<p>There was an article in our local newspaper about this report yesterday saying that our state is below average in test takers but that the high fee limits the numbers of students participating. My D's private school charged us $270 for 3 AP classes this year. Ouch!</p>
<p>Just curious, our high school requires you to take the AP exam if you take the course. Curious how many other high schools have that requirement?</p>
<p>And yes parents pay the fees too at our school.</p>
<p>To be more precise, males dominate (in terms of percentage of those taking AP exams) in physics, computer science and math. Females comprise the majority of AP test takers in the life sciences. No surprise there either.</p>
<p>It is interesting how little interest there is in the female high school population in computer science. Might be a great hook for a female computer geek if she were to express an interest in majoring in computer science.</p>
<p>Sigh... Louisiana...
What is wrong with my state? I thought Mississippi was worse than us, but I guess I stand corrected.</p>
<p>Wow, 81.1% of test takers got a 5 on AP Chinese? I thought the test was easy, but I wouldn't have expected the 5 rate to be that high...</p>
<p>1down- My school requires you to take the exam in any science or math classes you take, because these are electives. However, english, history, government and economics are not required if you take the class though many teachers have expressed that they would like to make it a requirement in the future.</p>
<p>hudson- Our school is very similar, but I'm the opposite. There are 3 girls out of 18 in my AP Physics, 2 girls out of 10 in BC Calculus, and a few in computer science. It's very odd though, because our top 10% is dominated by girls.</p>
<p>I have observed the same thing with the girls. My daughter goes to an all-girls school and she is one of about five girls interested in physics, math and CS. They don't have an AP physics class because not enough girls sign up. Despite her high interest and a lot of practice my D hasn't scored very highly on the AMC test (around 80 last year) and her math SAT wasn't that high (690) compared to a 770 for the reading part. My D persuaded her school to offer the AMC starting last year and 8 girls actually showed up to take the test. (I was surprised) The girls made each other "spirit bags" the day of the exam. On the other hand the school has quite a few girls signing up for AP Bio and Chemistry. My D is taking the AP Calculus BC test this May so we'll see how that goes.</p>
<p>My school refunds students if they get a four or a five on the AP test. But, originally, parents have to pay the fee to take the test. </p>
<p>At my school, people rarely get fives. Like...ever. I was the only one to get a 5 on the APUSH test (and perhaps the second ever to get one). Almost nobody passes the AP chem test (one person passed with a three last year) and most people get fours on AP lang and lit.</p>
<p>On an earlier question about Calc AB and BC, these are not sequential courses, they are alternative courses. If you attend a school that offers both, and you are pretty strong in math. you take AB, if you're very strong in math you take BC. </p>
<p>AB is equivalent to first semester college Calc I taught over the time-span of a full year--it's a half-college-pace course. BC is a full-year course that covers Calc I and II, i.e. it is taught at college pace. </p>
<p>In schools that only offer AB, in which some students complete this in 11th grade and earn 4-5 AP test scores, we often see them taking in Calc II and III in senior year at a nearby college or university, if transportation and scheduling allow it.</p>
<p>Most of the elite-tier universities offer Honors Calculus to students with BC 5 scores. This is an extremely difficult theoretical course, best suited to physics and electrical engineering majors, as well as math majors.</p>
<p>Most students who have BC 5 scores but plan to major in chemistry, life sciences, or economics, in a first-tier research university, and who want to keep an option open to do undergrad research, and possibly pursue a Ph.D., should take regular calc (rather than take pass out credit), because except for a small number of public high schools, for example Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and the Bronx High School of Science, and a few dozen or so private prep schools, AP Calculus is not equivalent to first-tier research universities' regular calculus. </p>
<p>(Easy check: does your high/prep school's calculus course(s) use a university textbook, such as Stewart, Thomas or Hughes-Hallett? If so, taking pass-out credit is appropriate. Move on to a probability and statistics course for research-track students. (If you earned a 5 in AP Stat, move on to a p & s course for research-track students.) If your high school or private school uses an "AP Calculus" textbook, take calculus again at university.)</p>
<p>haha</p>
<p>50% of the span lang test takers are hispanic, and 45% of the test scores were 4's and 5's.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Most of the elite-tier universities offer Honors Calculus to students with BC 5 scores. This is an extremely difficult theoretical course, best suited to physics and electrical engineering majors, as well as math majors.</p>
<p>Most students who have BC 5 scores but plan to major in chemistry, life sciences, or economics, in a first-tier research university, and who want to keep an option open to do undergrad research, and possibly pursue a Ph.D., should take regular calc (rather than take pass out credit), because except for a small number of public high schools, for example Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and the Bronx High School of Science, and a few dozen or so private prep schools, AP Calculus is not equivalent to first-tier research universities' regular calculus. </p>
<p>(Easy check: does your high/prep school's calculus course(s) use a university textbook, such as Stewart, Thomas or Hughes-Hallett? If so, taking pass-out credit is appropriate. Move on to a probability and statistics course for research-track students. (If you earned a 5 in AP Stat, move on to a p & s course for research-track students.) If your high school or private school uses an "AP Calculus" textbook, take calculus again at university.)
[/quote]
Very informative post HomeschoolDad, thank you.</p>
<p>A hypothetical question -IB School- Freshman takes AP Calculus BC- there is a state flagship with a very good math department in the same city that students from this HS can take courses at - what math sequence would you suggest, provided that a student will still have to take IB Further Math as a senior? This hypothetical freshman is of course extremely good in math and wants to pursue engineering/physics related curriculum.</p>
<p>1 down, 1 to go- My school doesn't require you to take the AP test if you take the course, they just take the weighted points away from your GPA if you don't. The AP classes are so crazy hard and grades are so low and the weighted points are so needed that everyone takes the test, even if they aren't prepared at all...</p>
<p>As an extension to homeschooldad's response, that isn't true on the whole. In my high school and in my geographic region calculus AB and BC tend to be subsequent courses. I took calculus AB as a junior and BC this year as a senior. My guess is that its a regional thing - around here I've heard of very few schools that offer the choice. I just want to say that I don't think the two year sequence implies a "weaker" math program, or quality of teaching or student body in the least. I've found that my school's math department is hands down the best in my state (although small! :P), and I feel like it could potentially be weakened by implementing a one year program. I found calculus a breeze last year - and the AB review for the first part of this year as well - but having the background allows for a very interesting and much more intense high school preparation in a BC class where the entire class has a working knowledge of AB Calc. Since my class was in this situation, our teacher was able to utilize theoretical proof and analysis frequently and consistently, and I think my readiness for high level college math was helped significantly because of it.</p>
<p>1) our high school requires you to take the AP exam if you take the course
2) you take either AB or BC calc. No one would take both!</p>
<p>My schoool requires you to take the exam. And you have to pay. We have Calc AB and BC at my school. I took AB junior year and I am taking BC next year, senior year. Most people just take AB senior year but a few go from precal to BC.</p>
<p>"On the other hand percentiles will not only distinguish bright from brightest but also will have more meaning for the layman."</p>
<p>Often the differences in the very far right range of the score distribution lack statistical significance. But Subject Tests do give your percentiles, I believe.</p>
<p>"My schoool requires you to take the exam."</p>
<p>Such a fake way of ensuring student accountability. As if you can't simply sleep through an AP you're not prepared for.</p>
<p>My kids' school also offers AB and BC as sequential courses, and the most advanced math students take both classes. But both courses go far beyond the AP curriculum - while they are labeled AB and BC, these courses are following a school-developed calculus curriculum and the kids just happen to take the AB exam at the end of one and BC at the end of the second year.</p>
<p>My school also requires students to take the exam, but they're private. If you don't sign up for it or don't show up, you get your AP designation and weighting taken away on your transcript. If you were already accepted to a college, it is notified that the AP designation was taken away from you for the course(s). Ouch. That makes everyone always show up.</p>