No disagreement from me! There are definitely really hard classes. My point is that there aren’t really easy classes. The regular english class everyone takes is AP level. And you go from there – there is Honors English one must apply to get in, which is at a higher level still.
I don’t mean to say every class is super hard, and there are easier classes than others, but none that I’d characterize as “easy”.
@417WHB Same experience with both my kids. Highest levels attract the top students and move at the most rapid pace. While every class is perhaps more difficult than what they would be offered at the local public, the AP or very advanced classes are truly colleg level. Also, these classes tend to be very small so I think that increases the "on"time kids have during class time. My kids have compared notes to their friends, in public, a private and at the same schools they attend who aren’t in the same classes and the workload varies a lot.
Wait are you saying the default English class for all 9-12 is an AP level class? And the lower level is honors?
Or, are you saying that all classes are on a high level relative to something else?
No. I am saying the default 11th grade English class at Hotchkiss, which all 11th graders are required to take, is the equivalent of an AP course. There is no easier option, nor is there a harder option for 11th grade.
I guess I’m comparing prep school classes (at acronym schools) to public high school classes. And I am saying there is no “easy” track at prep school. There’s “demanding”, and “more demanding”, basically.
Same at Andover for all 9th-11th grade required English and History classes Every junior, except some internationals takes the same 11th grade English course and the same USH course. While n3it labeled AP and not geared to the exam, many still take the exams.
Oh, that’s rather different, IMHO. Yes, I agree that the rigor at most BS is far more than standard public school. Whether it’s equal to an AP course is something else (again IMO). I totally misunderstood your post at first.
I think it’s common for many BS to have most kids taking the same level courses in the first couple of years and then spreading their wings. Some allow kids to take advanced programs in their first year but I think it’s mainly in STEM ( and languages where you are testing in so level mainly depends on preparation).
And yes, some kids take the AP some don’t and some are required to take it.
The unofficial motto at kiddo’s school is that you cant succeed at academics, athletics, social life and sleep all at once. You’re going to fail at one of them.
Yep. Under normal conditions, mine fail at sleep.
However, COVID and so-called remote learning has provided the opportunity to fail at all four.