<p>Hello, keep talking everybody.</p>
<p>No one can call anyone else's courses watered down or weak, period. You can only speak for your own school. And if you think your school offers a weak curriculum, I'm sorry,
:(
I know why we moved to my town.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree chocoholic. I think my school has some decent courses. The kids do well on the AP exams I know, so the teachers must be doing something right.</p>
<p>Yeah, the entire point of the AP class is to prepare for the AP exam, afterall, it is the AP Course right? :) So all that matters is the kids are exposed to the college level AP material and do well on the test - you aren't really supposed to cover anything else... What would the point be?</p>
<p>By the way citygirlsmom, the rigorousness of a class is not reflected by how hard it is to get in, it's by how hard it is to stay in. It does you no good if you can get in, but can't stay in. I think colleges understand that, especially if you get a good score on the AP test to back things up. That said, we do have several kids in most of our AP classes dropping after the first week because they realize they can't handle the course load.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As well, if AP classes are easy to get into at a school, they don't carry as much weight...sorry, but true
[/quote]
Sentient, I was thinking the exact same thing. Which college looks at how easy it was to get into an AP class? Anyhow most schools have prerequisites for being able to take an AP, and it does not take long for the wheat to be separated from the chaff, no offense, because in our school students know that your AP score is a % of your final grade. All that counts in an AP class is that you got a 4 or 5 in it.</p>
<p>"Yeah, the entire point of the AP class is to prepare for the AP exam, afterall, it is the AP Course right?"</p>
<p>Actually, that is not true. Many teachers are very upset that they are expected to teach "to the test". The point of a European History course is to teach European History. When a school designates it as an AP course, it means the teacher has to spend time altering the curriculum and making sure that the exact "right" things are covered so that the students can get their precious 4s and 5s on the test and the school looks good. This is why a number of the top private schools are dropping AP courses. The SUBJECTS are offered and the courses are extremely challenging, but they don't carry the AP designation. If the student wants to take the AP exam at the end, it is up to them. A course can be college level and appropriate for only the top students in a grade, but not be structured to meet the "AP" test requirements.</p>
<p>Isn't that what the Honors Euro, Honors U.S.Hist, Honors World Hist are for. I mean we also have all of those. But while I do agree that AP tests in some schools may not be taught in-depth, I don't agree that schools that offer APs are slacking off on their regular Curriculum.</p>
<p>We only have two levels of classes. Either AP/Pre-AP or regular. Pre AP is an accelerated track for classes that arent an AP class but is the same thing as Honors. But when there is an AP Class, say US History, only AP USH and US History are offered. All AP/Pre-AP Classes are weighted the same.</p>
<p>That's what I have, yep. My counselor told me PreAP is like AP without the test and a little less work.</p>
<p>AP Psych is a joke. In my school, its one of the easiest AP classes there is, and there are MANY sophomores in my school taking AP Psych.</p>
<p>IB students, just take it for a 6th subject, since its hardly stressing. That class shouldn't be so hard for you.</p>
<p>That's good. It will be easy, and it's still an AP that I can take a test for.</p>
<p>hello?.........</p>
<p>Se</p>
<p>PreAP Spanish 3, as in, Honors Spanish 3. Just the stupid Texas version of honors I think.</p>
<p>DespSophomore: Challenging yourself by taking hard classes(like AP's) is more important than getting a 4.0 GPA. </p>
<p>Applicant#1: 10 AP's and a 3.8 GPA
Applicant #2: 0 AP's and a 4.0 GPA
DING DING DING DING DING!!! Applicant#1, you have been accepted to Harvard!!!!(just kidding, but you get the idea)</p>
<p>Texasmathwhiz: Generally, AP classes aren't too difficult if you have a good teacher, with the exception of the science and math ones. AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, and the Calculus ones can be described as "living hell". THEY ARE SUPER HARD!!!!! Don't take more than 2 of these ones that I listed in your junior or senior year, or otherwise your GPA and sanity will go flying out of the window.</p>
<p>P.S: I am a little worried about your sophomore PSAT scores texasmathwhiz. The 168 you got on the PSAT does not correlate with the 1510 you claim you got on the SAT you took for practice. Assuming you're good at math, I would start seeking verbal help immediately.</p>
<p>sounds a lot like my schedule this year, and don't worry, it's definitely feasible (even with no lunch and a free every other day, as I did it...), although it also depends on whether your independent study in science course is extremely demanding- the kids who take the "Advanced Science Research" course at my school are subjected to 7 hours of work a week with stringent requirements and research guidelines that lead them to work much more. Many dropped their AP courses because of the rigor of the course.</p>
<p>Yep, my schedule too, except I took AP Spanish instead of PAP. Is your PAP Physics really PAP, or is it AP Physics B? That's what my school did. Anyway, it's not too bad--you should do fine. Just don't procrastinate, use your weekends productively, and make sure you understand the material. Don't be afraid to befriend your chemistry or physics book for unassigned reading to gain comprehension.</p>
<p>I actually got a higher verbal score on the SAT practice, and a higher math score on the PSAT.</p>
<p>There is no reason whatsoever the scores should correlate. I took the practice SAT test in the comfort of my own home, after a night of good sleep, without any stress. So I got a 1510, awesome.</p>
<p>I took the PSAT after about five hours of sleep the night before, no breakfast, and not even knowing it was happening until I accidentally walked into first period and was told the PSAT was today, "aren't you taking it".</p>
<p>There is no reason those two scores should correlate, and most seniors I know have told me the SAT is much easier than the PSAT, considering it is not as firmly related to scholarships as the PSAT.</p>