Anonymous wrote:I am trying SOOOO hard to convince my rising 9th grader at the Blair SMCS to not take APUSH (which is being offered for the first time next year). She really wants to make sure she is a good writer and is worried are that the SMCS classes will be great but humanities won't be, so she will graduate without well-developed writing skills. Ninth grade in the magnet seems so intense - I don't like the idea of making it even harder. Anybody willing to give me more ammunition for her to not do this, please reply away

I had the same discussion with my rising 9th grade SMSC student. Before the high school decisions came out there had been s solid push at his middle school to encourage kids to take APUSH and it worked - he was convinced and excited about getting an AP in 9th. Then he got a place in the magnet and they discouraged it. Ultimately he decided against APUSH because 1) the magnet program advised against it unless you love history and 2) he learned that it requires a very heavy reading load of very dry history text books (hours a night) and though he loves reading that didn’t sound fun. I think the magnet workload will be intense enough that there’s no reason to add to it at this point.

I am trying SOOOO hard to convince my rising 9th grader at the Blair SMCS to not take APUSH (which is being offered for the first time next year). She really wants to make sure she is a good writer and is worried are that the SMCS classes will be great but humanities won't be, so she will graduate without well-developed writing skills. Ninth grade in the magnet seems so intense - I don't like the idea of making it even harder. Anybody willing to give me more ammunition for her to not do this, please reply away

Anonymous wrote:Every year, the Magnet co-ordinator tells families that the Magnet program is not an AP program. If that was what you were looking for, you chose the wrong program.

The sciences classes go deeper into some things and leave out others altogether. It does not prepare kids for AP exams. The goal is to train the students to think like a scientist.

Anonymous wrote:Virutually no Blair magnet kids take AP tests in 9th. In 10th many take the Comp Sci exam and the Gov’t one.

Mine had several friends who did Physics A exam in 9th and a few who self studied for apush, even though none of them could take apush as a 9th grader, and all were enrolled in honors us history. We thought that was a little extreme.

Mine chose not to take APs for these. Did not see the point of Physics A, and mag chemistry was more the equivalent of honors, not AP, so that would require a lot of self study. Tried to get her to do the comp sci, but just not interested. Did Calc BC (after Analysis 1) and 2 others (with the AP classes) Soph year, 2 in jr year, 3 sr year, so 8 total, 7 based on actual AP classes + Calc. Sr year ones didn't matter at all in the end because her college doesn't take APs.

I wouldn't fret over self studying for extra APs. Mag classes look good. Colleges know the program. Not worth the stress IMO.

Anonymous wrote:How many have the average kid taken by the end of 11th or 12th grade?

No more than the average kid who takes APs does, maybe even fewer. The magnet isn't geared toward attaining AP credits.

I had two kids at Blair. My non-magnet kid took 9 APs. My magnet kid took 8. Sure, either could've taken more and both took several post-AP math and science classes. They weren't trying to maximize APs.

Every year, the Magnet co-ordinator tells families that the Magnet program is not an AP program. If that was what you were looking for, you chose the wrong program.

Virutually no Blair magnet kids take AP tests in 9th. In 10th many take the Comp Sci exam and the Gov’t one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:since the kids take Magnet Physics and Chemistry as well as Computer Science A/B in 9th grade, do they take AP exams in any of those at the end of 9th grade?

Those science courses aren't aligned with APs, so you'd need to do a lot of self-study if you plan on taking APs for those subjects.

Also, the Intro CS course isn't comparable to AP Computer Science Java. Some students can place out of a semester of the intro class, so they could start the magnet equivalent a semester early, but they wouldn't finish until the middle of their 2nd year.

None of the Blair magnet courses are aligned with APs. But I got the impression that students were well placed to take the AP exam with some of them (because the course went beyond the AP curriculum). Does that mean that the 9th grade courses just aren’t ones that cover much AP content? (But others are?)

My SMCS did not take any AP exams freshman year. I think Sophomore year was AP GOV and ?? Compsci. In general, SMCS have fewer APs than kids in a non magnet program. A dual enrollment program would be better for a student who wants to knock out a bunch of college requirements (and will attend a school that accepts them)

Anonymous wrote:How many have the average kid taken by the end of 11th or 12th grade?

Blair SMCS magnet kids aren't average!

There are a lot of 2nd tier AP exams. For example, AP Physics 1 is irrelevant for student who will take AP Physics C later.

Similar for Computer Science.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:since the kids take Magnet Physics and Chemistry as well as Computer Science A/B in 9th grade, do they take AP exams in any of those at the end of 9th grade?

Those science courses aren't aligned with APs, so you'd need to do a lot of self-study if you plan on taking APs for those subjects.

Also, the Intro CS course isn't comparable to AP Computer Science Java. Some students can place out of a semester of the intro class, so they could start the magnet equivalent a semester early, but they wouldn't finish until the middle of their 2nd year.

None of the Blair magnet courses are aligned with APs. But I got the impression that students were well placed to take the AP exam with some of them (because the course went beyond the AP curriculum). Does that mean that the 9th grade courses just aren’t ones that cover much AP content? (But others are?)

How many have the average kid taken by the end of 11th or 12th grade?

Anonymous wrote:since the kids take Magnet Physics and Chemistry as well as Computer Science A/B in 9th grade, do they take AP exams in any of those at the end of 9th grade?

Those science courses aren't aligned with APs, so you'd need to do a lot of self-study if you plan on taking APs for those subjects.

Also, the Intro CS course isn't comparable to AP Computer Science Java. Some students can place out of a semester of the intro class, so they could start the magnet equivalent a semester early, but they wouldn't finish until the middle of their 2nd year.

since the kids take Magnet Physics and Chemistry as well as Computer Science A/B in 9th grade, do they take AP exams in any of those at the end of 9th grade?