<p>Our government is the biggest one scamming us. I really think that they aren’t sufficiently setting us up to succeed as a country (The U.S). Our curriculum, especially AP, is very cut and dry, it’s facts and memorization. They need to teach us applicable stuff, how to think and actually have a brain, not be mindless robots. It’s sucking the creativity out of us. I urge you, please don’t let that happen to you.</p>
<p>^Hi Alex Jones!</p>
<p>Ha, I didn’t get that at first. I know I put my birthday as tomorrow, but it actually is Feb. 11 (I was in a rush, sue me…). I don’t think they’re doing it purposely, but the policies such as “No Child Left Behind” which in some aspects is good, also holds us back.</p>
<p>
Many college classes have huge curves as well (and college students only need to retain information for a quarter or a semester, not a year).
And do you know how the score cutoffs are determined? College students are pretested on AP questions and information about their performance is used to make score cutoffs that reflect grades in actual college courses.
[Advanced</a> Placement exams - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Placement_exams]Advanced”>Advanced Placement exams - Wikipedia)
<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools; (see pages 15-16 (note that the PDF pages are numbered different from the actual pages. Look for the blue page numbers on the bottom)
[url=<a href=“Classroom Resources - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics”>Classroom Resources - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics]Math</a> Forum Discussions - RE: [ap-calculus] the cut off scores for 5’s’ 4’s and etc<a href=“from%20someone%20who%20was%20involved%20in%20the%20grading”>/url</a></p>
<p>@milthick -</p>
<p>Oh, stop with the conspiracy theory. With holistic apps and all, the US is giving out so much freedom to do w/e. Most people in certain Asian countries study 16 hours/day starting from late-elementary to middle school, with the ones attempting to go to the upper universities generally studying 20,21,etc hours a day from even earlier. </p>
<p>Their whole college career depends on getting a near-perfect/perfect score on one test (in Japan though, I hear you take a test for each college you apply for - could be wrong) their senior year. Think college level [like, legit upper (think Ivy League) university level - not “AP”] math, native language, science, and some other topic… I assume English. </p>
<p>See, the people coming in from those Asian countries for college often claim the math in U.S. Ivy League schools a “joke”, although a lot of them eventually fall behind because of the disparity in English/major slacking off. (Lol the English they learn in schools is so wrong, and a lot of teachers teach the language without being able to speak it fluently themselves…)</p>
<p>The (unnamed) Asian countries’ curriculum consists strictly of memorization. No labs (parents have sued teachers who focused on labs), no creative writing after sometime in elementary - middle school at the latest (ditto), no nothing to help them understand the material. Although I really do think many of the labs done at school are a waste of time (boring…), they inevitably do help me understand the topic. </p>
<p>Sorry, I sort of went into BS-mode here x~x. But seriously, the U.S. people aiming for Ivy League may be busier in some ways with hours of sports, orchestra, debate clubs, etc. But here, at least you have more freedom of choice.</p>
<p>How this connects with AP: </p>
<p>Hmm… I don’t know… That mini-rant just made my brain fart. But I think AP classes are great. They give you that extra edge over people who only take honors/normal courses. I think it’s unnecessary to have to take courses that you won’t ever need, as long as you have a decent (i.e., 5-on-AP) understanding of it. </p>
<p>I’d still recommend that people taking, say, Calculus BC and planning on a mathy/sciency career retake some Calculus/Stats class unless you attended a really rigorous, top-tier private high school or had an over the top AP BC teacher. College math is so much harder, and that extra year in math is really going to aid your understanding. </p>
<p>Same goes for the humanities-related majors, although obviously with the distinctive classes that pertain to each major. But I’d advise against retaking Music Theory in college for those musically inclined people… During an orchestra camp at a university, I took a music theory course, and it was the most boring and confusing thing ever. But that’s just IMHO.</p>
<p>But I strongly advise that those going into math/science-majors take at least one creative writing course in college no matter what, unless they were extremely well rounded to begin with & have a really firm grasp on creative writing or w/e. </p>
<p>There have been a couple studies in the past few years (that I can no longer find) about how a lot of computer programmers tend to be antisocial, moody, and prone to misunderstanding creative language (esp. in the case of hyperboles) spoken by people around them. I assume the same goes for accountants, certain scientists, etc.</p>
<p>Haha, you are funny. Freedom of choice? That must explain the long list of required courses to graduate, and then those teachers have lists given to them by the school board, who gets it from the state. Oh, and the state gets it from the federal government, what the US will assess them on to see whether or not to give them money for schools. So teachers see it as a checklist, check, check, check. And the students don’t really learn anything. </p>
<p>Comparing us to Asian countries only helped my point, so thanks. That’s the direction we are going, and we shouldn’t be. We’ve become so obsessed with seeing our global rank that we are failing ourselves. The top countries globally are actually doing the opposite of what we are, so standards that they have to follow, it’s up to the teacher. The students are some of the least stressed, least worked, and they are also the smartest. In addition, Asian countries have very high student suicide rates. Also, Asian countries are slipping in terms of innovation very quickly. We don’t want to lose what made us special.</p>
<p>Memorization is of no use. You memorize it, take the test, and forget it. So the $100,000 spent on a child’s education K-12 is gone to waste. Good job.</p>
<p>Plus, I have a beef to pick with the way the whole college scene is operating in the US, but that’s for another day.</p>
<p>Also, “conspiracy theory”? You guys keep using that word, I don’t think you know what it means.</p>
<p>Back to the OP… “Is it a scam?”
Not really if you are able to take it for free. Meaning you need to be eligible for fee waivers in order to take it for 15 dollars. Then you get your money back.
The school might or might not take the credits but atleast you learn something out of it.</p>
<p>I think it’s grossly overpriced. $80 per test? What the actual ****.</p>
<p>Its 80 for people who don’t qualify for fee waivers. it’s practically free if you are eligible though.</p>
<p>What makes you eligible?</p>
<p>If you qualify for free/reduced lunch.</p>
<p>Or you might go to a school that pays for the tests. I think it’s a universal Florida thing, something about the state paying the schools money for each student they can get to pass an AP test.</p>
<p>In any case, paying $80 > paying $1000 and having to sit through a semester long gen-ed class when you could be working on your major.</p>
<p>^^ But that’s only if you pass it. And some people might not qualify for free/reduced lunch, but still don’t have the money. And if you don’t pass it, that $80 down the drain.</p>
<p>You could just as easily say that if you don’t pass the college course it’s $1000 down the drain. That would have paid for 12 AP tests (and a half, but we’ll not count that). You surely could have passed at least a few of those.</p>
<p>Atleast here in NY, as long you qualify for free/ reduced lunch, you can pretty much take it for free. My school does not pay for people taking the exam if they pass it.</p>
<p>
The average American college student isn’t that intelligent either IMO. a large number don’t even graduate in 4 years</p>