Basically, the one of the AP Lang teachers sucks. Straight A students come out of her class with C’s because she’s convinced that as a high schooler in a “college” course, you shouldn’t be able to do well.
Would it be bad if I don’t take AP English my junior and senior years? I’m not great at English, and if I don’t do AP, I’d be taking Dual Enrollement English (which is known to be way easier). I want to go into engineering, so it’s not like I’ll need extensive knowledge of English (I know engineers have to take English, I just mean as opposed to a humanities major).
Advice? Should I put myself through the pain and toil of AP English? Thank you!
Dual enrollment English is fine. Don’t sweat it.
@halcyonheather I have two friend who had her for English last year. They said she made it clear at the beginning of the year that they wouldn’t do well, and they both ended with C’s.
Don’t take it. It’s fine. If dual credit available, take that.
First of all, I would certainly talk to your parents or GC about this AP Lang teacher’s “vision” for her students. I find that really odd that as someone who gets payed to educate children, sets such low standards. Second of all, I would take dual-enrollment English, as English isn’t your favorite. Spend your junior and senior years focusing on engineering-related or STEM courses, while maintaining high grades in those classes. Best of luck! 
I learned so much from my AP Lang class. If the teacher is bad… I feel so sorry for you. Then again if your counselor writes a note saying A students get Cs in AP Lang, colleges will probably ignore it. Also if you get a 4 or 5 on the AP exam.
MODERATOR’S NOTE
No need to bump. You posted in the middle of the night, so it’s unrealistic to expect responses when you awake. The advice you have received so far is valid.
@skieurope I posted this the middle of the day yesterday, and bumped it like 15 hours later…
Thank you for all of your advice so far, it makes me feel better to not take AP.
We have high school English teachers strongly opposed to the idea that any younger teen can master coursework designed for college students. This doesn’t mean they are “bad teachers”, and in fact may make them “better educators.” I disagree with @writer80 that the standard set is “low”; the problem is the standard is actually quite high and too many kids think they are entitled to As and 4.0s. Most of us go through college and grad school working our butts off just to pass courses yet learning so much more than in classes with easy As. @Shanban1607 you are young and not ready to be challenged in this way (in English at least) but focus on you and stop blaming the teacher and college-level expectations for reading comprehension and written analysis.
We all have our own opinions @Oregon2016
@Oregon2016 I believe teachers have their jobs to help students succeed, not to purposefully make them fail. There’s a difference of getting a low grade because the coursework is hard and getting a low grade because the teacher refuses to give students A’s or B’s. It’s not that I’m not ready to be challenged, I just don’t wish to be graded unjustly like this teacher does. Plus, English isn’t my best subject in the first place.
Thank you @Shanban1607 thats exactly what I meant!!!
I had a high school teacher who intentionally embarrassed white students in class and graded them more harshly so the black students wouldn’t “feel bad” about themselves. So I understand being treated “unjustly” by an incompetent teacher but that awful experience also taught me about bigotry and discrimination, the power of unions, and well meaning parents who couldn’t help me. Back then there wasn’t a way to forecast being a victim. OP, you are obviously wiser than me. Keep looking at your crystal ball to predict which “unjust” teachers to avoid and you will succeed indeed. Plus English is not your best subject in the first place.
@Oregon2016 I’m sorry to have caused offense. The sarcasm was not necessary.
That is horrible. I am so sorry this happened to you! @Oregon2016
I’m gonna join this discussion!
I had a writing elective last year meant for juniors and seniors. The teacher was a harsh grader, following the methodology that As go to novel, impressive approaches for assignments. Bs go to good tries at the former that could’ve been better. Everyone else, Cs. He did not compromise.
A friend of mine dropped the class for fear of losing her excellent GPA. However, I’m somewhat a fan of the English language, and joined the class hoping to get better- not pad my ranking. When given the choice to drop the class, I elected to stay.
That class is the only B+ on my transcript (boohoo, a B D:). Most every student got a C. A close friend of mine (who is much my better in composition) nabbed an A, but we both did oodles of work for those respective grades.
What @Oregon2016 is saying, in my case, was true. However, I was only able to dedicate myself to the class because I loved what it was doing!
If you don’t, don’t steer yourself down that rabbit hole. Take a (still challenging!) dual-enrollment class. Heck, those aren’t always so easy. I bet it’s from a community college, right?
That should be fine.
See, I’m not afraid of taking a challenging class with a rough teacher that might hurt my GPA. I’m taking AP Chem this year, and most people come out with C’s or lower (I currently have a D haha). However, I’m interested in the subject. I’m willing to put forth the immense work to do decently in the class because I really enjoy chemistry. English isn’t the same way. I’m not the best at it, and I wouldn’t do well with this hard teacher because of that.
Thank you all for your encouragements… I’ll most likely end up doing Dual Enrollment.
I understand! I didn’t mean to suggest you were overly concerned with GPA but instead explain Oregon’s point from personal experience.
Best of luck with Chem! I hope you do well on the AP test.