Are AP classes actually equivalent to REAL college classes?

I’ve been wondering this for a while.
Is the experience similar or COMPLETELY different?
Is there a chance that an AP class can be harder than it’s college class “equivalent”?
Does my experience in an AP class offer a perspective of how the college workload will look like?

Depending upon the subject, the content may be similar, e.g. Calculus or Physics C or Economics. The experience is usually different unless the HS is on a block schedule. High school courses usually meet every day for 40-45 minutes for a year, while college classes meet 2-3 times a week for 60-90 minutes plus an additional discussion section per week. Additionally for lab classes, the lab meets for an additional 3-4 hours per week in addition to lectures. Also the grading in college will be often limited to 2-3 exams/papers and (maybe) a small percentage for participation - no quizzes, no homework grades, no extra credit.

Sure. The workload of any class depends, in part, on the teacher.

Also, some year-long high school AP courses cover the same or similar content as a semester-long college course, so that the pace of coverage is faster in the college course.

My daughter was told the only equivalent class was AP Physics C because the pace is most similar to college course with Mechanics one semester and E&M the next. I’m sure it varies by teacher though.

I’ll give you an example from my personal experience:

I took AP Biology in senior year hoping to get credit in my current school’s Gen Bio I/II sequence. I didn’t get the score I needed on the AP Exam, so I had to take the Gen Bio I/II courses. Compared to AP Biology, the General Biology courses were light-years easier. The content was the same, but my General Biology professor made the course so ridiculously easy by making the exams 100% from her PowerPoints.

So to answer your questions,

  1. It depends on the course(s) and teacher(s).
  2. Yes
  3. In my opinion, yes, AP courses provide a perspective on what the college workload would be like.

Hope this helps and best of luck!