<p>I go to a medium-size public -- unfortunately, something like 40% to 45% of our students fall under the poverty line, and we have failing (though maybe slightly improving by the years) standards in terms of testing and whatnot. 5 APs offered, though, and a decent three year Critical Thinking (but non-AP-specific) program that combines history and English. A lot of my teachers have been substandard, mainly because some of the better ones retired or left just before I could get to them. </p>
<p>I took three community college classes last summer (I'm now a senior), though it was my first time doing that... and even though it's "just" community college, I actually enjoyed them more than most my high school classes, and wish I'd had the opportunity/drive to take more before. </p>
<p>I wish now that, even if I had to be in this school, that I'd taken the initiative to study and learn more. Not just for the sake of admissions, but for the self-improvement. I do read and study on my own, but I feel like I've just wasted my time a lot, too. On the other hand, I have generally enjoyed myself and not ever been too overwhelmed by school. </p>
<p>I'm always awed by the people here who a) have taken a bajillion AP courses, or go to an IB school, or a school where they read, say, Joyce as high schoolers, and/or b) do a ridiculous amount of self-studying or take a lot of college courses as high schoolers.</p>
<p>as a student at a crappy high school, i have to say that i'm pretty lucky compared to some. 95% of the people in our city are below poverty level and 50% don't graduate from high school, but we're offered 14 AP classes, which makes it pretty easy to do well if you want to. initiative is definitely important, though.</p>
<p>I hate my school. We have a wide range of teachers- the newbies who are nice but don't teach worth crap for a minimum of 4 years (I got two brand-new teachers last year), the mid-range tenure teachers who are jerks because they don't have to worry about getting fired, and the best teachers, the dedicated, wise ones that truly enjoy their subject.
And then all those in between.
The student are almost all white, middle class, and mid-range grades with some honors and some failing. We are such an average school it ticks me off. We only offer 1 AP course.</p>
<p>That's why I'm applying to boarding school for 10th-12th grades.</p>
<p>If you're in the accelerated / AP track, you're almost guaranteed an amazing teacher. On the other hand, I've heard bad reviews about some of the "average" class teachers.</p>
<p>I'm on the honors track for my school. We only offer two honors classes (english and science) for 9th and 10th grade, then 11th grade you can take APUSH and Dual Credit Chemistry.
I'm messing with the system though-
I'm take both Earth Science (Honors) next year AND Dual Credit Chem (though I won't receive the credit for being a sophomore- who cares. No one outside of our state accepts the credits, and I'm definitely applying out of state). I'm also taking an art class and band, global 10, english 10 (honors), spanish III, and a health calss if it fits.
See, if you have a substandard school, you need to mess with guidance to get what YOU want, because what's normal is usually just as substandard.</p>
<p>My school is so far below that we don't even have to complete a free or reduced lunch application for 2 years because everyone is under poverty. But our school did receive an AP grant so we have about 7 to 8 AP's. Also we live in a wealthy city but drugs have killed the school. I can say with confidence that about half the school has smoked weed.</p>
<p>The problem is that there's such a big dichotomy between the "stoners" (we have a reputation for this, like one of the top druggie schools in CA or something LOL), and the "smart people" (there are quite a bit of these people as well). It feels like it's the extremes and the extremes. Of course, there are moderates too.</p>
<p>I'd say it's more or less the average HS curriculum in CA (lol at 48th stupidest state of the nation ;)) for the supposedly "accelerated track": 1 AP soph year, like 3~4 junior, another 3~4 senior. It really pales compared to all these academically concentrated privates/publics that have really intellectual courses and like 4 AP's starting sophomore year, but it isn't a really bad thing either. </p>
<p>There's too many people and I see at least a couple new kids daily in my grade or so, and I have no idea about like over half the people in my grade...so I don't even know who's valedictorian, salutatorian, or anything like that.</p>
<p>
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about half the school has smoked weed.
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</p>
<p>About half the kids in every high school have smoked weed. That doesn't mean your school is particularly into drugs. Now if you said half the kids have smoked heroin...</p>
<p>Oh geezus, our school has a pretty horrid schedule and prereq system.
I don't get why you have to take chemistry first then take AP chemistry. With a 4x4 or a 3x6, it gets to that you have no time to take any electives and can barely squeeze 3-4 APs in. It causes a lot of outside of school studying to skip prereqs. :(</p>
<p>My school sucks. We offer 12 APs but my school does that only so they can say "We don't just care about our football, we also offer 12 APs" but the truth is, only three of those twelve have even a slightly decent pass rate. The pass rate for those four classes is about 50% (would be higher but they force stupid people into APs, again, so they can claim that the school is better than it is. The rest of the APs have a pass rate of about 3-4 people per class of 25, some classes have an even lower pass rate of about 10 per hundred (world history and human geo).</p>
<p>My school has a good amount of APs but barely anyone pass the test. Only about 3 in a class 50 pass the test and the only requirement for getting into an AP class is just telling your counselor that you want an AP class even if you have straight "Fs." Often, the AP classes become self-study classes if you really want to actually pass. Many of the people in our school cannot even pass the state board exam. Our school is so bad that we celebrate, yes celebrated with a pep rally and all, when we became a "D" school (no joke).</p>
<p>^ Almost the same as my school. Only, when we became a "D" school my principal decided to implement "FCAT Bootcamp" to teach us the FCAT (half an hour every school day and we literally spent 2 weeks learning the "difference between cause and effect"). Also, not only do they have no requirements for the AP's, they also try to force people into AP classes. People had to get parents to complain or fail the first nine weeks just to get out of APs they didn't want.</p>
<p>Your school sounds like mine. It is impossible to get out of an AP class. The only way you can get out is if your parent calls and bugs the counselors everyday for a month or if you beg the teacher to request that you get kicked out. This one girl had to beg the teacher to tell the counselor she was not fit for AP English. </p>