<p>My school recently decided to have a new class, AP Government and Politics. This would be a year long class that covers AP Economics (Macro and Micro), AP Comparative Government, and AP American Government. We, the students, would be expected to take all four AP classes at the end of the year. This seems a little unusual for me, but I am interested.</p>
<p>Is this common at your high schools? If so, is it difficult? If you've taken any of these AP classes, would it be hard to pack it all in in one year?</p>
<p>The teachers of such courses say that it's virtually impossible to pack it all in. Even combining AP Govt with basic econ or AP Econ with basic civics causes teachers to compress material and reduces the quality of the class.</p>
<p>Unless this is the most intense AP class ever, you'll be hard pressed to cover those topics with any sophistication and depth. Keep the following in mind as well: a well respected AP Euro teacher, during his first year teaching, had only 2 students out of a class of about 25 pass the exam. That was one subject taught in a normal span of time.</p>
<p>Further consideration: If you're good at the social sciences, you can independently prep for the AP tests and do very well. But getting 5's this way will take effort and interest.</p>
<p>If your main focus is the social sciences, then this is a big problem. By taking the class (and thus skipping introductory level college classes), you're depriving yourself of a sound and solid foundation. It'll be harder for you to do well in intermediate level courses, unless you're willing to do some serious independent studying.</p>
<p>Interesting. Here's what I know about the course--</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The most popular and respected teacher at my school is doing it. He's known as THE teacher for history and economics. I've been waiting for a class with him since I came to the school. Word on the street is that he's phenomenal when it comes to test prep.</p></li>
<li><p>My year would be the guinea pig year. About 30 students were invited to enroll in the class, the 30 students being those who have expressed interest in politics/economics/history while having a high GPA in social sciences or 4's or 5's on past history AP tests.</p></li>
<li><p>We were told, or warned you could say, that it is a "fast-paced" class that will require "excellent critical thinking and writing skills."</p></li>
</ol>
<h1>1 and #2 sort of balance out in my opinion. I'd prefer to not be a guinea pig, but the teacher may be that good. My guess is that it would be a very intense class, and I wouldn't mind doing outside of class test prep. I really would like to study political science in college, and it does sound like I'd be cheating myself out of a solid foundation. Anybody else have input/heard of something like this?</h1>
<p>I feel that Economics (Micro and Macro) can be learned easily within one semester, given that you put forth good study efforts as well as moving at a rapid pace.</p>
<p>However, Government (Comparative and US) is probably much harder. Good luck.</p>
<p>It will be a tough, fast-paced course, but it's possible...</p>
<p>It sounds like you guys will be fairly well prepared for the tests, then. The test material isn't that hard, after all.</p>
<p>However, there's no possible way that they could fit four semesters of college level work into there. It sounds more like teaching to the test than teaching four complete courses. That's not necessarily so bad if you're not too interested in PoliSci, but if you are it absolutely is. I self-studied three of those four this year (not AP comp gov, which I'm doing next year), and found the course material to be much more intellectually enriching and deep than the test material. The textbooks I used (Wilson for US gov and McConnell for econ) went so far beyond the test material that it wasn't even funny. My gut instinct tells me that, especially as a prototype course, you will be able to cover only the minimum information necessary.</p>
<p>Another thing you may want to consider: the College Board revamped the AP comparative government curriculum for the coming year. Your teacher will be forced to deal with that change as well (causing distress even among dedicated AP Comp Gov teachers, trying to figure out new lesson plans and textbooks).</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback, General Rak especially. I've decided that I'm going to take the class for the teacher and to get a basic foundation in political science, but I think I might wait until my senior year. Most of the colleges I'm looking at either don't give credit for the AP exams, or have a limit on credit transferred (I'd rather spend my credit on math classes). Besides, by the time I take the exams, I'll have already gotten into college. Thanks again!</p>