<p>Taking AP’s in 9th grade–you are positive about that or are you just assuming? We have some kids taking AP’s in 9th grade but those kids are REALLY smart but most kids that are college bound take honor’s courses in 9th grade, some AP’s in 10th grade, mostly AP’s in 11th and 12th grade. Just because other kids get pressure from their parents, and I doubt that is where all of the pressure comes from, doesn’t mean your child has to have the same pressure. Our kids took all honors/AP classes. DD decided to take an honors level history class last year vs the AP class. A week into the class she knew she made a mistake. She doesn’t like history but she realized that the kids taking that class were not the kind of kids she wants to be in class with. She stuck it out for the year but signed up for all AP’s this year. There was no “pressure” to do so, just that she realized that she would rather be with motivated students.</p>