I’m in middle school, what’s AP? I heard they are good for you in high school, my brother said he’s in AP Math, Science, and Social Studies. If you read my other post he told me he wants me to do Living Environment or Earth science (My chose) and Algebra 1 Honors. But why? I don’t want too much HW it’s annoying.
In case you ask what grade were in, my older brother is going to 11th and I’m going to 7th.
AP means Advanced Placement. AP classes are high school courses that were created by the college board to mimic college courses. In May, tests are administered for the dozens of AP classes available and students receive a score from 1-5, with 5 being the best. Some colleges and universities allow students to get credit for high enough scores on these AP tests which can help lower the cost of college. Some APs are more difficult than others: AP European History, the AP languages and AP Chemistry are pretty universally regarded as being some of the most difficult APs whereas AP Gov and AP Environmental Science are so of the easiest.
I don’t know much about NY science classes so I can’t help you there.
Your brother is trying to set you up for the path he’s chosen. It may or may not be your path.
Talk to your parents instead.
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse
This is a link (if it doesn’t work just Google explore APs college board you should find it) to all the AP courses the college board offers. Your school will only offer some of them, but this is a good way to read their descriptions and start to get an idea of want you may want to take. Your choices should be based on your interests and career goals. It would also be better for you to make your decisions with your parents/guidance counselor, not just do what your brother wants.
First, I would recommend staying off this site until high school. For now, enjoy being a kid.
AP classes are classes that prepare you to take AP exams, which are exams offered by the collegeboard, which is the same company that makes the SAT. If you do well enough on the AP exams, depending on what college you ultimately attend, they may give college credit. However, most students take them because a hard class schedule looks good on a college application.
Don’t worry about taking AP classes until high school, only like prodigy genius kids attempt the exams before high school. I took my first AP class freshman year, but it is completely normal for students to wait until their sophomore or junior years to take AP classes. Depending on the teacher/school, the classes are very hard and homework heavy, but they can also be very interesting.
My brother is not forcing me, he says it’s up to me but he told me it’s very good when applying for college.
Yes, selective colleges expect you to have 6-8 AP classes when you apply, so you need to get on track for that and take the pre-reqs.
Foe example, if you want to take calculus senior year, you need to take precalculus junior year, algebra2 sophomore year, and geometry freshman year, which means you need to take algebra1 in middle school.
Are you a good student? Do you have most As or mostly B’s or mostly CS?
Would your teachers agree that you can handle Algebra 1 and Earth science next year? (Roughly one third kids do, so woukd you say you’re among the top third stusents in your class?)
How are you at reading? English? Are you starting a foreign language (like French or Spanish 1a?)
No student likes homework, the key point is: are you able to do it? Do you understand quickly or do you need a slow paced class?