Reply to I'm STILL confused about AP vs. DE (in Virginia)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I also grew up in VA, but not this area and we did not have any options for DE and limited options for AP. Basically, if you were a generic "honors kid" you took all available APs because there were so few. There really weren't choices for the path, beyond what elective you wanted to take. (We also only had 6 blocks so that was limiting too.)

Fast forward and our oldest is going into junior year. I'm so confused about AP vs DE. Is AP considered more rigorous? It seems a lot of parents we know of older kids are pushing DE because "you get 6 credits instead of 3" but it also seems like[b] the kids attending the most rigorous colleges still mostly do AP. [/b]

We mostly allowed DD to choose her courses for next year, and she selected all APs and no DEs (where applicable) so I guess we will see how that goes but can someone give me a straight answer on this? What is the point of offering both types?[/quote]

In Virginia, if the subject has an AP then that is more rigorous than DE. Case in point, Calculus: There are options for DE versions of 1st and 2nd semester calculus at one of the "known" public magnets. There is also AP calcAB and BC. There 5 or 6 math paths at this test-in competitive high school magnet and the the top TWO tracks have AP Calc BC (one has it as a senior, the highest one has BC as a junior followed by DE vector/multi Calculus as a senior). In the latter case, there is no non-DE for multi, so DE is "top" . The lower (#3 and 4) math tracks have various paths that include DE for Calc 1 and Calc2, equivalent to AB and BC. Path 5 does not ever take calc. It is hard but possible to get into UVA in state (for non-stem) from the  #3, third highest math path that includes DE calc. Almost all admits come from paths #1 and 2. For Ivies/T10, Math path #1 is practically required, plus all the other top rigor(AP Chem not DE), but #2 sometimes works. Math path 1 and 2 constitute over 1/4 of the school: it is a huge group. None of this is secret: it is obvious from 10th grade who the smartest kids in the school are, and they all get pushed into track 1 and track 2. UVA always says they do not have quotas, but they take kids from the equivalent of math path 3 at smaller non-magnet publics all the time, especially schools where it is the #1 path. 
Know the high school options and have your kid go to a high school where they can stand out as one of the smarter ones, not where they will be average to above, if you want in-state William&Mary, UVA or higher. [/quote]

Thanks. I guess I should have clarified I was more asking about English and the history options. She is scheduled to take AP Calc AB her junior year. She was debating DE in English and USH but ultimately decided to do the AP options of those. She is also taking AP Bio and Physics H. [/quote]

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