<p>basically all history APs (except US gov) are considered easy and all science APs (including environment) are considered killers. But that might be because our school specializes in math, science, and tech with 100% getting 5's or 4's on the math/science/tech APs.</p>
<p>I believe the OP was asking if COLLEGES rank AP classes, not if high schools rank AP classes. The answer to that question is yes. As a recruited athlete at a top LAC my S was advised by several colleges that his AP Calc was considered more rigorous than AP statistics and would help with acceptance. AP Bio was also viewed as rigorous but his AP Geography class would not hurt him but wasn't viewed as challenging.
Check a specific college's website to determine how AP credit will be handled to get a sense of how different courses are viewed. Some schools require a 5 to give credit and then only certain classes transfer. For example, my son and his friend both received 5 for AP Geography. The friend attended Colgate where the 5 transferred for a full course credit, at my son's school NO credit was awarded.</p>
<p>wow. our AP Stat class is insane. lots of work. =( i hope colleges realize that my AP bio class does 1000x the amount of work that other AP bio classes do. altho we'll all get a 5 and there will really be no difference b/t ours and an easier one. =(</p>
<p>i know that the OP asks for college rankings , but in my HS we have (only the ones we know about)</p>
<p>dumb:
music theory. art history
easy:
envisci, chem, gov, econ
medium:
physics b, stat, spanish, calc ab
hard:
bio, euro, calc bc
suicide:
physics c, english</p>
<p>All my AP classes were similar in difficulty, regardless of difficulty in material, since it was generally the same quality of people taking them and the same general distribution of grades. The only real difference was in randomness - you had more control over your own fate in quantitative classes, while luck might play a role in others.</p>
<p>i think it's really based on your teachers. at my school, kids opt for BC over AB. The BC teacher doesn't care about what you get in the class, as long as you get a 5 on the test. The 80 or so kids in BC had a 96% average. Most kids get 5s. However, AB is taught by arguably the most intelligent man in the math department (also teaches CalcIII/DiffyEq), and he prides himself in the difficulty of his classes. I'm taking AB, and this quarter, he gave out three A's.</p>
<p>ProbStat is considered harder than BC here.</p>
<p>I don't really consider any APs fluff because they are definitely harder than academic-level BS electives, but the easier ones are macro, micro, psyche, gov pol, enviro.</p>
<p>At son's school there is no "AP" US History or European History, yet if you are getting at least a B in the class you qualify for review at the end of the year and they do a week studies course on the exam. US History is a curriculum requirement so every sophomore takes it. My son took the AP exam and got a 4. </p>
<p>Euro is broken down into two semesters. It is a known killer. Son only took Early Euro to fulfill the requirement, but had no intention of taking the AP exam in the spring as he also had AP Latin Virgil and AP English (again all juniors take AP English literature). </p>
<p>AP Bio is known to be the hardest class in the school. It is taught by a teacher who was a college professor (Williams). It has become his favorite class. There is just something about biochemistry that he just "gets."</p>
<p>Econ is not an AP but is taught by a Teacher who also teaches summer school at the the state university flagship and the kids actually register through the University for credit. Who knows if it will transfer to wherever he ends up in college, but it was exactly the same micro economics I took in college (updated of course). It was a semester class, just like it is in college.</p>
<p>They alternate AP Latin so that Junior year son took Virgil and this year it's something else (Callius?) so he has five years of latin (inc 8th grade which tossed him into honors/advanced freshman year. </p>
<p>Throw in AP Calc AB and an accelerated curriculum throughout HS and I can only conclude that what colleges are "ranking" is the entirety of your schedule. It is my understanding that it is less about how you rank the classes and more about how much a student fully challenged him/herself by taking advantage of the most rigorous classes available. </p>
<p>And as for only taking AP's for your major. I disagree. I think you take AP's to advance yourself out of requirements or to higher level classes in college. But since most classes within a major are sequential, I think it's better to start with the college's class instead of relying on any kind of HS AP. Especially math IMO - unless you truly are a whiz.</p>
<p>Have only seen a couple HS posters state that AP micro and macro economics is "fluff" and "easy." Do others think the same way? My impression was that it was one of the more challenging APs aside from Chem or Physics. Also, is AP Econ a good fit for students taking Probability and Statistics instead of AP Calc A/B?</p>
<p>My philosophy is that students should only take AP classes in subjects they plan to major in. Everything else is just taken to "impress colleges." Please, start taking advanced classes in things that you are actually interested in. </p>
<p>I have to disagree, if the AP course is something you might be interested in, take it. If it is a course you might have to or want take in college, take it. Many people take English and caculus who dont major in either one. Many students place out of a for language.</p>
<p>would it be reasonable to take regular calc + ap stat for senior year? would that just prove to admins that it's not considered to be a terribly difficult ap class in my school?</p>
<p>It depends on the school.
At my school, AP Bio is insanely hard, same with APUSH. They are killing me.The classes are extremely hard, yet students don't do that well on AP exams. But I know kids at other schools have told me that AP Bio is the easiest ap class they've ever taken.
AP English classes are probably considered the easiest.</p>
<p>Is it just me or does anyone else resent the fact that some CCers refer to AP Calculus AB as a "lite" AP? Yes, it can be taught in a semester (my AP Calculus AB class was first semester of my senior year in high school), but it's not conceptually easy like psych, human geo, etc.</p>
<p>good point. But then APUSH and Euro aren't conceptual either, but the breadth of both typically offer two semester's worth of credit.</p>
<p>While the 'lite' designation could be perjorative, it is really meant to signify the difference between recieving college credit for one quarter/semester (Calc AB) vs. two (Calc BC). And, moreover, in reality AB is ~70% of BC, not just half.</p>
<p>But, nevertheless, at the collegiate level Psych and Calc AB are just one college course.</p>
<p>At my school, Chem and Physics are the hardest, not because of the material, but because there are no qualified teachers to actually teach them.
And also AP Stats and AP Environmental are considered easiest... most people take Stats so they don't have to take Calc, and most people take Environmental so they don't have to take Chem, Physics, or Bio...
But, as it's been mentioned, it obviously differs from school to school.</p>
<p>At my school AP Chemistry, AP Bio, AP Physics, AP Calc AB+BC, AP Statistics, and AP U.S History are considered the hardest AP classes. </p>
<p>Human Geography is known as the easiest, and overall it really varies. I think AP difficulties vary from school to school as policies vary with different teachers.</p>
<p>There;s only a few A’s out of the 2 classes taking APUSH, however, exam scores are high. Part of the reason for the low grades is due to the class grading scale. In our APUSG class the grading system is one bucket essentilly. If you bomb 1 test, which is worth 100 points whereas the “study sheets” only account for 10 points each, then you essentially can only get a C at highest.</p>
<p>At my school AP Stat is really hard–any senior that thinks they are going to take it in order to avoid AP Calc always has a rude awakening! This class is mostly taken by Sophomores and Juniors who are concurently enrolled in H-PreCalc. Seniors can take it if they completed PreCalc (doesn’t have to be honors) but they usually end up getting D’s or F’s because they are lazy. If you get an A in the class you are pretty much guaranteed a 5 on the exam. </p>
<p>Once you get to AP Calc (AB/BC) you’re on easy street–no one gets below a C and potential colleges will not see your exam grade (unless you take it junior year–but these kids cram with review books). Everyone is too burnt out to give it their all.</p>
<p>I read “On writting the college application essay” and in it the author, can’t remember his name, said students shouldn’t take classes like psychology and sociology. So I guess AP Psych is a bad ap class?</p>
<p>Okay my opinion on this is that colleges treat all the APs as “equal.” I know it sounds naive and in theory only, but think about it. All the schools are different and have different difficulties for APs (depending on the teachers, etc). So at some schools AP Human Geo can be more difficult than Calculus BC. As a result, the varieties all balance out into roughly making each AP class equivalent.</p>
<p>However, colleges will look at pass rates,etc from each individual high school and compare them with other students. So you will have the edge if say, you take Physics instead of Enviro if in your school, Physics has a lower pass rate.</p>