APs count more in first 3 years of high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child at a W school took 2 APs sophomore year, 3 junior, and 5 senior (2 of the senior year ones she considered to be really interesting and not too demanding (AP environmental science and psych). She did very well in admissions as an unhooked kid (excellent test scores helped, I'm sure) and is having a great experience at an academically intense top 20 school.

I have the sense that she enjoyed her HS academic experience more than her similarly capable friends who loaded up on APs prior to senior year, because she was a better and more confident student as a senior. She spent much less time on even the tough APs she took senior year (like physics) than I think she would have had she taken the class as a sophomore or junior. She also was on the low end of her cohort for total APs taken--some of her friends had taken 14-16 all together--but did as well as or better in admissions than many of them. I know this is just one anecdote, but I really have not seen any admissions benefit to taking more APs earlier on.

This is sad. The PP doesn't even realize that this is considered to be a heavy AP coarse load. Again, my DS took only 6 total...2 in junior year and 4 in senior year -- admitted to a top 20 school with merit potential AND nominated for B/K merit scholarship at UMD and has secured merit elsewhere. The PP's DC took a total of 10 -- and this is moderate in DC's school. Think about how stressed kids are trying to keep up with that pace. Sophomores have no business taking 3 APs...sorry.

I'm the PP you are responding too, and I think you are off-base on a number of things. For starters, you are pulling the thread off-topic. OP asked if kids need to front load APs, and I'm sharing our experience with a kid that did the opposite and had good outcomes. We do actually think 10 was a pretty heavy load, but virtually all of them were classes she would have wanted to take anyway. At her school, many of the AP teachers are outstanding, and she enjoyed all but one of the AP classes she took.

And if you are the person up thread who referred to "pathetic public schools," it seems a bit odd that you are so obsessed with this topic. Sounds like your son ended up in the same type of place as my DD and her friends did, but was (in your view) lucky to get there without having to take many APs. Good for him, but we are very happy that our kid had the chance to get an excellent and free public education, and the AP classes were part of what prepared her well for college.

There you go again PP. Cleary you are living in a bubble because you don't even realize that your DC DID front load AP courses. Taking three APs in sophomore is unnecessary and ridiculous, but sadly necessary if you go to a W school. Yes, there may be some who took one in freshman year and maybe four in sophomore year. It is all relative, but my position is taking APs before junior year is not a good practice and creates an environment of stress. But you go ahead and believe what you want. You are lucky that your DC is out of high school already, because I can tell you that things have not been going well with a lot of my friend's kids and admissions this year...even with 10+ APs and ridiculously high GPAs. Colleges are keenly aware of the grade inflation at MCPS. In fact, at one college presentation the admissions person mentioned this exactly...referring to MCPS. Talking about grade inflation...and then he asked if anyone was from Montgomery County Maryland before going into his spiel about how in some schools, As don't mean much anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the school. If in an MCPS public, yes, your DC will need to take lots of APS by junior year in order to be competitive for college applications. That is because the school offers so many APs starting in freshman year. My son's public school friends were all taking APs starting freshman year and by end of junior year had six or more APs completed. If in a private school that offers limited APs, then no. It really all depends on what the school offers.

Like the PP, my son who attended a Catholic HS only took 2 APs prior to senior year. He got into his first choice school, a top 20, and many others.

I thought the College Board determined when AP classed could be offered? At our school the only AP offered prior to JR year is AP World History.

This is entirely incorrect. There is one AP class offered to freshman (NSL), sophomore year they can take APush, AP Stats and maybe AP Psych. That is it. You can no longer take AP English as a sophomore.

PP- To clarify, we are at a W school and this is a county wide rule. Don't stress out kids and parents unnecessarily with incorrect information.

OK, so let's count now. Freshman year: 1 AP, Sophomore year, 3 APs, Junior year unlimited APs, Senior year, unlimited APs.

Assuming PP is accurate, by the beginning of junior year, a W school student has potential of taking 4 APs, vs. other schools (like my son's) which offer no APs until junior year.

I still think there is an immense amount of pressure for kids to "load up" on APs in these pathetic public schools with horrifying grade inflation. SAD.

The truth is, though, there are very few kids taking AP Stat their sophomore year, my DS was one of 4. No one he knows he took AP Psych, but theoretically a student could. So in reality, it is one Freshman year (which you have to write an essay to test into) and one Sophomore year (unless you are the very math oriented, all the kids who took Stats as Sophomore took it as a second math).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child at a W school took 2 APs sophomore year, 3 junior, and 5 senior (2 of the senior year ones she considered to be really interesting and not too demanding (AP environmental science and psych). She did very well in admissions as an unhooked kid (excellent test scores helped, I'm sure) and is having a great experience at an academically intense top 20 school.

I have the sense that she enjoyed her HS academic experience more than her similarly capable friends who loaded up on APs prior to senior year, because she was a better and more confident student as a senior. She spent much less time on even the tough APs she took senior year (like physics) than I think she would have had she taken the class as a sophomore or junior. She also was on the low end of her cohort for total APs taken--some of her friends had taken 14-16 all together--but did as well as or better in admissions than many of them. I know this is just one anecdote, but I really have not seen any admissions benefit to taking more APs earlier on.

This is sad. The PP doesn't even realize that this is considered to be a heavy AP coarse load. Again, my DS took only 6 total...2 in junior year and 4 in senior year -- admitted to a top 20 school with merit potential AND nominated for B/K merit scholarship at UMD and has secured merit elsewhere. The PP's DC took a total of 10 -- and this is moderate in DC's school. Think about how stressed kids are trying to keep up with that pace. Sophomores have no business taking 3 APs...sorry.

I'm the PP you are responding too, and I think you are off-base on a number of things. For starters, you are pulling the thread off-topic. OP asked if kids need to front load APs, and I'm sharing our experience with a kid that did the opposite and had good outcomes. We do actually think 10 was a pretty heavy load, but virtually all of them were classes she would have wanted to take anyway. At her school, many of the AP teachers are outstanding, and she enjoyed all but one of the AP classes she took.

And if you are the person up thread who referred to "pathetic public schools," it seems a bit odd that you are so obsessed with this topic. Sounds like your son ended up in the same type of place as my DD and her friends did, but was (in your view) lucky to get there without having to take many APs. Good for him, but we are very happy that our kid had the chance to get an excellent and free public education, and the AP classes were part of what prepared her well for college.

There you go again PP. Cleary you are living in a bubble because you don't even realize that your DC DID front load AP courses. Taking three APs in sophomore is unnecessary and ridiculous, but sadly necessary if you go to a W school. Yes, there may be some who took one in freshman year and maybe four in sophomore year. It is all relative, but my position is taking APs before junior year is not a good practice and creates an environment of stress. But you go ahead and believe what you want. You are lucky that your DC is out of high school already, because I can tell you that things have not been going well with a lot of my friend's kids and admissions this year...even with 10+ APs and ridiculously high GPAs. Colleges are keenly aware of the grade inflation at MCPS. In fact, at one college presentation the admissions person mentioned this exactly...referring to MCPS. Talking about grade inflation...and then he asked if anyone was from Montgomery County Maryland before going into his spiel about how in some schools, As don't mean much anymore.

The AP classes did not stress out my child because they were at a good level for him. If your child is stressed out by them, they are probably not the correct course choice. As a parent, you should help guide your child to choose the courses will challenge, but not overwhelm them. A district has to make sure every student has the opportunities that fits their needs.

[Anonymous]

I'm a mom who DID encourage AP classes, not solely because of the GPA boost, but because I hoped that when my kids hit Calculus and Chem in college, they wouldn't be the only kids in the room seeing the material for the first time. I felt that, even watered down, a bit of exposure in public high school would help later when I was paying college tuition. For math and science, I still wanted them to start at level 1 in college, not skip to Cal 3 or whatever. I didn't feel the same way about USH or Lit, but for maths and science, I really encouraged them to enroll

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a mom who DID encourage AP classes, not solely because of the GPA boost, but because I hoped that when my kids hit Calculus and Chem in college, they wouldn't be the only kids in the room seeing the material for the first time. I felt that, even watered down, a bit of exposure in public high school would help later when I was paying college tuition. For math and science, I still wanted them to start at level 1 in college, not skip to Cal 3 or whatever. I didn't feel the same way about USH or Lit, but for maths and science, I really encouraged them to enroll

I''m the mom being attacked above by the PP who thinks taking 10 APs is sad, and I definitely agree on the math and science courses. My DD took AP chem, physics, and calculus, and has done well in those courses in college. She didn't take AP bio, and regrets it as that's what she'll major in. That has been the only college class where she felt like she started at a real disadvantage compared to her classmates.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to get attacked but my senior DC completed 9 AP classes and exams by the end of 11th, and is taking 1 as a senior. Doing a challenging independent study project now, and taking some dual enrollment courses.

This made sense for this kid; and had the advantage of giving him plenty of time to work on college apps this fall (he worked full time in a paid job last summer). Found none of them particularly stressful, with the exception of AP Chem.

DC has been admitted 6 EA colleges so far; waiting to hear from a handful of RD ones before deciding.

FWIW my other DC is a very different kid and will not take anywhere near as many APs. Kids are different. No reason to judge others' choices.

[Anonymous]

To parents withs kids not in HS yet and without any real experience , I think you need to look at why parents are saying some of the things that they are.
These include:
Some kids are ready for APs at younger ages, some aren't. The parents of the kids that aren't are worried about how this affects their kids.
Some non-MCPS parents are very upset with what they consider MCPS grade inflation because they believe it negatively affects their non MCPS children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To parents withs kids not in HS yet and without any real experience , I think you need to look at why parents are saying some of the things that they are.
These include:
Some kids are ready for APs at younger ages, some aren't. The parents of the kids that aren't are worried about how this affects their kids.
Some non-MCPS parents are very upset with what they consider MCPS grade inflation because they believe it negatively affects their non MCPS children.

Hah...not worried at all about how MCPS children affects my private school kid...because there is no effect...other than the fact that my neighbors think their kids are superstars, when they are just ordinary. But the proof is in all the denials they are seeing while my kid is getting into each and every school to which he applied. He has a 4.12 GPA. His public school friends, on the other hand with 4.5 GPA...getting rejected left and right. We made the right decision with private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To parents withs kids not in HS yet and without any real experience , I think you need to look at why parents are saying some of the things that they are.
These include:
Some kids are ready for APs at younger ages, some aren't. The parents of the kids that aren't are worried about how this affects their kids.
Some non-MCPS parents are very upset with what they consider MCPS grade inflation because they believe it negatively affects their non MCPS children.

Hah...not worried at all about how MCPS children affects my private school kid...because there is no effect...other than the fact that my neighbors think their kids are superstars, when they are just ordinary. But the proof is in all the denials they are seeing while my kid is getting into each and every school to which he applied. He has a 4.12 GPA. His public school friends, on the other hand with 4.5 GPA...getting rejected left and right. We made the right decision with private school.

And this would be the perfect example of a parent driven crazy by the idea of MCPS grade inflation. Satire?