a killer schedule?

Your premise on prereqs is not true of every school.

However, the CB does require that AP sciences are the 2nd exposure, so schools are breaking their agreement by putting kids straight in.

Not if they've already covered that ground in the middle school curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a lot of striver parents don't realize is that this is starting to turn off college admissions officers. It paints the kids as automatons who are doing everything to get into college, rather than kids "pursuing their passions." The people who make their kids self-study for APs on top of school are the ones who really look like this. Let your child join a club instead.

You really think these kids aren't in clubs and pursuing passions? Realize that for some kids, this isn't a difficult course load, its just normal high school classes finally being taught at a level that makes them actually work and become engaged with the material. It is a huge relief to get to take these classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Starting AP in 8th and 9th grade is unnecessary, and could come back to haunt your student if they get a lower score than they would if they took it later in high school.

She got a 5 in AP World History and a 4 in AP Environmental Science in 8th grade so she's doing OK

Good for her, but it's no wonder colleges are devaluing the AP curriculum. These are supposedly college level courses.

Don't underestimate some of these kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some kids might be doing this. My kids won't be. I won't allow it. They can take a few, but I also want them to have a nice life outside of school. They play sports, are involved in other extra curricular activities. They also have time to just hang out with friends or to relax. My family just personally felt that we wanted to prioritize boundaries, taking care of one's mental health, etc. Maybe some kids are able to take 10 AP's, and play sports and do other extra curriculars and hang out with friends and sleep too. I'm not sure how, but I don't want my kids to try. Whether they go to our state flagship university or to an Ivy, the outcome of their life isn't dependent on where they end up going to college.

Our kids were smart but not geniuses, and managed pretty easily to take 8 to 10 AP classes throughout high school, be involved in extracurriculars, and have active social lives. They typically took one AP sophomore year and four or so in each of the junior and senior years.

Sure your kids can do less, and more power to them. But it's not as tough as you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids might be doing this. My kids won't be. I won't allow it. They can take a few, but I also want them to have a nice life outside of school. They play sports, are involved in other extra curricular activities. They also have time to just hang out with friends or to relax. My family just personally felt that we wanted to prioritize boundaries, taking care of one's mental health, etc. Maybe some kids are able to take 10 AP's, and play sports and do other extra curriculars and hang out with friends and sleep too. I'm not sure how, but I don't want my kids to try. Whether they go to our state flagship university or to an Ivy, the outcome of their life isn't dependent on where they end up going to college.

Our kids were smart but not geniuses, and managed pretty easily to take 8 to 10 AP classes throughout high school, be involved in extracurriculars, and have active social lives. They typically took one AP sophomore year and four or so in each of the junior and senior years.

Sure your kids can do less, and more power to them. But it's not as tough as you think.

Yes, for many kids who came up through AAP/gifted programs, AP is the natural progression. Even way back when I was in high school, my class load was all AP except for one dual-enroll math course the last 2 years. By age 16-17-18, these top academic students need this level of challenge. They still have time for social lives, activities, etc... I don't think I worked any harder for academics than friends who were well-suited to their honors level classes.

[Anonymous]

Exactly! Do not judge others for taking more or less APs. Every student should take what is right for them. Period.

Mine takes what I would consider a lot, does 2 varsity sports, volunteers and has time for friends. School just happens to come easy for her. Believe me there are other things that do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly! Do not judge others for taking more or less APs. Every student should take what is right for them. Period.

Mine takes what I would consider a lot, does 2 varsity sports, volunteers and has time for friends. School just happens to come easy for her. Believe me there are other things that do not.

Most kids should not be taking 10 AP classes and AP tests should not cost money.

It’s a bad business whether you understand it or not.