Help me take on my school

Test Preparation
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<p>I kinda get discouraged when i look at posts of people's stats in this forum that have all the AP classes and tests that they have passed. My school does not have AP classes, only honors. Many people are in honors classes and have no clue what is going on and/or don't do ANY of the work required. I am going to suggest that my school add AP classes and keep/remove honors classes. I would appreciate it if you can tell me what you have found helpful about AP classes from your own experience. Any info would be great. Thanks.</p>

<p>CJ</p>

2

<p>I'd suggest that you get some teacher approval (actually...a LOT of teacher approval) and find out, through your school administration, if there's some higher authority (like the school district, or w/e) that you need to talk to.</p>

<p>But the benefits of AP class...</p>

<ol>
<li>They prepare you for college-level work</li>
<li>They allow in-depth study of a subject</li>
<li>They're geared towards helping kids succeed on the AP exams; results in less self-studying, and ultimately higher scores on the AP exams</li>
<li>Higher scores on the AP exams are good, since they're standardized across the nation, your school will know where it really stands in comparison to others</li>
<li>During the admissions process, colleges look for classes labeled "AP", so not having them may give you a SLIGHT (considering it's not your fault, since your school doesn't offer them) disadvantage, because colleges won't know whether or not you're truly capable of college-level work</li>
<li>They're a challenge - you get to be in a class of your intellectual peers</li>
</ol>

<p>I'll let everyone else add to the list</p>

<p>Also keep in mind that if that change was to be made, teachers might have to be re-trained or something to become competent enough to teach an AP course...</p>

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<p>Thanks. It's not like I am freaked out really. I just want to bring about this change, even though it's too late for me to benefit from it. Anyone else?</p>

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<p>I really wouldn't worry about it because you are going to be out of there soon enough, and more then likely, it will take a while to set up the Advanced Placement Program at your school due to the training that the teachers must go through and so forth. </p>

<p>Good Luck</p>

<p>Jerod</p>

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<p>I salute you for your efforts, exactly because of what omniscient said, which is somewhat the selfish stance.</p>

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<p>thanks--any more advantages/personal experiences?</p>

7

<p>No need to fight someone elses battles for them.</p>

<p>Un Amor,</p>

<p>Jerod</p>

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<p>Yeah, and if your school is on the smaller side, it's really expensive to offer a lot of APs. If people aren't doing work in honors classes now, why would they in AP classes?</p>

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<p>Ok, there are lots of people who do work. But i think if we had AP classes, then those kids could take AP and honors could be for those who don't work or can't comprehend the material as well. My brother and sister are both going to attend this school, so in part i'm "fighting" for them. My school is neither small nor big. It could certainly afford the change if it was implemented with a piecemeal plan. The district is about to build a new high school, so it would be the perfect time for change. Not that I don't like the critisicm--it's helping me prepare my argument--but I would like some positive reinforcement please.</p>

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<p>BTW, kinda funny, I just read a WSJ article about how some schools were considering dropping APs. AP course distributions overall is growing tho. Cant find WSJ link.</p>

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<p>I'm also from Podunk, Nowhere. The school officially has no AP's, but can occasionally offer 1 or 2 in history or something. To get an AP class going... you only need two things...</p>

<p>1) People.
2) Teacher.</p>

<p>They're not going to hire someone special, which means you have to find an extremely bright teacher who will accel at teaching the class. And because it's a small school environment, if you can't gather enough students to justify the expenditure, it's not going to happen.</p>

<p>So, if you really want AP classes...
1) Start a petition. Enlist the help of any honor societies- such as TAG, NHS, etc. Poke people on the honor roll. My school requires 15 commited people before it will even consider placing an AP class on the schedule. As there are less then 15 people who actually care about school at all, this is a very rare occurance. Once you've got your petition and teacher, take that badboy first to the counselors for logistics of scheduling, second to the administration (small public schools are like sports academies so this is a difficult step), and if necessary, to the school board.
2) Find a genius teacher. Beg them. Throw yourself at their feet and offer special services, sponge baths, manicures, whatever's necessary. It's going to be a lot of work for them, but if you can find someone who cares about the material they'll probably be happy teaching it because they can move the class along faster.</p>

<p>However, I'm also going to tell you why it's your worst enemy to try to get AP's. Because, honestly, and I apologize for this, you'd be a huge idiot to actually undergo all of this stuff to get an AP.</p>

<p>Secondary School Reports for selective schools require that counselors put what kind of courseload you took (most rigorous, rigorous, above avg, avg). Your acceptance can depend upon whether your counselor checked most rigorous, as opposed to meak "rigorous".
So- I'm taking all of the podunk honors classes and naptime community college correspondent courses, and I don't do anything to maintain R1/4.0. You can actually have a social life your senior year--- while at the same time doing the most rigorous courseload!! (and if your school is as ghetto as mine.. the highest attainable grade is merely "A", so a 90.1% is worth the same as a 99.9%) </p>

<p>Having AP classes at a small school also raises the chances that you'll blow your 4. And from what I've heard, if someone is from a nowhere public hs, there's no way they can get accepted to a top tier university without being valedictorian.</p>

<p>Us small public hs kids are not competing with the big school hotshot kids. Your courseload will not be compared to a kid's from downtown New York. Heck, I think they even allow us to have lower test scores. We get the smack down in essays/ec's/teacher recs. Rather then focusing on getting pointless AP's, focus on pimping your EC's, because they'll see the 0-AP curriculum and think you jerked off the entire time, which is partially true. :) </p>

<p>Okay, I'm done. Good luck with whatever you decide. lol.</p>

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<p>thanks for the advice
i think i'll just forget the whole thing
do you think i can self study and still do well on like 2-3 tests if i start this year (junior)?</p>