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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

My friend recently went on a college tour with his daughter, and the info session leader (at an Ivy) actually mentioned Montgomery County Public Schools by name. The official (an admissions guy) first asked if anyone on the tour was from this county. When no one was (my friend lives in CT) they said this: In some places, AP classes don’t mean as much as others, and we expect your child to take the most rigorous schedule available for that reason. They mentioned MCPS as an example, because they know that the students in our county take way more AP classes than kids do in other places, and also that as a result they’re not as indicative of ability as they would be elsewhere. In other words, they now expect MCPS students to take a huge number of APs because they’re not really harder than average classes would be elsewhere. The teachers in MCPS are told to teach to the middle/bottom of their clssses, even in AP courses. I think that’s pretty telling. In a county of this size with so many educated families, it stands to follow that we’ll still send a good number of students to top colleges, but that doesn’t mean MCPS schools will continue to be viewed as the most rigorous by universities. I’d argue that the county is damaging its reputation with its approach to educating kids who need extra challenge, and in the meantime piling unnecessary pressure on everyone else for no reason.[/quote]

AP classes are only indicative of ability (or, more accurately, perceived ability) in schools that only allow certain students to take AP classes. There is no such barrier in MCPS -- nor should there be, in my opinion. If a college has to rely on high schools to sort college applicants by ability, that doesn't say much about that college's admissions process. (Not to mention, doesn't the college get the AP test scores?) And it further argues for allowing all students to take AP classes.[/quote]

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