<p>I would have written this on the SAT/AP Board but I am a parent and looking for parental input. DS has APUSH and AP Gov't as well as SAT Subject US History and Math 2C on the horizon. He is doing absolutely nada in preparation. His teachers claim that the kids will be prepared and the review time in class is now starting. However, I have an uneasy feeling about this and think that DS should be doing practice exams, reading synopsis etc etc. Are there any other parents waiting for their kids to get off their butts?????</p>
<p>Smiles, do a search in this forum and you will find my earlier post. Yup, my DS has Stats and English and doing nada. His theory is that it's like the SAT and you can't really prepare. Took Euro Hist as a Soph, got a 3, took Eng as a Jr. got a 3 took US Hist Jr. got a 3. So far his theory isn't panning out.<br>
My solution was that he took a comm. college class summer between jr and sr years. Got an A with some prodding from mom and cutting back on his computer time....Then Sr. year he took Poli Sci and Econ at the comm college. Guarantee weighted grade and guarantee college credit with no large test looming at the end. Plus it looked good as it looks like he is taking initiative to take comm. college classes. Is your DS a jr. or sr.?<br>
Anyway, if you read the threads on my OP, lots of people say "make him study"...you know what they say about leading the horse to water. So I give up and let it ride as it will. Trying to remember that in a few short months he won't even be living with me and it will be totally out of my control.</p>
<p>Thanks Ebeeee</p>
<p>I can really relate - I want to take that computer and throw it out the window. Carpal tunnel sundrome on the horizon....I wish there was a course for credit on Sims 2 or Pinball. DS is a junior.You are right - you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink......</p>
<p>Well given that he is a jr. I highly recommend the "if you don't pass the ap you can take a summer school at comm. college" route. Worked for me. .That way you are presenting choice A or Choice B. I also delivered several lectures of the "what you do now determines how many choices you have down the road" ilk. In other words, if you let your GPA slide, don't do well on SATs or APS, you will lessen the choices for colleges...Up to you...
Since my kids were little I've always said..."bribe, threaten, blackmail" and mix them up so no one gets bored..lol</p>
<p>Well, my senior son has 3 AP exams coming up. They count as a final exam and a significant part of his grade for the course. Of course, the scores aren't back until July. Statistics- "There's no point in studying. We learned nothing. No one can get better than a 3. I'll do as well as everyone else."
Literature- "You can't really study for that."
Gov- "I know all the material. I don't need to study." We'll see.
Last year he studied really hard for AP Euro, which is a hard test and got a 4, which was good.</p>
<p>Statistics-my DS is getting an A but tells me the same as MomofWildChild..I hear the test is very difficult. Literature-I will disagree with your DS here. Our AP Eng teacher is giving the kids prompts, making them write a lot, preparing them for the test. They can review/reread several books which will definitely appear on the test...not that my DS is doing that but...thank God ours don't count toward the final grade for the course.</p>
<p>From my D's experience, AP English (lang and comp) and AP Stats didn't require studying at all (because they are interpretive or analytical), and AP French language required a little (grammar required review), but the AP history exams required a lot. She refused to study for AP Euro as a sophomore, and paid the price with a 3. She studied her buns off for APUSH last year and did fine. She's taking BC Calculus (her very small class is reviewing for this like crazy, so she probably won't study too much), Physics C (she's going through the prep book to cover what they haven't covered in class and the parts she's missing this week while on college visits), AP French literature (some review, not a lot), AP English literature (again, interpretive, so doubt she'll do much), and AP Music Theory (there's no prep book available, and she's been doing this independent study with a tutor who thinks she'll be fine). The history APs and the sciences seem to require the most review because of the rote memorization required.</p>
<p>My D has APUSH and AP Calc coming up. She's studying hard for the History as it takes lots of memorization, just like Bio which she did last year. The math teacher is going to give them some practice tests for Calc, don't know if she'll do any other studying than that for it.</p>
<p>I've posted before about my very special son. He's 16, in 10th grade, and very blessed with keen intellect. He is schedule to take his AP European History exam on May 5th.</p>
<p>So far, true to form, he has not cracked the book. I love him so much, but I'm so annoyed at him right now.</p>
<p>This past weekend, a friend of his, currently in 11th grade, came to my house with a chemistry textbook, to study for his chemistry SAT II. The kid figured the two of them could study together, just for companionship. I applauded this friend for this responsible behavior.</p>
<p>PS: NEITHER of them studied. And the friend added fuel to the (my) fire by saying that my son doesn't have to study.</p>
<p>One one hand, the fact that my son maintains a very high average and scores well on standardized tests without studying is legendary among his peers. On the other hand, this makes no sense to me, and it drives me crazy that he is so lackadaisical about everything.</p>
<p>I guess I work so hard, and study so much to stay on top of things, that its beyond me how someone can do well with virtually no effort. I keep thinking that someday this is not going to be the case for him. But so far, it has been.</p>
<p>LooseCannon, my Uncle was legendary for this also. Took classes in college where he never went to class, memorized the book, showed up for the exam and Aced the course. Once in a while this didn't work out for him and he was always surprised. You can only hope that sometime your son will run up against somebody who will make him work for it. Somtimes in college these kids find out that there are people on the planet smarter than them! Of course, it is never their own parent...lol.</p>
<p>My son isn't studying either.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is off point, but my D has taken numerous AP classes and is currently taking 3. She has never taken an AP test and does not plan to do so now. She did well in those courses and I am certain that admissions committees have been impressed with her level of success in these rigorous classes. She has been accepted at her first choice school.</p>
<p>Neither she nor I are particularly worried about losing the chance to earn college credits as she has no interest in graduating early or anything like that.</p>
<p>I understand that the tests could be used for placement in certain circumstances. Her attitude is: test me now or test me later? test me later!</p>
<p>So my question is where have we missed the boat?</p>
<p>You probably haven't. In my DS's case he is attending Northeastern, with coops it takes 5 years to finish his program. If he enters with some credits under his belt it could shave off time thus money. Or if a student plans to go on to graduate school it would shave off time and money. It could also help if he wants to double major in the sense that it will free up time for other classes. You have only missed the boat if you care about any of that stuff. That said, it does strike me that everything is accelerated for these kids. All this stress over colleges, APs, etc. and in the end where they went to college probably won't matter. I always tell mine, marry somebody kind and stay out of jail :) if you do that, you will do fine.</p>
<p>noslom2, I don't know where you are, but at the University of Colorado, AP test scores of 4 or 5 and even a 3 in a few instances will save you $$$ as your child earns college credit and essentially "tests out" of some entry level courses. It's a good way to get rid of some pre-requisites outside your primary area of interest/major (provided, of course that you know what that is!)</p>
<p>In our situtation, since our daughter wants to go on to graduate school, if she can save herself some time and her parents some money, it's all good.</p>
<p>Daughter has 4 AP tests this May - BC Calculus, English Literature, English Language/Composition, and Biology. They're doing a lot of review in class, particularly with Calculus.</p>
<p>She received 4's on AP European History and AP Chemistry last year, and they did a lot of review in both classes before the exams.</p>
<p>Thanks ebeeeee,</p>
<p>Your post made me feel better. If my D decides to double major I will feel worse!</p>