<p>The problem is we place too much emphasis on “getting into” selective colleges and not enough emphasis on love of learning and getting the education that you want. </p>
<p>D1 took 10 AP exams and got a 5 on each one. She loved every minute of every AP class. </p>
<p>D2 took AP Physics B sophomore year, and is currently taking AP bio junior year. She could have taken more (APUSH, Euro), but she likes science a lot and doesn’t like history as much. She wants to learn all of AP Bio and not get bogged down with another AP that might require time that she’d rather apply to Bio. That’s fine. </p>
<p>She will not have taken the hardest curriculum offered by her school, and you know what? If she doesn’t get into the most selective colleges, she will find a fine institution that will be happy to take our money and educate her. It’s not about the college admissions, it’s about the education. </p>
<p>Kids who don’t really want to take APs shouldn’t feel pressured to take them, and shouldn’t be that concerned if they don’t get into the most selective colleges. There are great colleges for kids who love learning but don’t want to burden themselves with too much work and no life. </p>
<p>THAT’s where our priorities are all screwed up.</p>
<p>I think AP courses are a way for the College Board to make money. My D would have been better off in dual enrollment at the local cc. She got no credit for her AP courses. She would have received credit for cc courses. And she wouldn’t have been up til 2 am doing homework every night either.</p>
<p>“It is a pretty sad commentary on the state of US high school education that AP has morphed from a standardized way for advanced students in a few subjects to show competency in college freshman level material into a means of giving high schools incentive to offer more rigorous or useful courses (often really high school level rather than college level) that they would not otherwise offer, or would offer at an unsatisfying less rigorous level.”</p>
<p>That may be true in some schools. In our (public) high school, the APs are VERY challenging – and certainly on a college level. They are one-semester courses and are taught at a very fast pace. D took ten APs and received college placement credit for each one. She is now at a top public university. S, on the other hand, will probably only take two or three at the most. He won’t have the same college options as D, but his needs are very different, and I believe that he will probably be just as happy at his college as she is at hers. “Top” colleges may want their students to have taken the most rigorous curricula offered. However, there are a lot of wonderful colleges that don’t require the same level of rigor in high school. Ten, twenty years after graduation, what will matter more than where my children went to college is whether they are happy and are good, decent human beings. Sometimes we lose sight of that in the competitive college admissions process.</p>
<p>The main reason why I PUSHED for my DD14 to take an AP class is because her honors classes last year were not challenging enough! She made all A’s last year, every marking period and didnt break a sweat… so for her, she needed the rigor! She was bored and was seeking more. Her schools policy is to begin AP’s in junior year, but waiting another school year for rigor was NOT an option… so the principal allowed it, though reluctanly.</p>
<p>Her AP teacher is wonderful… expects alot from the students & gives alot in return… </p>
<p>The added benefit of the higher QPA for AP classes… and the boost her class rank are pretty nice too.</p>
<p>I am reading a book now about the whole college admissions process… very interesting and insightful. And they do look for the rigor of a students classes… and frown upon those who have not challenged themselves with the “most demanding” classes… not taking them may work for some, but I feel that with my daughters background and her need for FULL financial aid forces her to be at the top of her class and take as many AP classes as allowed by her school.</p>
<p>She realizes that when her application arrives at the HSC’s, it must be stellar. anything less is too much of a risk that she isnt willing to take!</p>
<p>Your D sounds like a terrific student. However, with all due respect, the way you phrase it sounds a lot like you are setting unreasonably high expectations for your D where nothing less is acceptable, and I caution you that a) nobody college is going to complain if she didn’t take EVERY AP available to her, just the ones she is interested in, b) some AP combinations are really undoable at our school, like AP Bio with APUSH, and it’s really not humanly possible to do a good job in both, and c) these expectations have the potential to rip any love of learning that she has out of her system and put an addictive need for achievement and recognition in it’s place. I know you love her, but you need to love her soul too. </p>
<p>IMHO, (c) is an awfully unhealthy trade to make, and you should read about the recent suicides at MIT if you want this put in perspective. </p>
<p>When expectations are that high, an excellent but imperfect job feels like a failure. What an awful way to go through life.</p>
And at many colleges (both the ones my two sons attended) you can get credit for AP but no credit for community college courses. You can’t win!</p>
<p>I think there’s been an arms race at some schools to take more APs than is good for kids. The average number of APs student at MIT had under their belts a few years ago was five. That’s right five, not the ten or 15 you often see from kids posting here. My older son took 9 I think, plus a post-AP math class, my younger son took 7. They both refused to take AP English to the dismay of their GC, but it didn’t stop them from getting into top 10 colleges. They are just bright white suburban boys. Though older son was helped by being a legacy at Harvard.</p>
<p>I am not sure if you read my whole post… because your spin on my expectations are all wrong… your post was a bit unfair.</p>
<p>She was bored out of her mind last year as a freshman… maybe it was because she was in private school grades k-8? Not sure…so do you recommend that she wait until her junior year to take AP classes and be bored again this year? She LOVES her AP class and all its rigor/challenge… she eats it up! Her teacher has told her how proud he is of her because she is exceeding what the juniors in the class are doing. She is the 1st 10th grader to take his class!</p>
<p>My daughter is a very wise young woman who realizes that not taking her education very seriously can have very uncomfortable consequences in the future. The proof is all around her! She sees it when she walks out of the front door. Do I push her? I do. and does she push herself? YES…but her expecations for herself are higher than mine. She enjoys the challenge and is flourishing in her own self mandated excellence… has always been that way… even as a young school age student</p>
<p>I don’t make the college admissions rules… they make the rules… and they require certain things…</p>
<p>"
Maybe the school’s should think out of the box for these kids? Offer a class in The Great Books, all Shakespeare, Quarks, American Hegemony, etc., etc., etc,"</p>
<p>Not every school is an elite private or affluent public high school. Remember annasdad’s rural hs which didn’t even offer all the sciences for all 4 years? You are dreaming if you think that the vast majority of hs in this country can accommodate more than the basics and maybe a few APs here and there. Anyway, the school has to balance the needs of the kids at this level with the great masses – and frankly an accounting class would probably serve more students headed off to be business majors at the local university better than quarks for the few geniuses. Unfortunate, but life.</p>
<p>I think it’s great that your D is so self-driven. </p>
<p>The way you wrote your post though made it sound like she was driven by you such to a point that anything less than a full ride a top school is a total failure. That’s a lot of pressure for something that’s not even in her total control, and is a very dangerous way to live. </p>
<p>When ever you get a situation where outstanding achievement can end up being viewed as a failure, and it’s very unhealthy. </p>
<p>She should celebrate and enjoy the journey, do her best and recognize shades of gray. </p>
<p>I heard a quote watching the world series last night where a major league manager said “The best thing in the world was winning a major league baseball game. The second best thing in the world was losing a major league baseball game.” </p>
<p>It’s a great quote, and it kind of makes you think. </p>
<p>I credit my AP English from my senior year (1993) with opening my brain and bringing about a transformation in my writing. But we had 7 kids and the teacher picked, no exceptions. I agree that there seem to be too many kids in one class. These are in depth classes and it requires discussion so I think classes larger than 10-12 become distracting. </p>
<p>My D’s school pick for English and they require written permission from the teacher for her bio. Her classes are small. She is working her butt off and the small classes are awesome!</p>