Anecdote: my son had a young, inexperienced AP World History teacher in 11th grade who realized AFTER the exam date that he hadn't covered enough material during the year (my son had prepped by himself for the exam). He gave them TONS of assignments in May and June, and all the students complained. Most of them couldn't do them all and took the hit on their grade for that quarter. My son did them all, with great difficulty, and got the A.

This was during the pandemic, when they were all virtual. I nearly lodged a complaint with the school. Maybe I should have.

Anonymous wrote:AP exams and IB tests are typically done by May 17. School is out June 14-ish. So what will non seniors in AP or IB classes do May 20-24, May 28-31, June 3-7, June 10-14 or 19 days. Do college students have 19 days in college of not receiving new instruction?

Don't be silly. My college kid starts school later in the year than MCPS, gets a full month off for winter break, and is done at the beginning of May - and only has any given class scheduled for 2 or 3 days a week.

AP exams and IB tests are typically done by May 17. School is out June 14-ish. So what will non seniors in AP or IB classes do May 20-24, May 28-31, June 3-7, June 10-14 or 19 days. Do college students have 19 days in college of not receiving new instruction?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. Either working on end of year projects, reviewing for the exams, and low-point assingments. You won't get a lot of this in MP4 if you're a graduating senior.

Problem is that a significant number of Sophomore and Juniors also take AP, so they have anywhere for 3-6wks remaining in the 4th qtr once AP exam is complete.

So what? Let your kids chill out a little. AP classes are hard. They are already learning much more than in Honors and regular classes

I think you’re missing the point. Because there is still several weeks remaining in the quarter and a certain number of grades that teachers have to get in, they continue assigning work post AP exams. How much work and what type is dependent on the teacher. So if you want to maintain you grade, chilling out is not an option.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also they have them back to back so we appreciate teachers that don’t assign much class work while they are going on. My son will be taking 5 this year.

Your child is supposed to be taking “college classes” and he needs teachers to not assign work. Maybe he should only take 4 AP courses.

Nice try. Even colleges don’t have classes during finals.

Anonymous wrote:Also they have them back to back so we appreciate teachers that don’t assign much class work while they are going on. My son will be taking 5 this year.

Your child is supposed to be taking “college classes” and he needs teachers to not assign work. Maybe he should only take 4 AP courses.

Also they have them back to back so we appreciate teachers that don’t assign much class work while they are going on. My son will be taking 5 this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. Either working on end of year projects, reviewing for the exams, and low-point assingments. You won't get a lot of this in MP4 if you're a graduating senior.

Problem is that a significant number of Sophomore and Juniors also take AP, so they have anywhere for 3-6wks remaining in the 4th qtr once AP exam is complete.

So what? Let your kids chill out a little. AP classes are hard. They are already learning much more than in Honors and regular classes

Anonymous wrote:Depends. Either working on end of year projects, reviewing for the exams, and low-point assingments. You won't get a lot of this in MP4 if you're a graduating senior.

Problem is that a significant number of Sophomore and Juniors also take AP, so they have anywhere for 3-6wks remaining in the 4th qtr once AP exam is complete.

Depends. Either working on end of year projects, reviewing for the exams, and low-point assingments. You won't get a lot of this in MP4 if you're a graduating senior.

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have to take the test at public but everything is geared toward the test in those classes especially the science APs. It is not a requirement to take them at any school. You don’t need to submit scores for college acceptance and admission, no matter what anyone here says. Scores only matter if you are trying to get credit for college classes once admitted.

Your application will get the side-eye, though. Especially coming from a state that now pays for all exams (except for homeschoolers). There is no "equity" argument for not taking the exams (not that there ever was, because waivers were available anyway), but especially now.

Plan for your child to take the exams. They will take the course more seriously and be more prepared for college exams, even if they don't pass.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so sad. School is for education, not dor dropping out after doing the minimum.

I agree that school is for education, but I disagree that you could describe an AP class as “doing the minimum”.

Generally speaking, they’ve done significantly work, and learned significantly more, than their peers in a standard MCPS class. It would be nice if the AP schedule synched better with the MCPS schedule, so the work didn’t have to be so compressed before the exams. Nonetheless, after completing all of the work MCPS requires + the work AP requires, ahead of the MCPS end of year deadline, I think they’ve earned a bit of a break.

AP teacher here... I continue teaching until the end, while many teachers show movies. I happen to think that 180 days is not enough as it is, so I don't waste any time with the kids. It's not like any of these kids are "overeducated." And they will have earned a long break when school ends.

Kill joy!

Actually - I happen to think that the topics that I teach are interesting, and that kids can enjoy learning, but OK, mom.

Anonymous wrote:Are MCPS students required to take AP tests? We are deciding between private and mcps for hs and are trying to understand how APs work at different schools.

You don’t have to take them but it is highly encouraged. It seems a bit of a waste to take the class and not take the exam. Sitting through a 3H tough Physics or Calculus exam is good preparation for college