How many APs did your MCPS kid take?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a money making scam by the college board and MCPS loves offering them. They pay teachers with basic bachelor’s degrees to teach a class to 13-17yr olds, than a professor with a PHD should teach to 18-20yr olds. They don’t have to make the curriculum and the failure rates for every course is above 50%. Some as high as 70% (3 is failing for almost all colleges - or they pass you an into course no one needs) But... somehow they are easy A’s with a curved grading system and the extra point boost.

Kids get a higher GPA = win for them
School doesn’t have to create curriculums = win for them
Teachers don’t care if the kids pass the exam = win for them
College Board makes billions in fees = win for them
Colleges can choose to except none or a handful = win for them.
Parents think their kids are “gifted” = win for them.

I mean it is a farce. Let’s give 14yr old kids college courses. So easy to stroke egos when lots of money is involved.

But it's all relative. Is DD's APUSH class really the equivalent of what she would take in college? No.
Are the curriculum, peer group and teaching better than Honors US History? Yes

So she would retake the course in college?

DP. Why "retake"? She might take a class in American history in college, but it would be a different class. It's not like you take one class in American history and then you know everything.

[Anonymous]

It is hard to imagine a SMAC kid would really be enjoying the "challenging nature" of an AP class, given their heavy work load and EC activities.

The main reasons to take AP classes:
1) to get college credit later.
2) to impress college admission officers that the student is taking challenging courses (here the "challenging" part comes in - not the student themselves, but rather they think the admission officers want to see that) and getting good grades in AP exams.

Most students wouldn't mind taking a "not so challenging" but "appears to be challenging (to outsiders)" course and getting an A for that course. It just doesn't work that way though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a money making scam by the college board and MCPS loves offering them. They pay teachers with basic bachelor’s degrees to teach a class to 13-17yr olds, than a professor with a PHD should teach to 18-20yr olds. They don’t have to make the curriculum and the failure rates for every course is above 50%. Some as high as 70% (3 is failing for almost all colleges - or they pass you an into course no one needs) But... somehow they are easy A’s with a curved grading system and the extra point boost.

Kids get a higher GPA = win for them
School doesn’t have to create curriculums = win for them
Teachers don’t care if the kids pass the exam = win for them
College Board makes billions in fees = win for them
Colleges can choose to except none or a handful = win for them.
Parents think their kids are “gifted” = win for them.

I mean it is a farce. Let’s give 14yr old kids college courses. So easy to stroke egos when lots of money is involved.

I've got news for you about who is doing the actual teaching in college.

Oh sweetie, only if you don't do your homework. Most parents care for the name, not really who is actually teaching them. But there are PLENTY of colleges that only actual professors teach the courses, even freshman courses. But you go on thinking Sally with her bachelors from Towson is qualified to teach AP Chemistry. I guess that is why the failure rate is so high, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a money making scam by the college board and MCPS loves offering them. They pay teachers with basic bachelor’s degrees to teach a class to 13-17yr olds, than a professor with a PHD should teach to 18-20yr olds. They don’t have to make the curriculum and the failure rates for every course is above 50%. Some as high as 70% (3 is failing for almost all colleges - or they pass you an into course no one needs) But... somehow they are easy A’s with a curved grading system and the extra point boost.

Kids get a higher GPA = win for them
School doesn’t have to create curriculums = win for them
Teachers don’t care if the kids pass the exam = win for them
College Board makes billions in fees = win for them
Colleges can choose to except none or a handful = win for them.
Parents think their kids are “gifted” = win for them.

I mean it is a farce. Let’s give 14yr old kids college courses. So easy to stroke egos when lots of money is involved.

I've got news for you about who is doing the actual teaching in college.

Oh sweetie, only if you don't do your homework. Most parents care for the name, not really who is actually teaching them. But there are PLENTY of colleges that only actual professors teach the courses, even freshman courses. But you go on thinking Sally with her bachelors from Towson is qualified to teach AP Chemistry. I guess that is why the failure rate is so high, no?

Are you really a real person, and if so, is that how you talk to people in real life?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a money making scam by the college board and MCPS loves offering them. They pay teachers with basic bachelor’s degrees to teach a class to 13-17yr olds, than a professor with a PHD should teach to 18-20yr olds. They don’t have to make the curriculum and the failure rates for every course is above 50%. Some as high as 70% (3 is failing for almost all colleges - or they pass you an into course no one needs) But... somehow they are easy A’s with a curved grading system and the extra point boost.

Kids get a higher GPA = win for them
School doesn’t have to create curriculums = win for them
Teachers don’t care if the kids pass the exam = win for them
College Board makes billions in fees = win for them
Colleges can choose to except none or a handful = win for them.
Parents think their kids are “gifted” = win for them.

I mean it is a farce. Let’s give 14yr old kids college courses. So easy to stroke egos when lots of money is involved.

But it's all relative. Is DD's APUSH class really the equivalent of what she would take in college? No.
Are the curriculum, peer group and teaching better than Honors US History? Yes

So she would retake the course in college?

Probably not. She is required to take a year of US History in high school. She is not going to be a history major in college, and would likely choose something else to fulfill any humanities or social science requirement.