I took APUSH as an unprepared freshman this previous year and I got a 2. Will this affect me in the long run? Will colleges understand that I was not ready for it or will it be a mark against me?
What I don’t understand is why your school let you take it as a freshman. You need to read this comment I left in another discussion:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20765594/#Comment_20765594
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It is more important to do well in a class that you are prepared for, than to take an AP class because it is an AP Class.
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What grades did you get in the class? That is what colleges care about. They don’t really use AP scores for admissions.
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You won’t get college credit with a 2.
@Muad_dib APUSH is often seen as a perfect introduction to AP for freshmen because it is conceptually easy to grasp and requires students to develop strong study habits. At my school, 30-60 freshmen take it every year, and they tend to excel in it, usually earning mostly 4s and 5s. They often outperform their older counterparts since the opportunity attracts a highly motivated group of students.
OP, you are not required to report your AP scores on your application.
Our local school district doesn’t freshman to take AP courses and only AP Stat and AP Euro in the Sophomore year. APUSH is almost always taken in the Junior year. Of course, there are always special cases where the counselor, student and parents can sign a waiver to allow taking an AP class earlier.
I would not want my freshman child to take APUSH. Too early too fast. It’s a ton of work at our local high school.
@Muad_dib @sushiritto My school put the top 30 freshman from our program in APUSH, assuming we would be able to handle the coursework. In reality, most of us got 1s and 2s.
@bopper I got a 96 in the class and thought I did pretty well on the test, idk what happened
Not to worry…not surprising that a freshman was not able to place out of a college level course.
Your teacher may not have been as rigorous as was necessary for the class to achieve good AP results…based on how others did the teacher may need to change how they teach.
The class is all about hours of study. 8-10 hours a week is usually expected for a college course like APUSH. Did you spend this much time on it?
Well, the City of Palo Alto and the PA school district has “monitors” at various places along the train tracks to stop kids from running into trains due to the intense pressure of school. While it hasn’t happened that often over the years, educators in the local school districts think loading a HS freshman down with college level courses at the age of 13-14-15 is not a great idea. Sure there are some rare cases, but what’s the hurry? You’ll still be able to take 6-8-10+ AP courses by the time you graduate. My D18 is a high stats kid and will finish with 8 AP courses. I believe that the UC system here in CA caps their GPA calculation at 8.
But hey, whatever floats your boat. \m/