APS Summer Economics and Personal Finance

[Anonymous]

Interested in hearing from people whose kids have taken this as a summer class:
(1) Did they take the self-paced or the inschool class?
(2) Was it REALLY 4-6 hours a day for self-paced?
(3) How difficult/challenging was the course?
(4) Is it advisable for a rising WL IB sophomore to make room for other electives?
(5) Does anyone think they'll offer self-paced again next year?

[Anonymous]

The course is only offered self-paced. No in person options this year. My kid did it last summer. It was fine. About 2-3 hours per day depending on your child. They offer self paced every year. It was fine and worth it to make room for electives or other APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The course is only offered self-paced. No in person options this year. My kid did it last summer. It was fine. About 2-3 hours per day depending on your child. They offer self paced every year. It was fine and worth it to make room for electives or other APs.

+1 same for my son. 2-3 hours a day, closer ton3. He had one week where he didn't get home from an activity until 5pm each day, and that was tough. But on fully free days, he worked in the morning and finished in time for a late lunch. I have no idea if it's better in the summer. Last summer he was home because of covid and there was nothing to do, so it worked out well.

[Anonymous]

My daughter took it last summer. Agree with other posters it’s about 2-3 hours each day. Glad she did it last summer to free up her schedule a bit for Jr/Sr year. However, she’s so burnt out from being online that she told me there is no way she could have done it this summer. She needs a break from the computer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interested in hearing from people whose kids have taken this as a summer class:
(1) Did they take the self-paced or the inschool class?

Self paced.

(2) Was it REALLY 4-6 hours a day for self-paced?

Maybe half that.

(3) How difficult/challenging was the course?

My recollection is that there were A LOT of opportunities to redo quizzes and other assignments. A motivated student should find it pretty easy to make an A. Even a not super motivated student.

(4) Is it advisable for a rising WL IB sophomore to make room for other electives?

YES

(5) Does anyone think they'll offer self-paced again next year?

Sorry, I don’t know. The class seems pretty popular so my guess would be yes, but in your shoes I would encourage my kid to take it this summer just in case.

[Anonymous]

The only thing worse than taking this class in the summer is dragging it out over the entire school year.

[Anonymous]

My DD took it last summer. She found it hard to stay on track and focus with an online class (DL was also awful for her) and I didn't realize how behind she was getting until late in the course so it made for a stressful couple of weeks. She also had to get it finished a week early before going on a trip. I think it would be fine for a self-directed kid or as long as the parent is able to keep an eye on progress. But, I do think it's pretty impossible to not get an A as long as you get through everything.

You can also take an AP or IB Economics class to satisfy the requirement if that's of interest. My older child didn't do the EPF class because he took IB Economics.

[Anonymous]

Kiddo took the class last year. 2-3 hours is about right, but yiu have to stay on top of it or the kid will fall behind quickly which is not fun. My child said they couldn’t imagine taking this class for an entire year.

[Anonymous]

OP: Thank you DCUM folks. This is SO helpful!!