<p>I will admit right now that I am a highly arrogant elitist and I have a very low tolerance for the students in my upper class suburban high school. This stems somewhat from the fact that I was not re-elected to class president, but I would fully agree with anyone who claims that I am a b-tch. With that being said, I was just informed by my current history teacher and berated by the department head of Social Studies that I will not be getting into AP US next year due to my inability to work with people.</p>
<p>The prerequisites for this class are a teacher recommendation and an A or higher average for 2nd semester in American History this year. I have the A average and I have been getting consistently high grades throughout my high school career in history. I also have a 790 verbal SAT and I am a nationally ranked debater. It doesn't make sense to me that I wouldn't get a recommendation for AP just because of my personality clashes with the kids in my current regular level class, as my school does not offer honors until junior year.</p>
<p>Do I have any choices in this matter? I think it's pretty clear that I will not be getting recommended at all for AP, even if I am able to work with my classmates for the rest of the year. I thought that I could take honors-level history next year along with AP English Language, and then either
1) take history at a community college or a state college during the summer
or 2) take AP History through a virtual correspondence course</p>
<p>With both of these options, I would take the AP test in May along with the other students at my school. I am hoping to be an International Relations major and I think AP History would be essential to helping me in my studies. However, I feel that I have no more options left inside of school. What should I do? Would it be weird to apply as an IR major and not have taken AP US? I am freaking out right now, please help!</p>
<p>Do they only have 1 ap history class? The reasoning given by the teacher seems strange. There are ALOT of people in high school that can't play well together, but that shouldn't stop them from being allowed to take certain courses. It is like they are punishing you for being a snob. If that was the case, alot the kids in my D.s prep school shouldnt be in AP classes. Have you spoken to your counselor, are there other teachers who could speak up for you? What about your parents? </p>
<p>At this point, if you can't get into the class, do what you can outside...take the AP test, and find some research project or some program along you international relations line.</p>
<p>That being said, this could be a wake up call. If your attitude and treatment of others is damaging your relationships to such a degree that your teachers don't want you in a class, then you really need to look at yourself. Someday, in work, in college, and, in International RELATIONS, you will need skills- getting along with people, not judging people, working with people you don't like or necessarily even respect. </p>
<p>I am not trying to be mean, just working with what you said. Confidence- good thing, arrogance-not so good thing....</p>
<p>Think about it, in your chosen major, you need to find ways to work with people and to get people to work with each other....that is an art</p>
<p>Makes sense to me why they wouldnt reccomend you. It's just like a college rec- if you arent a nice person, they dont have to say u are. have u tried not being a snob? lol</p>
<p>I can work with people with above average intelligence and a work ethic, as can be seen in my honors classes. I feel that at this point, it's not worth it to change myself to get into a class that I'll probably fail anyways because the teacher (the department head) hates me.</p>
<p>You will not always be working with people up to your "standards" You will be amazed at how many people rise to their level of incompetence. And they will be your boss. You will have to deal with people all along the line: your college professor, or TA or doing your college interview, or writing your recommendation letters, or interviewing you for a job and if you treat them with arrogance, you will lose...if you attitude comes across in your essays at all, it will show and not be appreciated by admissions committees. Learn to play the game, acting better than everyone else will only close doors for you. No matter how good you are at something, if you can't get along with people, those "less" than you especially, you won't go very far. So, if its not worth it to change yourself so you will gain the respect of people, than that is sad.</p>
<p>Maybe this is a wake up call. I'm not sure I agree with how the teacher chose to make her point but I do think a caring teacher would do something to help a 16 year old who she saw would have trouble in the future unless she changes her ways.</p>
<p>Not being able to get along with a full range of people can be a fatal flaw. It will impact everything you do and will especially limit your career.</p>
<p>Missing out on one AP will be a small price if you decide to get it.</p>
<p>Although I'm certainly not supporting elitism bordering on b*tchiness in any way, your teacher's reasoning does seem faulted. What does working well with people have to do with doing well in AP US History? From my own personal experience its APUSH (considered the hardest course at our school) that promotes individualism, if anything, because you have to absorb the course materials on your own, you have to write the essays on your own, you have to take the daily quizzes alone. Besides, most APUSH classes seem to grade somewhat on a curve, with about only one or two A's a semester, a handful of B's, and half the class with a C or below.</p>
<p>I think that's why most colleges considered APUSH the history class to take if you want to major in something that deals with International Relations and the social sciences. I would try to convince the teacher to let you in any way possible. Maybe your teacher is just hoping that you'll change your ways?</p>
<p>If not, try to take the course at a higher level somewhere, perhaps at your community college? Your last resort would probably be going into a honors class and self- studying.</p>
<p>I think its clear that you need a reality check, while some teachers are just mean people for reasons not related to the situation at hand I think the way you described the situation leads one to believe that you have ostracized most everyone at your hs. That being said, take a good look at yourself. Ask yourself why this happened and appreciate the negative consequences of your actions.
Believe me, I too had to do this reality check on myself in the 9th grade. To tell you the truth I have never been happier. You will be amazed at how compliant and friendly people are when they are approached respectfully. So what if John Doe isn't going to be the next Itzhak Perlman or Dilulio or Sugrue. That does not mean that they should be accorded any less respect. In fact, when you do have this approach to people you will be surprised at the reciprocity in respect that you will receive. </p>
<p>As for the AP course, I would suggest apologizing to the teacher and trying to get in to the class.</p>
<p>what citygirlsmom said was 100% correct, seriously don't get caught up in AP or not, and sometimes you have to live with the decision, I had to for this year,and another poster did as well</p>
<p>Look at this as an object lesson...you WILL meet people who are not up to your standards in the future when you work. What are you going to do then?</p>
<p>If you are so arrogant that you're unable to work with people, and teachers don't want you in their classroom, the problem is you, not them. As citygirlsmom and oasis said, you don't always get to pick who you get to work with. You have to learn to work with people who are different from you.</p>