<p>AP Macroeconomics is a semester long course at my school, and I ended up with a B+ in it. It's not a terrible grade by any means, so I was incredibly confused when my teacher emailed me earlier today and said that she wouldn't recommend me to take the AP. I know that it usually looks bad when students take the course but not the exam. What should I do about this? I've heard of plenty of cases of students earning B's in their AP classes but getting 4's and 5's on the exams, and I don't think that the fact that I didn't get an A in the class means that I'll necessarily fail the AP. Any comments or advice are much appreciated.</p>
<p>truthfully, i got a b/c in ap us, and i ended up getting a five on the exam. [my teacher graded harshly because we were in <em>college</em> =S</p>
<p>my point is that, ur teacher can advise you not to, but it is ultimately ur choice. i wouldny factor it out, just study a bit harder. maybe you just need to prove to ur teacher that ur serious. personally, im loving econ this year because i have an amazing teacher, but our textbook is really… disgusting. try using 5 steps to a 5. [or just flip through it at a bookstore and see if you like it] </p>
<p>DONT GET KAPLAN. so brief. all of my friends hate it, and they actually borrow my cracker.</p>
<p>anyhows its up to you. if you feel like you get the material/need or want college credit/like the subject/ or just want to take the exam then go for it. i see no reasons not to. if you are taking the time to learn the material, why not? weigh ur options-- see if its worth ur time and ur money</p>
<p>Do it unless you know that you learned absolutely nothing this semester and/or completely despise the subject. It’s not like taking US at all; it’s really just a semester exam (unless you take micro, too). The only downside for you is being down $85 if you don’t pass. Don’t let that deter you, though. The Macro and Micro exams have pretty good pass rates and aren’t very hard to study for. And the upside is a semester or two of credit and potential exemption from a GE category and/or a first-level econ classes that ALL econ or business-related majors HAVE to take. Just get a review book. I used 5 Steps for Micro and Macro and it was pretty good. Friends always seem to suggest Princeton for APs, so it might be a good option, too. And if you want to be throughly well-versed in introductory-level econ, go ahead and try Barrons. </p>
<p>I have a feeling that your teacher may be selfishly concerned with her pass rate. Most AP teachers it seems like to boast about how they have 95 or 100% rates to other faculty. She might want to be assured of a conversation topic come July 2010. If there’s a chance, however slim, that you won’t pass, she’d rather not see you compromise “her” record!</p>
<p>“I have a feeling that your teacher may be selfishly concerned with her pass rate. Most AP teachers it seems like to boast about how they have 95 or 100% rates to other faculty. She might want to be assured of a conversation topic come July 2010. If there’s a chance, however slim, that you won’t pass, she’d rather not see you compromise “her” record!” </p>
<p>I would have to agree with that, some teachers just want to show off his/her pass rate to others. Just take the exam B+ is decent.</p>
<p>If you’re a junior, then take it. If you’re a senior, then do what you want.</p>
<p>I cant really give any formal advice, as different high schools are different in terms of academic challenge. But do not be discouraged just because the teacher tells you so. For the record, I had a friend who received a D in AP Chem (hes a semi-smart procrastinator) but a 5 on the AP exam.</p>
<p>Radiums has a point; it could just be the teacher’s self-interest. I wouldn’t take your teacher’s advice into consideration, and would decide independently what the best course of action would be.</p>
<p>I think you could totally pull off a 4 or 5 if you study and prepare well for the AP exam. Besides, don’t listen to what your teacher says. If you want to take the exam, then take it.</p>
<p>TWSA50- i didnt mean taking the exam was like taking the US exam. what i meant was that i had a low grade in AP US, but i still managed to do just fine on the exam.</p>
<p>just thought id clear that up. =P</p>
<p>Why don’t you ask her why she doesn’t want you to take that exam? Maybe you failed a test and got a B+ from inflation or something (just saying).</p>
<p>You’ve gotta be kidding me, what a terrible teacher you must have, discouraging a student not to take the exam. </p>
<p>Honestly you have no loss whether you fail or not, she might be afriad that your low score will damage the school’s reputation however.</p>
<p>Take it. Use this as motivation. A B+ is completely possible of getting college credit.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for their suggestions/encouragement! :)</p>
<p>@ Confused92: I’m guessing that the reason my teacher didn’t want me to take the AP was because of my final exam results. I got an 86.25% on an exam that was made up of 100 multiple choice questions, which were all questions from previous tests, and 60 points on a take-home portion. I thought I did well on both parts (believe me, I studied A LOT for the multiple choice portion and had several people check my work for the take home part); however, I seem to have tripped up. I doubt that I got that many wrong, and I’m suspecting a marking error somewhere, especially since the class average for that exam was a 94% and my scores usually never deviate too far from the mean. But I won’t know until my teacher comes back in January and we get a chance to look it over. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there was somehow a mistake on her part - that way she’ll let me take the exam after all! We shall see.</p>
<p>Just take it. The Macro test wasn’t that hard. You just need to know basic concepts, there wasn’t too much detail on the test. The Princeton was a good REVIEW, but use your textbook to teach yourself the concepts more indepth.</p>
<p>86.5? That’s a straight up 5. Take the exam, you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>^ Well, remember that the multiple choice portion of that exam was entirely made up of questions from tests throughout the semester, so I guess it wasn’t unreasonable for her to expect that I would get a higher grade. I was surprised by my exam grade too - I really thought an A would be a cinch, considering how much I studied. But either way, regardless of which of us messed up, are you sure I’d do well on the exam? The way she worded her email made it seem like I’d completely fail it, lol. :(</p>
<p>don’t take it personally</p>
<p>i heard the econ test was ridiculously hard. the majority of people who take it score 1’s and 2’s. </p>
<p>but then again my school has a reputation for having a horrible econ teacher. if you feel that you actually understand the material and that you could study for the test, go ahead</p>
<p>Alright, sorry to revive an old thread but I just wanted to say this: I met with my teacher today, and it turns out that the 94% class average was for the multiple choice questions, which I scored a 96% on, so that part was good. On the other hand, I really messed up on ONE question in the FRQ part, and therefore my teacher concluded that I was “good at memorizing but not at thinking about the problem”, looked me straight in the eye, and said, “Do not take the AP.” Seriously? Just for one question? LOL!</p>
<p>I probably would’ve been really intimidated if I hadn’t posted this thread beforehand (thanks for the support, guys!). Even though I smiled and said “Yes”, I was really thinking, “See if I care!” </p>
<p>Wish me luck in May! >=D</p>
<p>Good for you fledgling! Best of luck!! let us know what happens in your exam.</p>
<p>Wow, that teacher sounds like a real a-hole. Good luck on the exam man.</p>