Would like some opinions on this - our district doesn’t seem to offer many of the “easier” APs (like AP Env and AP Psych) and D is planning her schedule for next year which has a heavy AP load. She is trying to figure out what might be “too much” but doesn’t have a good sense of where these two courses are on the difficulty spectrum as next year will be the first year they are offered. (Each are a semester long.)
Thoughts anyone? Thanks.
Introductory micro and macro economics may be one or two semesters in college. It is not generally a difficult course, although it may be competitive if the college has a competitive-admission business major which has introductory economics as a prerequisite for applying.
It might depend on the teacher, and a lot depends on the student’s interests, but IMO, the workload is a fairly low degree of difficulty and the class as a whole is a middle of the road degree of difficulty (4-5).
“Easy” or “Hard” can also reflect the time necessary to devote to the course - and this should be considered. Another point not generally brought up is whether or not it is practical to take. For example, my son’s college accepts a 5 for Engl Lit or a 5 in Eng Lang - but scoring a 5 in both is irrelevant to placement or credit.
So, if your D already has a 5 in Eng Lang, she might not need to take Eng Lit - and can then devote more time to Micro and Macro Econ. My son was happy that AP Eng Lit conflicted with his Physics C - because he picked up @ 2-4 hours a week in less reading time, and he didn’t need to take it anyway.
Regarding your original question - I agree with poster that said Micro and Macro are on the easier side - but everyone is different - Your Millage May Vary! Good luck.
My sons would say that AP micro and macro were easy for them … but they are math people, too. My younger son saw several students struggle in his macro class because they could not do basic algebra. So they had lower grades/AP scores. He finished with 5’s on both exams. Now, in college, he is taking an intermediate macro course for his majors. He complains that many of the students are struggling … again, because their math skills are lacking.
^ S had a very similar experience as momreads son. He took both as on line classes.
While valid, at this stage in the game, rising seniors will have no acceptances in hand, so will be unable to craft a senior year schedule based upon a college’s AP credit policies.
Thanks so much for all of the input - much appreciated!! I hadn’t thought of the idea of her taking an AP that is not offered by the school online (such as AP Psych). She wants to be a teacher so AP Psych would certainly make more sense that the AP Econs, but it’s not offered in our district. Where do most kids take online APs?
The online classes S took were through our county. Check the school district’s website or call them. We did have to pay tuition for the classes, though.