This is probably in the wrong forum but I’m curious about what people think. My mom says teachers aren’t petty the way students are, but AP scores affect their record right?
There are 2 exams I don’t know if I will pass or not (calc bc and physics c mechanics), and I’ve done well in the classes and get along with the teachers well (I’ve been taught by both of them for at least 2 years). if I fail either of these exams, should I be avoiding those teachers when I come back to visit over winter break? Just to put things in perspective, It’s a very small school with about 10-15 students in each of those classes, and I am one of the students they are expecting at least a 4 from probably.
Not that this matters really, but just for extra background, I didn’t study much at all for those two exams this year because I am not trying to graduate early nor am I trying to place out of anything because those subjects won’t help me for my major. That’s why my priorities shifted and I was spending more time studying my foreign languages. I wanted to do well for my teachers, but I guess that wasn’t enough of a motivation for me
They will probably be disappointed if you fail, but they wouldn’t necessarily hate you or anything.
That said, if your class is only around 10 students, it might matter a bit more (for instance, one of my AP classes has about 400 kids under a teacher so a couple kids failing wouldn’t even register on the average).
I know several people at my school who have failed AP exams (unfortunately), and I have never seen a teacher be upset with them because of that. I can’t speak for all teachers, of course, but most of mine were either happy if you passed, or sad - but not angry or upset - if you didn’t, then quickly got over it.
Based on what my AP teachers have told me, they find out the percentage of students who get particular scores, they won’t know exactly who scored what. They may be able to guess who got what in a class size like yours, but they never need to know the exacts if you don’t tell them.
@Bobbybob444555@LeopardFire guys my AP Chem Teacher told me what my score was last year because I was having trouble accessing my scores, and my Spanish teacher said she will email me as soon as she finds out my score… so they definitely find out who gets what…
I did a big batch of AP classes and got exceptionally good mark all in a row. My teachers found me the year after, and high five’d me. I guess for 2 reasons, one, they were genuinely happy, and secondly, they didn’t expect me to get the marks (I was mediocre throughout the year). So yah, I think AP teachers take their classes seriously, but it takes a special beast to teach these high performance courses IMHO. you get a room of ‘special needs’ students
That’s wrong, they get the exact scores for each individual student. In fact, my AP Lang teacher talked about specific students that she was disappointed in because they had gotten 4’s instead of 5’s. My Euro teacher also talked about how the only 2’s she had gotten were from students who had been getting C’s in the class.
My husband has taught AP Stats and the teachers do get the students scores. At the private school he worked at it was expected that students would do well on the AP and teachers were spoken to if kids didn’t do well. There is pressure on teachers for the kids to do well, although this is just one case.
@Keggin you take the class because it is a way to challenge yourself. My AP Chem teacher didn’t really prepare us for the AP exam, but did teach us the material very well. I got a 3 on AP Chem, but when I got to college I got an A in my Honors Intro Chemistry class because I had such a good base. If you are more worried about the grade then I wouldn’t recommend taking any advanced classes, just in case you mess up.
@undecided not everyone has the same motive for taking AP courses. Some people want to place out of classes and/make their college app look better. In those cases, of course they want 4s and 5s, and AP teachers should prepare students for the exam. Students should also study outside of class if they have such goals, but if your self study was the only time you practiced actual AP questions, your teacher did something wrong.
@soontobecolleger Honestly it shouldn’t really be that tough for you to do well on the AP exam if your teacher teaches you the material and gives you AP questions. The only AP exam I got a 3 on was Chemistry and that was because I am just not that great at chemistry. After taking 11 APs I can honestly say that most teachers at my school didn’t give us AP questions because they were too easy, and they made us do harder questions in order to better prepare us. In the weeks before the exam they would give us actual AP questions and then when I would study on my own I would find more. It’s all about how driven the student is. You’ll learn that quickly in college when your professors stop chasing you to do work and don’t lay out everything for you.
“I got a 3 on AP Chem, but when I got to college I got an A in my Honors Intro Chemistry class because I had such a good base. If you are more worried about the grade then I wouldn’t recommend taking any advanced classes, just in case you mess up.”
If you need to take other courses that depend upon Intro Chemistry (including but not limited to any other chemistry courses) then you will be be better shape going forward for having done this. Congratulations.
At some point students have to focus on learning the material, and not JUST be focused on grades.
@Undecided3494@DadTwoGirls There is a reason my major and other courses I want to take have nothing to do with these AP courses. I don’t find “the material” interesting nor do I need it, so why would I be "focusing on learning the material or “driven” to learn it?
As I said before, the only thing I care about at all with regard to these two classes is the teacher of each course. (Btw, most AP teachers at my school have been nothing like yours @Undecided3494 but that’s not really relevelant. Students at my school just understand that it is on us if we want good scores).
Honestly, this whole idea where, if your whole motivation in high school is not to focus on learning all of the material in every class that will have 0 impact on your future, you are somehow lazy or unmotivated, is ridiculous. And no, I was not going to avoid all AP courses that I didn’t find interesting. I wouldn’t have even had an easier time ( AP courses at my school are not that hard) and I probably would not be going to my dream school and finally about to take courses that are actually interesting to me.
