Reply to How is the elimination of APs going for your DC

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "How is the elimination of APs going for your DC"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]AP classes are like a McDonalds happy meal.  They even throw in a little toy, college credit.  However, if you really care you can do much better for your kids.[/quote]

I’ll give you the fact that AP classes have shortcomings, but let’s be honest here, it’s not like private classes are that much better.

Lower division major classes are a commodity, Calculus 1 for example is pretty much the same at many universities, they’ll use the same textbooks.

In what way is private school calculus better than the AP or community college version? It’s not, if anything the community college class is the most rigorous among them.

There are other legitimate reasons to go to a private school, but rigor of classes over AP is not one of them.

College credit and placement is definitely nice to have.[/quote]

Rigor of coursework is one of the top reasons to choose private schools.

The grade inflation at public schools has rendered their grades meaningless and an unweighted 4.0 GPA is the norm.

Being graded beyond multiple choice exams, such as meaningful regular feedback on writing, or complex mathematics problem solving, is a good example of what a huge difference there is.[/quote]

The reason for multiple choices are testing a large number of concepts going through the entire curriculum . It’s done not only for AP but also professional testing, MCAT, LSAT, GRE.  It’s not like the five teachers at the math department at some high school figured out how to design a test better than the staff at a billion dollar company.

Let’s be real with complex mathematics problem solving. Give some specifics if you have. AP
Exams are well thought out.[/quote]

AP exams are a joke.  You can get a 5 and still be completely unprepared for the college class it was supposed to overlap with.

AP wants to sell their program to the largest audience possible, to maximize profits.  Their standards are extremely low.

Comparing it to MCAT or LSAT makes no sense.  Those have much harder grading that actually separates students, like the SAT.[/quote]

AP results are good enough for MIT and Stanford, but nope, not good enough for you and some private school. C’mon now, let’s not exaggerate.

Curious how you think Calculus at private is that much better than AP Calculus BC. From the syllabus bits I’ve seen on the internet it’s not what you make it seem. Be specific if you can instead of generalities.[/quote]

Challenging students to go far beyond the AP curriculum, mirroring what an T30 college would provide, and offering multiple math classes beyond multi variable calculus, is the expectation at a decent private.[/quote]

The multivariable and beyond at privates are nowhere close to what’s taught at top 30. That’s not why students go to privates. It’s great the advance classes exists, but there won’t be any college credit earned. That’s assuming these classes are offered, not always the case.

If you’re really after credit go through community college or 4 year universities for dual enrollment. Usually publics have agreements, while privates don’t, but that’s not a problem, the additional cost is not  prohibitive.
[/quote]

Plus many of them don’t even offer beyond multivariable, because they view acceleration negatively.

These people will repeat any talking point they hear from their schools.[/quote]

Some of these talking points are legitimate so dismissing it by calling it just a talking point is lazy.[/quote]

The arguments for removing APs were just that, talking points. Privates don’t necessarily view acceleration negatively, but it depends on the size of the school, the students attending to have a critical mass for the classes.[/quote]

The privates are doing just fine without AP classes.  Kids can take AP tests if they want.  Who really cares?[/quote]

Yes they can but it’s a huge PIA as it requires prep that would not be required if they just taught the damn AP class…not a fan. Our school switched when we were already 7 years in- too late to change course. But I would have likely chosen different school  if the no AP thing had been on the table before my kids got to high school. For us it’s too late. [/quote]

I agree. Removing the AP classes was just a marketing ploy, so the AP participation and scores would not be easily compared across public and private schools. Most people would not have cared and send the kids to private for different reasons. Now, for any advanced class the student needs to study on their own to prepare for the test format and topics that may be missing. Although some privates explicitly state the class will prepare the student for the AP exam, they are not AP classes so that’s a head scratcher. [/quote]

I disagree.  AP classes are the marketing ploy, and many schools are wisely realizing that the material they cover isn’t very good.[/quote]

Sure AP classes are a marketing ploy with the tangible benefit of getting college credit.

Pick Calculus or whatever class, what part being covered isn’t very good? At least in math and sciences, the overlap between not very good AP classes and the new “improved”classes is 100%.

You’re just repeating talking points.[/quote]

I will rephrase "not very good".  How about "not as useful as an Honors classes at a strong private"?  I don't seem the benefit in AP when you can take a better class, get the same GPA boost from honors, and still gain acceptance to a Top 25 college.  Also, most elite schools don't allow graduation credit for AP any longer, and you will get the same placement benefit from  an Honors course.  The talking point is that AP allows you to get credit and graduate sooner when in actuality that is rarely true. n Happy to be debated on that if you have any proof of the opposite.....but I seriously doubt it.[/quote]

Maybe bother to check the college policies with respect to AP coursework before having a strong opinion on the topic. Among HYPSM “elite” colleges Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and MIT give some credit for AP exams, so there goes your theory.

What’s so special about those honor classes at strong privates? You might get a better teacher, more individual support, but that has nothing to do with the curriculum and exam. It’s not like privates will invent new calculus and Physics to teach.

Read the calculus course description at “strong private” Sidwell and the one at college board. They are identical.[/quote]

+1. And this is true for most of the subjects. Probably the only ones where there can easily be clear variation are English lit and the history ones (not the other social sciences). But even then it mostly comes down to teaching.[/quote]

FWIW: My kids' school has at least 12 different 1-semester versions of AP Lit., all with different literary themes. Most students take 3 semesters of AP Lit because the topics are so interesting.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics