How do we spread out the AP tests in high school - over the 4 years

Parents Forum
41

<p>Thanks Ynotgo. Per College Board, AP CS counts as math so I put it in there. I am not sure what dual-enrollment means. Would much appreciate if you can please explain.</p>

<p>As for the major, it is undecided. If I were to venture a guess, a English/Math/Music combo. In general, something that is very creative, and requires very abstract thinking. Hence the lack of focus on Social/Physics Sciences (heavy focus on memorization of physical/historical facts). While I fully understand that theoritical physics is very abstract, that’s not how it is taught in schools, so the perception that physics is experimental and experiential is hard to break. I do think, however, that AP Physics 1 and 2 will be easy courses to take. Thank you.</p>

42

<p>Momofzag, No, not a heritage speaker per se. But K-6 school taught two foreign languages to fluency.</p>

43

<p>Dual enrollment is an agreement between certain public colleges and certain high schools where high school students take courses for which they can earn both high school and college credit. Specific arrangements vary. Our school offers some dual courses in conjunction with the local cc. They are considered to be roughly the same level as AP classes.</p>

44

<p>It all depends on the school. At my D’s high school, freshmen cannot take AP classes, and the only AP classes available to sophomores are AP Euro and AP World History. This results in some students trying to cram a lot of APs into junior and senior year, but these courses tend to be a LOT of work, and at our HS AP sciences are period and a half classes, which messes with the schedule. Most students at our HS who take AP classes don’t take more than 3-5 (although over 20 are offered) and plenty of kids still get into top schools.</p>

<p>My D’s AP schedule:</p>

<p>Freshman year: none
Sophomore year: AP Euro
Junior year: AP Environmental (Calc 1 taken in the summer at community college)
Senior year: AP Statistics, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics</p>

<p>Not the most impressive collection of AP courses, but she got and used college credit for all of these courses, which enabled her to take classes that interested her more when she got to college. </p>

45

<p>It really depends on the school and the student. My D took only 6 AP in HS although she could have taken more. Here is her distribution:</p>

<p>Freshman: none
Sophomore: AP US History
Junior: AP English, AP Chemistry (took SAT2 Chem right after AP)
Senior: AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP Spanish, (AP Comp Sci has time conflict).</p>

<p>We did regret that she did not take AP Gov or Econ in sophomore year. But at the end, she has the right number and combinations of AP credits that gave her higher placement for all required courses and almost completed all elective requirements in college just with those 6 AP scores (33 credits total) already. So, do consider the usefulness of the AP classes.</p>

<p>My suggestion is try to take 1 or 2 in sophomore and 2 in Junior. Junior is busiest as there are other standardized test to take too. Do not get overwhelmed as junior GPA is most important in college application. Also make sure one can take advantage of the AP classes that one may take corresponding SAT2 at the end of Junior. If you get all the test done in Junior, senior is relatively easy particularly after the first semester submitting college applications.</p>

46

<p>Interesting AP CS counts as a science class at our school not Math.</p>

<p>I think one of the most important things to do is to check and see what the scores are for your school for each AP class you are thinking about. If most of the kids get 4’s and 5’s then it’s a real AP class. However if most kids are getting 2’s and 3’s then it’s not really an AP class. If most kids can’t get a 4 or 5 they haven’t been taught everything they should have. So if a student goes ahead and takes the class they should plan on learning the material on their own. </p>

47

<p>Just skimmed the previous posts - so this might have been mentioned. I knew from 9th grade on the college I wanted to attend and knew I would get in. So, when planning my AP’s - I took the classes I knew would be automatically counted for units. For example, I didn’t take AP Lit as a senior since my school only considered this a lit course in the humanities section of my education plan. AP psychology and AP government already cleared me for the humanities section, so AP lit would have been a waste of my time in high school. Most students are looking at a large variety of schools, so this may not be helpful for your individual situation. It was just my experience. </p>

48

<p>I know this is the ‘parents forum’, but I’m usually the one planning my schedule – I just have to get it approved each year by my parents and teachers – so I thought I’d share my 2 cents. </p>

<p>When I plan out my schedule, it’s usually very much ‘can I handle this workload and still have a life?’ For instance, my freshman year I took AP Chemistry, AP Gov’t, and AP Music Theory. My reasoning? Chemistry is mostly theory, Government is mostly memorization, and Music Theory is…well…music, so it was kind of different for a change-up of pace. The results were decent: 5 on AP Chemistry (with an 800 on the SATII subject test), 4 on Gov’t, and 5 (with subscores of 5 and 5) on Music Theory. Basically, aim for a balance between conceptual APs and memorization APs, with a ‘fun change-up’ AP in there just for fun (this year, that’s AP Environmental Science). </p>

<p>All right. So that’s what I try to do as far as yearly stuff goes, but long term planning goes like this: </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Try not to take two of the same type of AP in the same year. It’ll get tedious. I’ve broken that idea some with my AP Bio + AP Environmental Science, but the two of them are world apart in difficulty level and complexity. </p></li>
<li><p>Make sure each year is manageable and contains at least 1 ‘I think I’m REALLY going to like this subject!’ AP. Honestly, I’ve liked all my courses so far, BUT I’ve tried to include a ‘fun’ course in each year (ok, so that’s AP Chemistry/AP Bio for me). This has really helped…it provides a bit of fun to each day! :slight_smile: </p></li>
<li><p>Plan ahead. :slight_smile: My four year plan (as of right now) looks like this: </p></li>
</ol>

<p>9th grade: AP Chemistry, AP Gov’t, AP Music Theory
10th grade: AP Bio, AP Lang, APUSH, APES, AP Macro, and AP Micro
11th grade: AP Calc BC, AP CompSci, AP Spanish Lang, AP Physics, AP European History
12th grade: Organic Chemistry, AP World History, AP Spanish Lit, AP Stat, AP Lit, Multivariable Calc.</p>

<p>Each year gets gradually harder in intensity, yet stays spread out over the different subject areas…that’s what I’m aiming for. </p>

<p>(Caveat: I’m homeschooled (but I still take all the AP classes online or in-person), so I take AP courses mainly to show colleges that Mom didn’t just give me an ‘A’ because she was feeling nice. :slight_smile: That’s why I’m taking so many APs (of course, maybe it’s not so many by <em>this</em> site’s standards!); it’s to prove to colleges that I actually earned my grades!)</p>

<p>All right. So for your daughter’s courses, here’s what I’d do: </p>

<p>Firstly, I’d take AP Physics at the same time as AP Calc. They have a lot in common, and yet they are in two different subject areas. My older brother did this with great results (5s on both of those exams); he benefitted greatly from taking them in the same year. As for the APUSH vs. AP Gov’t dilemma…APUSH is more memorization, and AP Gov’t has a greater tendency to spark debates. I’d go for both, but if only one is available, US History would probably be more beneficial, I think (just because I’ve reviewed about 1/4 of the government stuff in APUSH so far, and 1/4 of the government stuff is ‘prior knowledge’, anyway). </p>

<p>I hope this is helpful!</p>

49

<p>Take the above post’s advice with a HUGE grain of salt. This student is homeschooled and cherry picks his courses. He does not have any of the usual required courses to spend his time on. I disagree with not taking more than one of the same type of AP the same semester. You need to rely on the HS’s offerings and schedule compatibilities. My son took AP physics instead of regular physics before he took AP Calculus as a senior, he took AP Statistics at the same time as calculus. AP physics is not calculus based. Likewise he took AP US History instead of the regular version some take before taking the AP course. This student is relying on AP courses for his knowledge since he doesn’t have other good courses at his disposal. Your D is lucky- she can take advantage of being with other students for discussions and get a wider variety of materials than just what is contained in an AP class.</p>

<p>My son took one semester of AP Music when he couldn’t fit the AP Computer Science in his schedule, he did not complete that music course because he took AP Psychology (a semester course) I believe. He did not take AP Biology because his HS did not offer it. He did self study for that AP exam but didn’t take it at the last minute. No big deal. He took fourth year French instead of An AP lit type class because of schedule conflicts, this meant more to his college applications (most accepted students have 4 years of foreign language) and fulfilled that req for his college. The Honors lit class for juniors was actually a better class than the AP version. A student at his HS got a 5 on the AP US History exam before even taking the regular course- he placed out of that mandatory class btw.</p>

<p>Sometimes it is better to take a fun course instead of every AP class possible. Remember to take advantage of ALL your HS has to offer. AP courses are great for HS students but they do not compare to the same versions at a good/elite college. I sometimes wish students could not get college credit for AP courses instead of taking a more information filled/more rigorous version offered by their college. HS is about so much more than the highest academics, even for gifted students like my son.</p>

<p>Back to your original worry. Do not try to spread out AP courses to be able to take the AP exams in different years. Work on the best HS schedule and let the tests come when they will. Your D does not need to take the AP test for every AP course taken. Also- if her senior year schedule has more AP classes those exams will come after college decisions are made.</p>

<p>Interesting facts, all ancient history since son has his college degree by now. Son became a slacker his senior year (age 16 in fall). He got 100% on stats tests but 0s on homework- yielding Bs instead of As. Calculus teacher didn’t require homework to be handed in so he got A’s in that. He got a C in AP Chemistry his last semester since he obviously did not do the work- he got a 5 on that AP exam taken a month before the school year ended. His cousin with the same gifted score on a standardized test in the same grade (different year) in a different state and year got A’s in his AP Chemistry and was a much more diligent studier- but he only got a C on his AP Chemistry exam. Difference in quality of teaching. He’s now a medical student. </p>

<p>All of HS becomes ancient history once a student starts college. The college attended is dependent on many factors. Do not obsess over this. Let your D take the lead and ignore the numbers of potential AP tests in any given spring.</p>

50

<p>Oops- a 3, not C on the AP exam (the equivalent).</p>

51

<p>

It depends on which AP Physics. AP Physics 1/2 is not calculus based; AP Physics C is.</p>

<p>Aside from that, most of @wis75 's advice is spot on. Every high school is different on curriculum progression, prereqs needed, limits for AP/Honors courses. Inevitably, there will be schedule conflicts. Colleges recognize this. I would not sweat this one out too much.</p>

52

<p>Talking to your high school’s guidance counselor will help you pick out a reasonable yet challenging schedule. I really think it should mostly be the student’s decision, so try to give her some room to decide on her own. It’s also difficult to decide so early on a set plan for high school. I had to make a 4-year plan, but I definitely didn’t follow it at all, instead taking it one year at a time.</p>

<p>Re: taking AP US history as an underclassman, my former high school has phased out “regular” social studies classes, pushing the students who would take that into honors and the students who would take honors into AP.</p>

<p>These were my high school classes:</p>

<p>9: AP US history (wasn’t so bad and helped me develop high school study skills, but they’ve revamped the test since then)
10: AP US Gov (useful class for being more knowledgeable about politics)
11 (hardest overall year for me): AP World History (was much harder for me than US despite being 2 years later), AP Calc BC, AP English Language (difficult class, but test wasn’t bad), AP Biology (first year of revamped exam, and I didn’t know what to expect)
12: AP French, AP Psychology (useful for placing out of intro Psych), AP English Literature (more difficult than Lang, and most colleges accept only one, which I didn’t realize until halfway through the year), Multivariable Calculus</p>

<p>Other important class schedule things to keep in mind: for every difficult class, try to balance it with an enjoyable class; try to take a foreign language for all four years; and sticking with a fine arts/music elective (or any elective really) for four years can be a good idea, even if means sacrificing an AP class. I know someone who stopped playing the viola in the school orchestra in order to take AP Biology as a sophomore, but taking only academic classes is neither advisable nor necessary.</p>