<p>Okay, so my school has a major problem. It has to be the teaching, only 6 out of about 50 passed the AP psych exam and only 1 out of 14 passed the environmental science exams, and from what I've read, these classes are the easiest to pass. Last year only 3 students in my school passed any type of AP exam....sad really.</p>
<p>I took 4 AP classes: environmental, psychology, composition, and U.S. history...sadly, failed every single exam. Yet, still had A's in the classes.</p>
<p>I know I could've studied on my own or formed study groups, but I really didn't have much initiative...I will definitely be doing so next year.</p>
<p>On to my question....will colleges look down on me for this? Specifically UF and FSU.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard they won’t have to know your scores on AP exams if they aren’t the best.</p>
<p>If I don’t submit my score on the exam though, they automatically assume I failed?</p>
<p>thankfully, poor teaching is a problem you can overcome. first, buy a study guide (i would recommend princeton review). this will help you focus on the things you need to know. while these kinds of guides often leave out the more complex ideas, you should pass if you know everything in them.
as for your question, just don’t report your ap scores. colleges may wonder why you haven’t done so, but at most places you are not obligated to report your scores. they might wonder at your scores, but they won’t know for sure and in this case, it might be best to leave them wondering what your scores are rather than knowing you failed. if you got 2s, go ahead and report them, but if they are 1s, i might leave them off. just an idea</p>
<p>Yes, I will definitely be buying books for next years AP exams. No way I’m letting myself fail like that again. Is 5 steps to a 5 good too? I had that for psych, but never used it.</p>
<p>you do not have to report them because its not required to take the AP tests. So you scores will not hurt you.</p>
<p>I got 2’s on Environmental, Psychology, and English Composition. Report those or no, since they’re supposed to be easy?</p>
<p>why aren’t the parents complaining big time that few kids are passing the AP Exams? AP Exams are one of the few areas of high school academics where the teacher’s ability can really be demonstrated.</p>
<p>Obviously there is grade inflation at your school if kids are getting A’s in the AP classes, but not passing. That’s unheard of at my kids’ high school. If you’re getting an A in class, you’re pretty much prepared for a 4 at least…and often a 5.</p>
<p>I know, it’s a real issue. I guess a lot of kids don’t complain. I had a real issue with my history teacher’s lack of well, teaching. My friends and I brought it up with the principal and nothing happened. If anything, I think she made the class easier to pass.</p>
<p>Teachers at my school just make it so easy to pass which makes EVERYONE want to join an AP class…thinking they’ll use it to just raise their GPA, which works in my school’s case!</p>
<p>Part of the problem also, is that we are brand new…only two years old. Class of 2011 was the first to ever graduate. Being a new school, and not in the best of neighborhoods, we received a very bad reputation from out community the first few years. This caused the guidance counselors to throw anyone they could in an AP class and then made it nearly impossible to transfer if you found it too difficult. This then caused teachers to dumb-down to course material in order to get students to pass.</p>
<p>Wow, Danielle, that’s just awful. It makes me angry on your behalf to read it.</p>
<p>I think M2CK is right: you need parents complaining about this situation, as well as students. If the administration still doesn’t address the problem, maybe you need to contact an education writer or metro reporter from your local newspaper.</p>
<p>The situation sounds totally indefensible.</p>
<p>A lot of student don’t complain, they love it because they barely have to work and yet, they can get their GPA’s up high. </p>
<p>For instance, we had a research paper in my English class and she gave us a timeline with specific due dates including final. If you did not have your final paper in by a certain date, you would not have an A for that semester…according to her syllabus.</p>
<p>Of course though, that date rolled around and if students didn’t have their paper in by then she gave them an Uncomplete grade…when initially, they should have failed the assignment. It made it really unfair for students who worked hard to get their papers in time. Her doing this led students to believe they did not have to do anything to get an A, which was undoubtedly true.</p>
<p>This was a common occurence with all of my teachers, with exception to my science teacher…I was actually really confident I had gotten at least a 3 on that exam. I still can’t get over it.</p>
<p>Woah. Way to talk about grade inflation.</p>
<p>This would probably be one of the few reasons why I wished schools actually gave AP exams more credence, besides brushing them off like their insignificant.</p>
<p>I actually have a very similar situation at my highschool!
Out of the 40 or so students who took Calculus AB EVERY SINGLE STUDENT received a 1 except me! And while a 3 is passing, it doesn’t look great for someone looking to major in engineering.
So I definitely feel your pain in that it really is hard to succeed when the teachers do a poor job of teaching.
(I’m also a Florida kid too btw, which I assume you are by your interest in FSU and UF)
If I were you I would definitely send the 2’s, although I’d be wary of sending any 1’s.
Generally though I have heard that AP scores aren’t given much weight at all in the admissions process and are used more heavily in the placement process, so I wouldn’t worry too much!</p>
<p>Oh wow, I thought for sure my school was the only one! And thanks, I’ve been worried about the AP exams and what colleges will think.</p>