*****Are APs INFLATED at most high schools?****

<p>@juillet Unfortunately, you are still missing the point. Your AP classes can very well be the easy courses I’m talking about. You really just don’t get it lol.</p>

<p>Most college students don’t have 7 courses every day. So if a student is taking 7 college courses daily, and is participating in ECs, it seems unlikely that the course is actually being taught with the proper rigor or at a college level.</p>

<p>By limiting it to homework, you are over simplifying the conversation. </p>

<p>I think it is important to realize I’m not saying this is the case for ALL schools and ALL APs, but it isn’t too far fetched to think this is the case for a large amount.</p>

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<p>Since most high school AP courses cover over a year what a college course covers in a semester, 7 high school AP courses would be like 3.5 college courses in terms of material covered. Of course, whether there is gratuitous busywork included is a separate issue.</p>

<p>It is ironic that every single other poster contradicts your position, but obviously we have no clue what we are talking about. I have been teaching for 20 yrs, graduated 4 students, but apparently you are omniscient and are correct that your school’s rigor for APs surpasses all other schools’ (whether public, private, homeschool, or university classes) b/c it is impossible for students to take that many advanced classes taught at a “real college level.”</p>

<p>Believe it or not, there are kids who are really that bright and hard-working. Taking 21 hrs in a semester is not unheard of while simultaneously earning a 4.0. Is it easy? Know what… for some kids it is. (I know a friend whose ds never took a single note at MIT and was at the top of his class. He is just that smart!) Reality is that it isn’t that easy for everyone BUT taking 21 hrs with a 4.0 is still even possible for those kids that it isn’t easy for if they are capable and willing to work hard. </p>

<p>You cannot evaluate everything from the little prism of your world. (though you seem very determined to do precisely that) There is a wide world out there full of very talented and gifted students who are capable of doing amazing things. I have a couple of very gifted children and yet in the world of really talented students, they are way down deep on the valley and the mountain and the mountain top are crowded with kids who are awe inspiring with their accomplishments. CC is a skewed sample of kids and instead of assuming that they are either lying or attending schools which only “pretend” to teach AP level courses, I think the more likely reality is that many of the kids who are in the valley and on the mountain are the ones actively posting. :)</p>

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<p>Which are what exactly?? </p>

<p>I guess the only plausible answer is that the non-existent CB AP curriculum dictates precisely what students must do in every class and for homework and that that amt of work is impossible to achieve for more than 2 classes. </p>

<p>There is no homework-time stipulation to the AP curriculum. Your whole point is a Straw Man.</p>

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<p>It is (or should be) the goal of teachers to impart knowledge on their students, to help them secure a solid grasp on the curriculum in question, to prepare them for the AP test at the end of the school year, and to perhaps inspire some of them to seek out more…</p>

<p>Depending on the teacher, students, and subject, five hours a week in the classroom may be plenty to accomplish all of these goals… or not. A formulaic ‘1 hour of homework every night’ per class seems like a recipe for mediocrity to me.</p>

<p>The College Board has a built-in check as to whether or not a school is teaching the course at an acceptable level—the AP test itself. If a school has students who are taking 6-7 AP courses and passing the tests with 5s (even 4s), then that school is teaching the course at the level that is expected. </p>

<p>You can fault the College Board for not making its AP tests reflective of appropriately rigorous course content. (And, actually, I do to some extent.) But you can’t fault schools for lack of rigor because they allow students to take more AP courses if, in fact, those students are passing the standardized tests. </p>

<p>The bottom line with AP classes: Everyone takes the same tests. There may be different approaches to test preparation, but the outcome—as defined by the testing organization—is evaluated based on the results as measured by the test not on the process or preparation for it. </p>

<p>I take 2-4 hours doing homework and I’m only taking one AP so I don’t know how these people have so little homework. In conclusion, your school isn’t the only school that has homework.</p>

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Okay, fine. You are right about everything. What was the point of this thread if you aren’t even going to listen to anybody? I agreed with you at the beginning but you are just annoying now.</p>

<p>Well it also depends how long the class is; some schools have semesters and some have trimesters and some classes are one semester long and some are three trimesters! You would have more time in a longer class and therefore would not need as much out of class work. </p>

<p>Although I took AP Lang which was two tris and AP Lit which was three and both were pretty easy with minimal essays and out of class work (expecting 4/5s)</p>

<p>This is probably just a really smart ■■■■■, got me good. Deteriorated at the end though. This doesn’t deserve any more attention, let’s give em what he/she wants.</p>

<p>More like DEFLATED. For the most part, the math/science AP’s are the rigorous ones. AP Biology was sooo time consuming. APUSH also when I went to HS. </p>

<p>AP Psych was super easy. And AP Lit required a lot of work but it was easy also. Some classes are tougher than others. </p>

<p>Most kids that take 5-7 APs in a year, score high gpa’s in those classes, and 4s and 5s on their AP exams are gifted yes. Sorry to burst your bubble, but yes they are smarter than an average brain. Everyone does not have the same mental fortitude, although you would like to think so Kiara. Stop thinking these hard working young men and woman are skating somehow…believe me they are earning every point. Instead of questioning the system, they are just studying and answering the questions needed to suceed. Simple formula really…those that work the hardest in this country attain the most rewards. Nothing is easy!</p>

<p>Most private colleges (upper tier) are not accepting much AP for credit anymore. The schools recommend taking the final exam of the course in question to determine if the AP course was adequate (for course placement only) or if the knowledge has been retained. The admissions officer indicated they see a lot of students struggle when they try to use an AP science to place into the next level college science class (for ex: Straight to Orgo after AP Chem–which may have been taken a year or two earlier). Even our state college encouraged my kid to only take the credit for AP classes if they were outside of what was important for chosen STEM-focused major (i.e., use them to get rid of distribution requirements only). Maybe something like Math translates better—as most Calc classes build on each other and are taken relatively close to college term.</p>

<p>My teachers teach it fine and I’m managing 5AP’s this year.
AP’s are a joke basically, you need <70% for a 5 on most of them. That’s a D (or probably a B- or C at college if you want to adjust for college difficulty). As my friends and I say, the score tells how many brain cells you have, a 5 takes 5 brain cells, etc. and so on forth. Like the ap bio has essentially become a reading comprehension test.</p>