<p>One of the main reasons I take AP classes is so I don't have to deal with the class again in college. I could be completely wrong here, but I feel like most AP classes are just as rigorous as their course equivalency in college. However, I'm not so sure if this applies to general classes such as English, and in this case the AP Lit exam. I'm already taking 3-4 APs next year, and I've heard from multiple people at my school that AP Lit has a lot of work, and I'm not a fan of English in the first place. If the class in college is just as hard, then I'll probably just deal with AP Lit, because I figure it's better to get it out of the way in high school. But if it's just some freshman writing class or something.. I'd rather just take the easier class in college and worry about my other APs senior year.</p>
<p>Well, I am in the college equivalent. My teacher happens to be the head of the English department so it is a somewhat difficult class. The amount of work is probably lighter than the AP class, but the grading scale is rather touchy. This, of course, depends on the teacher. </p>
<p>I suppose, then, the AP class is more work, but the difficulty varies.</p>
<p>Thanks, I know this is a tough question to answer as no one has taken both, I’m just trying to decide if AP Lit is worth all the work or not.</p>
<p>Anyone else have any insight?</p>
<p>you might get more replies on the college life forum.</p>
<p>Unless you are a great test taker and don’t really have to do the work I would much rather take a class in college because there is little or no homework, probably going to be more interesting, definitely going to be more flexible. That is just my opinion. I went through this with social sciences. I took two APs and two in college; I really wish I took them all in college. However, I might not have gotten into my college without my HS APs.</p>
<p>My son is taking 5 APs his senior year. The only class I see him with tons of work that keeps up late at night is AP Lit. Then again his class did get selected for some art project at SF MOMA on top of the normal workload. But this is compared to AP Physics, CS, Calc, and Econ. Those other APs are much easier atleast to him.</p>
<p>I am currently taking a one semester equivalent of AP Lit. Its the easiest class ever, but that might just be because of the way its set up at our school.</p>
<p>Most AP classes that correspond to general eds are much harder than the general ed equivalent. Unless you get a hard professor.</p>
<p>I’m taking eight ap weighted courses and Lit has the most work. The highest grade you can achieve is a 95, solely because the teacher is a jackass. It’s hefty, but pays off</p>
<p>Like all other AP classes, this is always a bit of a silly question, because it is impossible to know how hard your AP class is, or how hard the majority of your classes at whatever college/university you end up will be. In general, AP classes tend to have a lot of tests and homework assignments to ensure that students are learning and keeping up with the material; their college equivalents will have far less assignments/different grades, but far, far more is expected out of you with each one. In my college-level literature class, the workload is about one short story (of twenty or so pages) with each class meeting (the courses meets 2x a week) with no reading check, one in-class presentation, three objective tests with M/C and short answer and one long 2500 word research paper. But again, that’s going to vary hugely even in the same school, much less across the entire nation.</p>
<p>If it’s any help to you…all of my sons took AP Lit, all did well in the class, and all did well on the AP Exam…and found that the class was good preparation for college level work, but that the workloads were entirely different. My boys each took 8 or 9 AP classes in high school, and did well on all of the exams, if it is helpful for you to compare workloads.</p>
<p>College is just very different than high school. Less “home work” but a lot more work over all. To be fair, you will also spend a lot less time sitting in class, so if you are organized and consistent you will have plenty of time to do all you need to do, and do it well.</p>
<p>A lot of college freshmen have trouble in that they don’t realize that the syllabus handed out the first day of class is only the barebones skeleton of the class. The professor isn’t telling students what work to do, how or when to do it–he just makes the assumption that you will turn in a complete and polished finished product at the designated time and in the designated format. Odds are he will never mention the assignment in class at all.</p>
<p>Odds are that lectures will not track with the readings…the assumption is you can do the reading without professorial regurgitation, and that if you have questions you will go to the TA or the professor’s office hours, or seek help else where. The lectures may use the readings as a jumping off point, or parallel the readings, or be completely different than the readings. But on exams you will be held responsible for material covered both in the readings and in lecture or discussion, and be able to apply all of the information in various modes.</p>
<p>You will not be given busy work, like vocabulary lists or reading checks or “answer the questions at the end of the chapter and turn them in on Tuesday” in college…but you will be expected to have mastered the vocabulary, done the reading, and digested it—and maybe used those questions as a self-check/self-diagnosis.</p>
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<p>You must have some pretty mean professors at your school if they don’t have 5 seconds to remind the class an assignment is due.</p>
<p>Take AP Lit if you can handle it; you will get out of normal senior english + college english, which can be stressful.</p>
<p>So I’ve heard</p>
<p>^BoysX3 is right. I have 2 college papers due this week, and neither professor reminded us. (I take DE classes.) One of the professors reminded us before Thanksgiving and just told us to let him know if we have any questions. The other professor hasn’t even talked about the assignment since August. In the syllabus you get a class schedule and what’s supposed to be done before each class. Sometimes the professor will mention it, sometimes he/she won’t until the day it’s due. </p>
<p>Most of my current high school teachers will tell you this was their experience in college too. It’s just the way it is.</p>
<p>Anyways, in response to the OP, take AP lit. It’s not that bad.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, guys. I will probably just suck it up and take AP Lit, not even solely because I can get out of the class in college, but because I know for a fact that I won’t learn a thing in regular English and it will just be a complete waste of time!</p>