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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Someone at Whitman and Churchill is taking non-AP courses.  My kid attended a similar school,  took a below-average number of AP courses, had friends, and got into a better university (high board scores) than many of the kids who took far more AP courses, for which in many cases they got so-so grades and earned 3s - which typically won't get them college credits - on the AP exams.

There is a benefit to being exposed to more rigorous, college-level courses in high school, but it's overdone around here and often stressful for the kids.  If OP's kids are less stressed, maybe they will have peers who are less familiar with Adderall.  The notion that you should only live in a certain type of neighborhood if you are prepared to be as competitive as its most competitive residents is nuts.  [/quote]

The problem is that the kids are hearing "take as many APs as you can" from the colleges. In other words, the pressure isn't just coming from school administrators trying to up their ranking on Jay Matthews' list. We did a college tour last spring, and we heard the same message over and over from both the top and less competitive schools: "we want to see that you challenged yourself by taking the most difficult courses you could." Unfortunately, the "honors" classes in MoCo are more like the "on level" classes of 20 years ago, and the colleges know this. So AP it is.

Sure, lots of kids bomb out with 3s or lower with this strategy, or Bs/Cs on the transcript. At least from the kid's POV, you don't have to send the 3 in with your college application, although if you got a 5 on something like AP Calc it's a good idea to send it in.

But from the perspective of the top colleges, all this pressure to take APs probably serves a purpose, even if we think the purpose is questionable. The APs help them sort out who can cut the mustard (the 5s that get sent in, and As on the transcript) and who can't (the 3's or no test score sent in, and Bs/Cs on the transcript).  I'm wondering about PPs kid, and if high SATs created an element of mystery or something that helped in comparison to the kids who took the APs and did badly, which would suggest a strategy for kids who are on the cusp.

(Another interesting question: public school kids tend to take many more APs than private school kids. You see this on DCUM all the time. Also, DC's friends at Sidwell et cetera take far fewer APs, and Maret doesn't have APs, so maybe college admissions officers have more confidence in the "regular" classes at these schools? If MoCo offered "honors" classes that were challenging, maybe the pressure to take APs would lessen.)[/quote]

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