<p>The thread about AP calculus courses attended by juniors got me wondering more generally about what AP courses high school students take in what years. How many of you take an AP course, or self-study for an AP test, during ninth grade? Which courses? How many at a time in your first year of taking AP courses? </p>
<p>Any and all thoughts and observations about ninth graders taking AP courses or self-studying for AP tests are most welcome. </p>
<p>(dad of a ninth-grader who expects to take a few AP tests this school year and math coach of other early AP test-takers) </p>
<p>Grade nine normally has the World History, European History, and possibly Biology exams, although in my school all are grade 11. No APs are permitted in grade 9. (I tried to pull off taking APUSH then but the administration said no.)
I took two in the first year (sophomore), APUSH and AP Spanish Language; I recieved a 5 and 4 respectively; the only difficulty with APs in lower grades arises from the possible lack of maturity with regards to time management. Otherwise one can handle the material.</p>
<p>I think getting a good grade in a course and good score on the tests are two very different things. There are some ninth graders who could walk in to a test and pass one of the easier AP tests with a four easily. However, these people would receive poor marks in a class. </p>
<p>Also, the quality of AP teachers is variable. Last year, my first AP course, Human Geography, had a teacher who, while very intelligent, really didn't have any business teaching the course. However, because it was a pretty decent pool of students (and an easy test), our class scores broke around the national average based on my own informal polling. </p>
<p>So basically, if the person taking the course/test is smart and has some knowledge of the material, then they will do fine on the test; how they do in the class (and vice-versa) is a different matter.</p>
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So basically, if the person taking the course/test is smart and has some knowledge of the material, then they will do fine on the test
Did you do any self-study supplementing in the geography course, or just read the assigned textbook
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<p>Well, I really like the topics covered in APHG as a general interest, so I did have some knowledge too. I did scan the Barrons book the weekend before (I wonder if the College Board ever caught on to the fact that a bunch of Barron's practice questions were in the AP Test?), and I selectively read things in the textbook that interested me, since I was interested in the topic matter.</p>
<p>That's good to hear that pursuing a personal interest is something that can help on an AP test. That's something I never tried (taking an AP test, I mean) when I was in high school.</p>
<p>in my school, the only ap that u can take as a freshman is ap bio if it fits in ur schedule. however very few do take it because integrated science is a requirement for freshmen and you cant really skip it</p>
<p>For those of you in schools that restrict AP courses to particular grade levels, is there any way you have heard of to get an exception and take the AP course in a lower grade?</p>
<p>I guess for exceptions you could talk to the guidance councelor and if they are understanding they will let you skip. Or you could take classes over the summer or something and then wouldn't they have to let you take it.</p>
<p>If you really want to self-study an AP exam, I suggest you start with an easy one. Don't go on a suicide mission by taking AP chem. Take something like Psychology, Human Geo, Econ, etc.</p>
<p>I thought college economics was a lot of math (calculus); is AP Econ more err, non-math? Surely its more than "What is supply and demand," and "if store X sales the same product as store Y for 50%, which store will sell more product?" questions.</p>
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For those of you in schools that restrict AP courses to particular grade levels, is there any way you have heard of to get an exception and take the AP course in a lower grade?
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<p>What you do is get a teacher to think you're really, really good (it helps if he's a new teacher since they're often more enthusiastic about individual students, and probably haven't seen too many good ones) and have him try to switch you into a higher class. Teachers have a lot more power than worried parents. My school usually doesn't let people take AP classes in ninth grade, but they let me take AP Physics and AP Biology because I took the pretest for this pre-physics class and got the highest grade the (new) teacher had ever seen. My parents had tried to get me into AP Biology prior to that but failed, even though I'd already taken a summer Honors Biology class.</p>
<p>By the way, taking APs as a freshman is generally easier since the rest of your schedule is easier than everyone else's and you'll have time to study for physics while all your classmates are writing twenty-page papers on the meaning of life. Plus you are usually more enthusiastic.</p>
<p>Those sound like good tips for getting into an AP class as a freshman. That's not my issue--we homeschool precisely to have the flexibility to do these things according to our children's own schedules--but that will be a helpful answer for other forum participants.</p>
<p>I've heard that it's a very easy AP. By looking through a review book at a bookstore, I wouldn't exactly say that there is calculus involved. There are a lot of graphs, though. IMO, it seems like a bland and boring topic to study, especially alone, but if you think you would enjoy it, go ahead!</p>
<p>I wasn't allowed to take any APs in the ninth grade when I was in school. I wasn't even allowed to take just a higher grade level of math after self-study. My counselor said, "Aren't you happy just getting As?" and so I pulled out to homeschool myself. :p But I was unprepared in that I didn't know all my options, so I didn't take AP exams. However, I'm confident that any determined ninth grader could self-study any AP. The keyword being "determined"</p>
<p>My school doesn't restrict by grade, but forces students to a certain amount of pre-requisites before AP courses are offered. For example, AP Bio is off limits to anyone without a prior course in regular Bio and AP Calc is restricted to everyone who had not taken Precalc. But advanced students can still take APs early if their pre-reqs have been covered.</p>
<p>As a result, there are essentially no freshman APs. Usually one course in Sophomore (AP World), and possibly AP Statistics/Computer Science if a student is ahead in math. Juniors and Seniors then are able to choose from approx. 20 AP courses.</p>