<p>My D will be a senior and has decided that she'd really like to take Honors English next year instead of AP Lit. She took AP Lang this year and did very well. No test grade yet though. She's always taken the hardest courses available. She's doubled up on science every year and will finish with 7 science courses (Next year she's taking 2 math courses instead of 2 sciences) So She'll have AP Calc B/C, AP US Hist. AP Spanish, AP Stat, AP Physics, Band and Honors English. What do you all think? Will it be really bad to drop down? Will colleges notice? The AP Lit teacher is a real jerk. No doubt about it. The honors teacher is the beloved department head who does an amazing job with her class. D wants to take the honors so badly. Will it matter? She's ranked 1/310 and has very good test scores. I'd love to hear your opinions.</p>
<p>Your D should take the honors course and enjoy it. Her schedule has been and will be strong enough.</p>
<p>Take the class with the beloved teacher, and enjoy what you are learning. We have the same situation at our school, and most of the brightest kids avoid the horrible AP Lit. teacher. In any case, the colleges don't care that much about how many AP classes you have taken. I have noticed over the years that students in our school with half as many APs have gotten into top 10 and top 20 schools just as easily as those who drove themselves into the ground taking 15 APs.</p>
<p>If she's already taken a rigorous course load, she shouldn't worry. Enjoy the English and avoid the jerk.</p>
<p>She should take honors, in my opinion. Our school does not send a large number of students to top colleges, and our salutatorian this year was a math/science person who took extra courses in that area. He took honors instead of AP for English and was accepted to an Ivy league school.</p>
<p>What's with the horrible AP lit teachers?</p>
<p>The same situation occurs at our h.s. Definitely take the course with the better teacher. She has enough APs and if anyone were ever to question why she didn't do AP lit, she could say she had a scheduling conflict (this does happen. On the other hand, it would be a conflict to be in a class with a jerk, wouldn't it? So she'd be telling the truth).</p>
<p>Wow - amazing schedule! I agree with everyone else - your daughter has more than proven herself, and she should have the pleasure of being taught by the excellent teacher in the Honors class.</p>
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What's with the horrible AP lit teachers?
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I wonder about this, too. In our hs, the AP English teachers are phenomenal. But I know a woman who teaches AP English at a local parochial school who certainly gives me pause. When she was part of our ballet mom coffee klatsch, she stunned the rest of us by answering the question "What are you reading now?" with "Oh, I never read - I don't like it." More eyebrows were raised when she announced that her school's val had only earned a 2 on the AP Lit exam because "she's not really all that intelligent, she's just a hard worker." Leaving the rest of us to wonder - if she's a hard enough worker to be the #1 student in her class, what kind of teacher are you for her to wind up with a 2 on the AP?</p>
<p>Off-topic, I know - sorry! I think it's always a good idea to weigh the most rigorous curriculum directive against the actual content and quality of the course the kid will be in.</p>
<p>Thanks so much everyone for your comforting responses. D is going into
guidance tomorrow to make the switch. After reading so much CC I got
paralyzed thinking one tiny "misstep" could cause a complete disaster. Silly, I know. I believe this change in her schedule will make her senior year 100% more enjoyable.</p>