<p>Very interesting video on the current state of Advance Placement courses...</p>
<p>Op-Ed:</a> Advanced Pressure - Video Library - The New York Times</p>
<p>great video! enjoyed watching it.
I would never of thought that a doctor’s note was needed to drop an AP class! a bit ridiculous…</p>
<p>Same here! I think that AP’s are going to be dropped by high schools soon for just those reason. JMHO</p>
<p>nyc prep schools are already dropping APs the fieldston school has gotten rid of them altogether, and Riverdale country school is phasing them out this year and will no longer have them next year</p>
<p>I can’t hear it…sound card not installed. What was the doctor’s note thing? My son dropped an AP and didn’t have to do that.</p>
<p>The problem with AP in a lot of public schools is that they are throwing kids into a rigorous class very often without many of the tools they need for that level of study. At our local public, AP is the very first time the students are expected to write anything analytical. So the problem isn’t so much the workload as it is that they haven’t been prepared with their previous coursework. It’s like going from 3rd grade to 7th. Because the curriculum in grades 7 - 10 is so weak, the AP teachers don’t just fill in the blanks to take it to the higher level; they have to start from scratch. Then grade inflation kicks in and we end up with kids getting a 98 in an AP and a 2 on the actual exam.</p>
<p>A good English and History curriculum starting in 9th grade should be more than enough to prepare kids for those AP exams. But if a student gets to 11th grade and takes AP English Lit and has only read 4 works of classic literature (2 for each previous HS class), how could they possibly make it? And if they were only ever expected to know the basic plot, even that is worthless. If they’ve never had to organize their thoughts on paper prior to AP, it is impossible to succeed without being a grind.</p>
<p>Just my two cents. It’s a reflection of poor preparation more than anything. The rigor has to start sooner.</p>
<p>I totally agree with the points made, but at my school, it wouldn’t do me any good to not take them, or not to take all of them. Something needs to be done to them and/or the mentality of highly selective colleges (Ivies and similar) to want/almost need the highest “level” courses which is AP’s except at some schools which don’t have them or are highly selective private/prep schools, but it cannot be changed for me by just not taking them or many of them</p>
<p>Awsome video I understand how that can happen</p>
<p>ikr? so, what will/have you guys do/done about AP’s?</p>
<p>i take two APs, AP classics and AP English Lit. AP Lit required for all 10th graders at my school and i take AP classics as an elective i can honestly say that there is barely any difference from the course-load that regular students take and the AP course-load. but normal non-honors classes have an hour of HW in each class. but my school is very rigorous and i go day prep school which at least this year has an IVY acceptance rate close to the HADES schools. Neato burrito is spot if your previous courses have been building up to the AP course-load then it really is not that big of a transition. you still have to work quite hard i go to bed at 1 almost every night. but with the regular work freshman year i went to bed every night at 12:30 so i guess its not that big of a difference. regular course-load HW is 5 hours flat AP course-load HW is 6</p>
<p>I put the link to the video on my friends fb wall, shes the complete overachiever that they explain there, we are in 8th grade and she takes two math so she can be in pre cal in her high school freshman year</p>
<p>We’re not allowed to do that at my school</p>
<p>what take aps?</p>
<p>No, you have to take classes in the designated grade level, summer credit and other stuff doesn’t count unless you’re a transfer student</p>
<p>I don’t think AP’s are as important at the preps, even if they are offered. Kids don’t go overboard and load up…you can’t even really take an AP until you are a junior and the English AP’s are only open to seniors. The regular courses are just as heavy and intense as our public’s AP’s are (my son was comparing with some of his friends at the public he would have goine to). Actually my son and daughter have several of the same textbooks, required reading…she is a junior in college; he is a junior in high school.</p>
<p>At this high school that one of my friends is going to, it’s required to take AP’s in 9th grade. In boarding school I don’t think colleges really want kids taking as many APs as public high schoolers have to take.</p>
<p>I don’t have required APs, but I’m taking two next year, english and history (i’ll be a sophmore). Freshmen have a very concrete schedule so its pretty much impossible to take them then…</p>
<p>Our school is pretty stringent on who gets to take AP classes. So I don’t think it’s as bad here.</p>