A small but growing number of independent schools are eliminating their AP curriculum and sometimes even eliminating the tests. In the case of my kid’s school, the school explained that AP has outlived its usefulness in that most students spend 4 years in college even with passing AP. Said that colleges want to see a student taking the most challenging class offered, not necessarily an AP course.
WaPo Opinion piece after Sidwell Friends and seven other prep schools eliminated the AP: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/our-schools-got-rid-of-ap-courses-heres-why/2018/06/18/24018654-7316-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html
Any thoughts about this? I think they have a point that most students spend a full 4 years in college. On the other hand, this could lead to an educational balkanization, and who is to decide how difficult a school’s most difficult class really is?
Anyone at a school which has eliminated AP, and does not follow IB? How have the college applications gone?
I’m wondering if the trend isn’t toward taking online college classes or actually attending classes at a community college while still in high school. A.P was a way to bring college level classes to high school students but now we have other avenues to do so.
An experienced parent advised my children not to bother with A.P. He suggested go right to the source and take the college class online or at CC so you get the credit no matter what and aren’t reliant on one A.P. test. It shows the rigor for admissions and you are earning college credits.
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At prep schools / independent schools, this is definitely not about taking online college classes or community college classes. It’s more about recognizing that following the AP curriculum can make it harder to take deeper, more creative paths in the classroom and/or thwart opportunities to achieve greater rigor in through more cross-curricular offerings or just through different dives into certain aspects of the curriculum (rather than sticking to “what’s on the test”).
Regional college reps who are familiar with what these schools offer have no problem with the absence of AP classes. The college applications go just fine, to put it mildly.
Echoing @HarrietMWelsch . The colleges know the schools are rigorous already. Two of my kids take/have taken AP classes (they are being eliminated next year) and neither took/will take the exam. It has no bearing on college admissions.
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Closing thread. This topic has been discussed many many times, including the following thread, which has the exact same link as in the original post. Feel free to continue the conversation there, if needed.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/2086720-eight-private-high-schools-in-dc-dropping-ap-courses-p1.html