Thanks for the responses

From the website: AP Seminar is an introductory AP class for grades 10 and 11, and serves as a prerequisite for AP Research, which is typically offered in grades 11 or 12.

Took AP Seminar in 11th grade and now in AP Research in 12th grade.
This is my kid's favorite class. It's great for those who love to research, write and analyze.

I would recommend taking it 11th and 12th grade. My kid might have been okay starting in 10th grade but that was also the online year. Even though 11th grade was in-person, I did get to see a lot of the online prep work my kid did with classmates- rehearsing for presentations, making decisions on their slides etc. They were having so much fun. Might be doable to do the sequence in 10th and 11th grade but also consider that 11th grade is the hardest year.

It was a very tough class. Lots of work. Kids are also assessed on how well they work in a team.
In 11th grade, they had to turn in a portfolio at the end of the year with individual research and recorded presentations.
There was also an AP exam, which was tougher than expected. Kid got an A in class and scored a 4 on the exam.
Kid is very excited about exploring topics to do for year-long project.
From what I learned from Back to School night, the AP Research course pretty much resembles what I did for my college thesis work.
I have no doubt that this is great preparation.

At my kids’ school the magnet students take AP Seminar Junior year and AP Research Senior year.

Poolesville high school Humanities magnet students take AP seminar during sophomore year.

AP Seminar was the bane of my son’s existence. He took it as a freshman. My older one took AP classes- 11 total in HS though not AP Seminar. I can’t remember a class that for my older one that was that stressful. In retrospect, I’m sure it will be helpful but it’s a tough class.

When do kids usually take these? Later in the high school career? Is inappropriate for a sophomore to stick one of these in? Thank you!