When did taking 6 APs become normal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I went to high school in France - the French international Bac was much harder than undergrad in the US.

Regular classes have very low standards here - AP and IB classes (albeit different) are about the same degree of difficulty as the best high school systems abroad.

That's the part Americans don't understand.

Agreed. I went to secondary school in the UK and college in the US. For university bound students in the UK - and not everyone is university bound, obviously - the final two years of secondary school (A levels) are all AP level work, and garner a lot of college credit if you attend college in the US. This is just the normal baseline of work required. If you plan to go on to university, there is no opting out, or reducing the difficulty of your workload. There are ways to increase the volume or difficulty of work if you are an exceptional student. Of course, a PP is correct that, in the UK, the focus for these years is on academics, and not extra curricular activities or community service. So, while the academics are higher pressure than they are in the US (you study each subject in great depth for two years and then take a test), kids are probably less stressed overall.