@phoenixmomof2 - In class grading is based on the same scale as the rest of the school. The grade from the class consists of quizzes, tests, and a small participation component (whether you did the homework). I don’t think it is particularly harsh. The school weights Honors +1 and AP +2 and the weighting is different because the classes are different. There is very little in any of the AP classes my kids have taken to inflate grades. The kids get what they get.
Unlike some schools the drop off in GPA from the top 5 to 10 to 25 percent is significant. My youngest is top 5% with a 5.6 GPA, my middle was top 25% with a 4.3 GPA and my oldest was top 10% with a 5.3 GPA. It is not easy to get straight As and even kids in the top 5% have grades other than A/A+ on their transcripts. The school does not officially release ranks but we found out that our youngest is ranked 10/357 and he has a B+ and a few A- on his transcript. We don’t have a class full of kids with straight A+ on their transcripts. I think the overall rigor of the school is known by colleges because the kids seem to do well in college admissions and very few of our kids flunk out of college.
My middle son literally did no work in the AP classes that really weren’t necessary for graduation (AP Physics C and AP Calc BC). He actually failed both classes but earned 4’s and 5’s on the AP exam. He’s not lazy, he just wasn’t interested in doing the work, just in earning the college credit.
As for finals, middle son took the global and USH regents after APUSH and AP Euro. I don’t think there was another final although I do think my other kids who didn’t take AP history had finals in addition to the regents (end of course tests in NYS).
S17 took AP Psych as a junior and there was a final but it was a week before the AP exam as practice. I pulled some old AP exams off the web and, based on what the teacher had given them as study notes, I tried to work with him on one particular essay. He sort of pooh poohed me. Then he came home after the final and said “Mom, that exact essay was on the test, right down to the names of the characters in the essay!” Now, in APES and US Govt, he is letting me help him select practice tests off the web and I have been pretty good at predicting what the teacher will pick, at least based on the unit exams.
In my school district, senior finish school right before AP exam while other grades continue through mid June. They will be graded differently even from the same course.
That was very commonplace at my public magnet. Many HS classmates with 4s and 5s could very well end up with final class grades of Cs, Ds, or sometimes even Fs.
Another possibility as was the case with my public magnet’s AP classes is the teachers regard the AP exam as the absolute floor in terms of setting academic rigor/pacing standards. Oftentimes, the AP courses would teach well-beyond what’s covered in the AP and non-AP courses enough so if a non-AP student self-studied for AP exams for a few months/weeks, 4s and 5s on the exams were the norm.