<p>"then when a kid gets to college what’s to encourage them to take a course 498 as an elective rather than course 101 as an elective. "</p>
<p>Well, for one thing, the fact that their transcipt will be reviewed should they apply to grad school. The opposite question can also be asked – what encourages a high school student to take an AP course if they know they would be risking their GPA and know that they can easily get a 4.0 by taking easier classes? I think the weighted grade for AP courses (and I think only AP courses should be weighted) frees kids from the anxiety of blowing their GPA and allows them to take chances.</p>
<p>IMO the real reason AP is in hs is to get the student ready for college. If it is a “true AP” your child will be forced to take the AP test…$83.<br>
The “true AP” has a curriculum reg by the College Board, do not put your child in if they are not emotionally, or mentally ready. They will get accepted to a college, don’t stress them out to compete in a world they are not ready for.
I think Parents are too stressed out about colleges now a days and force them to have ec’s sports, honors, AP, re-take tests. Be honest to yourself and realize they can only be a kid once.</p>
<p>BEFORE U JUMP ON ME…Yes, parents need to direct, guide and support, but we also should let them be kids and not make them fear school</p>
I hope you are right mimk6. My engineering son took upper level foreign language courses instead of freshman english and other survey courses, and I’m sure it was much harder to write essays or discuss history in a foreign language. But he wanted to hone his language skills, so he took them. And frankly, being with juniors and seniors in that major really pushed him to do more than he thought he could do. It would sure be nice if grad schools saw it that way too! :)</p>