Florida Virtual School

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Does anyone have any experience taking classes at this online school? I was considering taking AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics through them over the summer. I want to know if it's difficult at all to make an "A" in these courses, if you're allowed to finish the course really quickly (like within a few weeks*), and how well you are prepared for the course exams (the exam for the class, not the AP exam).</p>

<p>*I know they already give you options on taking the class as Accelerated, Normal, or Extended, but I want to know if they let students set their own pace (faster than Accelerated)</p>

2

<p>I wouldn't reccomend it, its the most annoying thing in the world, they make you do some many time wasting activites, you can't finish the class until you turn in over 116 assignments, atleast thats what it took for algebra 2/ and then the teacher wouldn't issue my final transcript-i hated this thing with a passion...but its easy.</p>

3

<p>APEX Learning is a much better online AP classes tool. One of my cousins uses it, and he says it is really useful for taking extra AP classes that don't fit in your school schedule. Of course, it is not a walk in the park, so be prepared to self-study a lot.</p>

4

<p>Well I wanted FLVS particularly because I'm a Florida resident.</p>

<p>And why didn't the teacher issue you your transcript?</p>

5

<p>I'm taking AP Art History (starting june) and AP Micro (starting January) on FLVS. I've never taken it before, but I've heard it's not bad. An AP class is an AP class and I doubt you can do the class in a few weeks.</p>

6

<p>Because she kept on taking vacations, she would leave for 4 days out of the week and everytime i would email her she said she had to review my grade and if i had completed the class and that she couldn't do anything because she had 100 other students to deal with, so basically i had to get my high school involved, it took her 3 weeks to finallt do it....biggest pain in the butt i would rather take classes at my community college or not take it at all then deal with that outdated system and class!</p>

7

<p>Well it's a half credit, so on a traditional schedule it would be a semester. If I pick the Accelerated option, it would cut it down to a quarter (block), so if I decided to go faster than a block schedule would, it wouldn't be too difficult to complete it in weeks.</p>

<p>I see. I'm not interested in taking any core classes online, just some AP's and possibly a foreign language course, so that I'll be able to take AP foreign language senior year.</p>

8

<p>Anyone else's past experiences would be nice as well. :)</p>

9

<p>Actually, I've just signed up for AP Micro on FLVS the other day. I haven't taken an AP on FLVS yet, but i've taken other courses with them. Yes, you can go faster than the accelerated schedule; as long as you do the minimum work, FLVS really doesn't care what the pace is. I did a year of spanish II from April-Early August a year ago. The teachers are pretty forgiving and understanding if you fall behind. My friends took the class this past year and they've told me it's not so bad.</p>

10

<p>Cool, are you going to do Micro afterwards/simultaneously? And when do you plan to start?</p>

<p>I'm thinking I should just sign up for Micro in case I don't like the online experience, and if I do, then I could take Macro during the school year.</p>

11

<p>Well, I plan to start Micro in June (at least, that's the preferred start date I chose when I signed up. Hopefully it works out, lol). I'm not planning to take Macro actually, since I think Micro would help me with business [my planned major]. </p>

<p>Yeah, online schooling isn't for everyone. I'd take the class that seems easier to take online, and if the experience was alright, then I'd take the other one online, too.</p>

12

<p>I'm taking AP Micro on FLVS right now, actually. FLVS classes aren't for everyone. The class itself isn't bad, but the teacher is nearly impossible to contact and many of the assignments are ridiculous. It's an easy A. A word of advice, though - if you take the class over the summer, are you going to remember any of it when AP tests roll around in May? </p>

<p>You can work at whatever pace you'd like. My advice is to select the "traditional" pace - you can work much faster but aren't held to it, so if you happen to brush it off for a week, you won't find yourself too behind.</p>

<p>I've finished the course - all except the final exam - and it's supposedly a mock AP Exam. However, we haven't ever taken a practice AP test for the class, so I'm not too sure how that's going to go. The review is just a laundry list of useful terms and things to know. Not too helpful.</p>

13

<p>why dont u take the AP Micro test review on it unless thts what you mean when you say "review"</p>

14

<p>Illusionx, let me know how it goes.</p>

<p>I was thinking I'd take the class, save all the notes, and then later on I'd go over my notes, take the FLVS test review (if it's available), get a review book for the exam, and I'd be fine. I'm not sure how well it would work out though.</p>

15

<p>Has anyone ever taken AP Bio over FLVS?</p>

16

<p>I've took Personal Fitness and Algebra 2 Honors on FLVS last summer....and honestly I loved it. </p>

<p>The main problem is that sometimes you can't contact the teacher (and sometimes you'll have a substitute if the teacher is on vacation).</p>

<p>However, some advantages include:
-you can work at your own pace (never pick accelerated pace....you can get ahead in traditional pace)
-you can work in the course at any time
-you can get ahead
-you can drop out within 28 days without penalty
-you're forced to do every assignment, there is no late date (which is good since you can't really get a "bad" grade)
-it's an easy A, in my opinion
-tests and quizzes are practically "open book" :D
-the teacher grades your work quickly
-you can get tutoring: either one-on-one or group
-you can call or email the teacher, even on weekends if you're having trouble
-you have access to the entire course, so you can go back and review
-homework assignments are generally easier
-provides opportunity for acceleration</p>

17

<p>Sounds really cool. </p>

<p>I just signed up for Personal Fitness. I'm considering putting Alg II Honors on there as well, to get an extra AP cred (Calculus) in before my senior year. </p>

<p>Did you have any trouble at all learning Alg II online. And how long did you spend on average each day taking the class?
And were you sufficiently prepared for Pre-Calc?</p>

18

<p>
[quote]
Did you have any trouble at all learning Alg II online. And how long did you spend on average each day taking the class?
And were you sufficiently prepared for Pre-Calc?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Actually, I only finished about a semester of Algebra 2 Honors before school started...then I was taking Pre-calc, too. I ended up taking both courses at the same time. I probably could've finished the entire course over the summer, but I procrastinated and didn't finish all of it until February of this year.</p>

<p>I didn't have any trouble learning Algebra 2 online. One time I asked the teacher for help with polynomial long division and rational expressions....but overall, it was very well taught as an online course and the teacher was very helpful.</p>

<p>The only thing that annoyed me was working out problems on the computer. Since there is no square root key or a way to make a fraction with your keyboard, it took longer to type everything out. You're able to use a program called "Math Type" and it helps make your work look clear, but it also took longer when I was using it for homework, so I didn't use it much. </p>

<p>Oh, and I worked about two hours every day on the course....and sometimes I skipped days and even weeks entirely (if I was ahead). Just make sure you don't get behind pace. That happened to me a couple of times, and I had to do twice as much work to catch up....that wasn't fun.</p>

<p>Algebra 2 and Precalc are pretty much the same, except Precalc introduces you to trig, but that is usually in the second half of the course.</p>

<p>Personally, I liked continuing math over the summer. It kept everything "fresh" in my mind, so I didn't have trouble adjusting to Precalc at the beginning of the year.</p>

<p>BTW, I got a 94% the first semester and a 90% the second semester. I did worse the second semester because I dropped behind pace, and when you get behind pace, your grade gets lowered.</p>

19

<p>easy a's .</p>

20

<p>Thanks for the info Jman. I'll go see if I can get my counselor to approve all my selections. Right now I have Personal Fitness, Alg II, and AP Macroecon. I'm aware of the time requirement. I figure I'd just knock Econ & PF earlier on, then just finish Alg II before I start my sophomore year. One more thing; how do you make the course Honors? I don't see the option anywhere.</p>

<p>By the way, I see you live in Florida as well (I do too, so our curriculums are probably close to identical). Do you know what math course comes after Calc?</p>