I’m currently a sophomore in a relatively uncompetitive public high school. As an 8th grader, I took Spanish I (with a firm understanding of the language), and last year in 9th grade, I took Spanish 3/4H. I seemed to be one of the top non-native Spanish students in the class, and did well overall. My teacher recommended for me to skip 5/6 and move on to Spanish 7/8.
Here’s the catch: although Spanish 7/8 is typically taken a year prior to AP Spanish, this year due to scheduling conflicts,they merged the two classes. So now I’m caught in a difficult situation-- with only two years of Spanish experience, I’m taking AP Spanish.
My teacher assures me that I can take AP Spanish again next year (for a total of 2 times), but I’m worried that I’ve missed some of the fundamentals. This is a very difficult decision to make, and I’m looking for any feedback I can get. Moreover, I’m wanting to hear from some fellow non-native Spanish speakers who have taken the AP Spanish exam. Is this something I can realistically pull off, or am I better off moving down to 5/6 and taking AP Spanish as a senior?
I consider myself to be quite a competitive student. I’m not worried about failing the class, and am fairly certain I can get an A, but am more concerned with scoring poorly on the AP exam. My main goal is to get a 4+ on the test, and a 3 simply would not suffice for me.
Sorry for any miscommunication. I can get an A in AP Spanish, since the teacher is understanding of my situation, but I don’t think I can score well on the AP exam.
If the teacher said you can take the course again next year, why would you take the AP exam this year? Why not take it next year, when you feel more prepared? unless your high school is like mine… they made us take every exam… but even then, you should be able to get permission to wait a year.
The teacher wants me to take the exam this year as practice for when I take it again next year. She says that when students have done this in the past, their scores usually rise 1 point each year. I guess her thinking is that I’d get a 2 or a 3 now, a 3 or a 4 Junior year, and if I took it again Senior year, a definite 4.
It’s a very difficult decision, as I’m torn between whether I should stay in 7/8 and learn much more than I would in 5/6, or revert to 5/6 out of safety.
If I took it this year and got a 2, I would be out of the running for AP Scholar awards, so I’m leaning towards switching back. But if I took the AP class this year, and waited to take the exam until Junior year, I could use sophomore summer to study and prepare. It’s so hard to decide…
But you seem confident that you will succeed in the higher level class, so you should probably take it. And it was the teacher’s recommendation, so she probably thinks you will be bored in the other class.
Yeah, my only concern is getting a 2 or 3 on the AP test next year, and ruining my changes for AP Scholar awards. ._.
Plus, it kind of concerns me that 80% of the people in the AP Spanish class are native speakers (I live in the Southwest with a large Hispanic population) and are vastly better at Spanish than I am.
If you put in the extra work, you should be able to get a 4. Unless the rest of your schedule is packed with APs (4+ total). If you already have many APs, then it may be best to take the easier Spanish course and take AP next year.
Hmm interesting… I’m taking 3 AP’s as a sophomore (if you’re including Spanish) and will take 5 (if you still include Spanish) as a junior.
Grades aren’t as much of a concern, as I feel like my school inflates grades a bit and let’s students test scores suffer. So yeah, maybe it is in my best interest to take 5/6. In case this helps at all, I’ll list the AP’s I would be taking, so you can gauge the difficulty.
Sophomore:
AP USH (7/10)
AP CompSci. Principles (2/10)
AP Spanish (10/10)
Junior:
AP Calc AB (7/10)
AP English Lang (4/10)
AP Compsci. A (7/10)
AP Spanish (8/10)
AP US Gov (7/10)