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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Like the SAT, the AP tests have been completely watered down and are a lot less meaningful than they used to be. This is why private schools have stopped bothering.

I am so tired of hearing of these striver kids from Enloe or TJ or wherever who are takin 20 APs including 4 as a freshmen then end up getting rejected by Ivies and ending up at meh state schools.

I personally think they do more harm than good. I understand they are unfortunately a necessary evil to show a student is taking the most rigorous courses, but they are a waste of time. I would rather my kid take the core courses at the university they are going to than placing into super advanced classes with upperclassmen. Unless the goal is to graduate early, being in advanced classes doesn't get you anywhere.

But I digress...[/quote]

I actually disagree, but I do concede that a lot of the "AP experience" depends on the school.

At my kid's "good public school" the AP classes are worthwhile for a highly capable kid, because the cohorts are stronger and the rigor is greater. The teachers are generally better, and the self-motivation and overall learning and exposure to other high achieving kids all happen in the AP classes. So while it's not about the test or "the 5" it IS about a fundamentally different classroom experience in an AP course. Which again, may not happen at all schools. But this has been the case at my kid's school and I am grateful for this (free!) opportunity, and for their capacity to engage with and get results on a rigorous track. [/quote]

Fair point. I am 100% supportive of wanting to be in honors classes surrounded by other top students. But can't you have this outside of the construct of "AP"? I know the answer is that the AP normalizes things across schools and all of that, which I get in theory. But the recent obsession in piling up countless AP classes has truly gotten out of hand.

I think it is almost a signaling device at this point for a school not to feel compelled to offer dozens of AP classes. It is basically saying "we know we're good. Colleges know we're good. We don't need to play this dumb game." Some schools have started to cap the number of AP classes a kid can take.

I am also a bit more bitter about this as a parent of kids in the northeast where schools start late and end late, so students are at a major disadvantage with APs. Southern schools are tripping over themselves to start earlier and earlier, which has gotten out of hand. It is too bad they can't push the APs back to force these schools to revert to a more normal schedule. Meanwhile, northeastern kids have a month less of class to prepare.[/quote]

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