OP, I disagree that AP Pysch and AP Env Sci are always “fluffier” and are not useful. My son took both, learned a lot (great teachers), and placed out of core classes next year so he can focus on a double major. Those topics may not appeal to everyone, but neither does Calculus and it is not useful to the large majority of students that take it. Keep fighting for what you want.
Many moons ago I had an English teach. She was a real tough cookie. That year we did our class registrations during her class. She told us – do not let the administration tell you what you can and can’t take. If you’re not “AP material” take an AP class if you want. Challenge yourself, etc. etc. She said she would fight for us. Wonder why I still remember her all these years later.
My suggestion is don’t take no for an answer. Certainly meet with the Principal. Their obligation is to educate you, not make you “pre-med” or whatever. That’s the dumbest thing I have heard. If your principal doesn’t do anything, get your parents involved. They can start with the Principal, Superintendent, and eventually the school board if necessary. Good luck.
Use the example of your friend when you meet with the principal. Also, get your parents and the parents of your friends involved and get a campaign going. Escalate it if necessary to the school board.
One of my kids took AP environmental science online. If you are truly interested in the subject, there are plenty of options for high school online course. Check out Virtual High School for one example. Community college is another idea, or a class at a local university or one offered by a university online.
It is sad when someone like you indicates they have been working hard for years to be #1. Or that you want to take a class for the GPA boost. Try not to gear your life to external motivators. By that I mean, choose classes based on actual interest and skill, not grades or admission to college. Ironically, in the end, things tend to work out better that way.
Is your school public or private? If the faculty and materials are funded in part by an outside program targeted for a specific group, then it is understandable that they get priority registration. If there is no room for you, that is unfortunate. But if there is, then petitioning to get into one or more may be reasonable. Inquire which class/classes might have room for you and be polite. And if you are hopeful to be val, that’s nice, but don’t sound competitive or like a grade grubber. That will backfire.
I did not interpret the comment as these classes are not useful. The can be useful to an individual student with an interest in those topics. But make no mistake, they are “fluffier” when compared to courses like AP Physics C or AP Calc BC. Not all APs are perceived equally, either by teachers/students or by AOs.
Having said that, the student’s reasons for taking the class will likely be met with an eye roll by the principal, school board, superintendent, etc:
Valid reasons, IMO, are more of the order of:
• I’m planning on majoring is ES/psych in college
• If I can’t take XX next year, I’ll be unable to take YY the following year.
I’m all for fighting for what’s right/for one’s beliefs, but I also believe that one needs to have a proper argument to support one’s stance. Anyway, good luck.
@skieurope I believe post #6 originally stated that the courses were “not useful”. That’s why I responded the way I did. I fully understand that AP Calc/Physics et al are considered more challenging, especially for non-math people, but that doesn’t mean that the other non-STEM AP’s aren’t valuable or challenging (depending on how they are taught). There are plenty of wickedly intelligent people that might struggle with math/science (mostly because they hate it), and there are plenty of heavily STEM-oriented people that hate social sciences but could certainly benefit from a healthy dose of psychology/sociology.
As for the GPA boost, I don’t think anyone should get anything beyond an honors level boost if they don’t sit for the exam. There is no way to measure what was taught in the class if they don’t take the exam (which is supposed to be an equalizer).
Well, s/he said other APs are “more useful,” which I would have qualified as “may be more useful.” As I stated earlier, usefulness is relative to the individual.
Beyond the scope of this thread. The issue that I have with the many students on this site that focus on weighted GPA is that there is no consistent rubric on grade weighting, and all AOs know that.
It sounds like things come down to issues with staffing and scheduling for the school. D18’s school only offered one section of AP Physics C and AP Physics 1, and both conflicted with another course that she wanted to take. If a school doesn’t have a qualified teacher for the additional class, they can’t offer it and need some way to prioritize who gets a seat in the class that they can offer.
D ended up enrolling in the online Honors Physics course so that she could take the other course. The school also put her in AP ES, which she felt was extremely “fluffy”. It didn’t impact her college applications at all.
Regarding final GPA and class standing, I agree that it’s not very important in the scheme of things. Learning, developing interests, and putting forth the effort to succeed are the important things. I hate that many students are pushed by their parents into taking courses that they don’t want to take, and strongly discouraged from taking courses that they are truly interested for the sake of elevating the weighted GPA.