Does anyone have a high school student NOT in honors or AP courses?

[danacara]

No, not the case. She attended a very good high school. Nothing prepares you for college but college itself. She's not the only one I have heard that from.

If she went to a good high school, passed the AP bio exam, walked into a normal college (not talking Harvard here - just a normal college) and almost flunked bio - she has no one to blame but herself. It's college, it's not rocket science. Do you know what prepares you for college? High school, and it works the same way. If you read the book, do the labs, and study for the tests, you won't fail.

 

[Crankyshank]

*shrug* I took and passed the AP Spanish class in high school and had to work my butt off to pass Spanish my freshman year. The reason? I was the only person in the class not fluent in conversational Spanish and that was the major part of the class.
Granted, it was a 200 level Spanish class, but still. It is possible to ace the AP test in a subject and do miserably in it your freshman year.

 

[ead79]

No, not the case. She attended a very good high school. Nothing prepares you for college but college itself. She's not the only one I have heard that from.

I've got to agree with Dana that her high school did her a real disservice. Several of the AP courses and exams I took were a good deal more difficult than the majority of my college courses/finals. What a shame that they didn't adequately prepare her for biology. Was she able to exempt some of the intro biology courses from her AP exam score? Perhaps she did poorly in biology because she started in an upper level course. For example, I exemped Biology 101 and 102 from my AP exam score. Had I needed to take more biology (I didn't as a business major), I would've had to start in a more advanced course.

 

[danacara]

*shrug* I took and passed the AP Spanish class in high school and had to work my butt off to pass Spanish my freshman year. The reason? I was the only person in the class not fluent in conversational Spanish and that was the major part of the class.
Granted, it was a 200 level Spanish class, but still. It is possible to ace the AP test in a subject and do miserably in it your freshman year.

Good point about Spanish, where some kids have a huge conversational advantage, and also about upper-level classes - if she was overadvised and walked into an upper-level class right away, she might've struggled. But biology is biology. No one is fluent in it from birth, and the dissected pig looks just the same in college as he did in high school.

 

[DISNEYFANRI]

Update - my DD is a senior this year - honor roll student - taking AP classes (English and Stats)for the first time this year and also taking College Freshman Writing- not involved in any extra curricular activities - she has been accepted to 2 colleges already.

 

[Kirby]

Well, then, we can agree to disagree. If you actually knew this friend of mine's daughter, you might think differently.

To go back to the OP's original question, yes, I have a son not taking any AP classes. Do I care? No. Will he get into college? Yes, with no problem.

 

[danacara]

yes, I have a son not taking any AP classes. Do I care? No. Will he get into college? Yes, with no problem.

You really don't care? Is he bright enough to take them, but simply chooses not to?
I really do not understand your logic behind APs, but ya, we can agree to disagree on that.

 

[CynJ]

If she's got good grades and meets all the pre-reqs for # of years of language/math/etc she will have NO problem getting into Southern.

If you are that concerned though - I would get a copy of her current transcript and make an apt with the admissions department at SCSU and go over it with them to see what they think.

 

[Crankyshank]

Well I think if your kid wasn't in AP Pre-K, he or she is all ready screwed royally, so what's the point in trying to make up for lost time now?

 

[danacara]

Well I think if your kid wasn't in AP Pre-K, he or she is all ready screwed royally, so what's the point in trying to make up for lost time now?

Absolutely! Especially given that most of the toddlers on the DIS are already reading at the college level.
- Dana, who didn't walk till 18 months, prompting a visit to the neurologist to make sure my brain was OK

 

[DisDuck]

dana,
I understand her point on AP classes. I guess my 2 posts were too convoluted to be read/addressed. Maybe her son will major in something not requiring AP so why bother to take any. Just like my daughter. AP classes would have been useless. Another example showing that AP only usefull based on major/career choice. My daughter accepted into University of Hartford (her safe school); however, The Hart School of Music at UH, a conservatory, did not because she did not pass the audition. She was sick at the time but tried anyway. Asked about re-test NO. Asked about re-auditioning after freshman year (if she attended UH), NOT LIKELY.

So again, I ask why the emphasis on AP if not relevant to major?

 

[WWTBAMFAN]

No, not the case. She attended a very good high school. Nothing prepares you for college but college itself. She's not the only one I have heard that from.

I also agree with Dana. My son took as many AP classes as he could work into his schedule. He did well enought on the AP tests to pass out of 21 hours at a private college (private colleges tend to be very restrictive/stingy about giving colege credit) and he was notified a couple of months ago that he was a AP Scholar with Distinction. See http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/article/0,3045,150-157-0-2057,00.html#name3

The AP courses helped him a great deal. The world is very competitive now. Believe or not, he has been told that he needs to start thinking about what his law school application will look like as a first semester student. The AP honor will go on his law school application.

 

[TimeforMe]

So again, I ask why the emphasis on AP if not relevant to major?

It was surprising to see this thread resurrected again, but I'm glad. DisDuck--I understand what you're saying and it pretty much describes dd's exact situation. She, too, will be a music major and has decided to take more music courses her senior year because she hasn't really been able to take many electives up until then. She will probably be applying to both University of Hartford and the Hartt School of Music as well. Good point.

CynJ--I know she won't have a problem getting into Southern, it's some of the more competitive schools I was worried about.

 

[danacara]

Hey Disduck,
Thanks for elaborating. I have a few thoughts in response -
> I don't think AP is ever really "necessary," and I can't think of any major at any college which requires AP standing upon entry. One nice thing about AP, though, is that it will generally get you out of academic distribution requirements and free up some time to take other classes. For example, my brother goes to Tampa (and as we've discussed, in a very cool DIS coincidence, he is in the same class and dormitory as your daughter!) Greg took five AP exams @ Mountain Lakes High School, and was awarded eighteen credits by Tampa, so he technically started college as a second-semester freshman. He got out of the history, writing, and calculus requirements, so now he has time in his course schedule to take music, political science, and management, all of which interest him more.
> I can think of two other benefits to AP credit at Tampa - first, the housing lottery is weighted by credits, so my brother actually gets to pick his housing for next year before most of his classmates. He'll get a better dorm room thanks to the APs, and ...
> Second, because he started ahead, he'll be able to do his second semester of senior year as a part-time student. That'll save the family about $5000 in tuition.

At most universities, there are a lot of advantages to AP credit that stretch beyond the academic and into the administrative and financial realms. Amusingly this was not true at my college, which awards zero credit for any AP exam. Just as ead79 described, you can only use AP scores to "place into" an upper-level class, but you still have all of the same distribution requirements - for example, you might take English 220 instead of English 101, but you still have to take English. But, even though you don't get credit for them - you need AP classes to get into that college. Taking an AP class is a way of saying "I am challenging myself as hard as I can." And isn't a kid who is willing to do that somehow stronger of character for it?

Life in the elite college leagues is like a series of dominoes. APs are a way of tipping that first domino, because they help you get admitted. Once admitted, you're better prepped, and that prep knocks over the graduation domino. You graduate, you get a job, and if you're pragmatic about it, you are going to make major cash. Average starting salary among the 72% of 2004 grads at my college who went into the work force = $58,400. The other 28% went to grad school or public service. Now what kind of life do you want for a kid? Do you want the one that $58,400 buys?

 

[Dancind]

Just found this thread, it certainly is timely. We just attended 8th grade Parent's Night at the High School last night.

Our daughter is gifted with LDs which are not recognized by the school system. Specifically, ADD and CAPD. She is in gifted Lang/Lit, gifted science, and started the year in Algebra (one of 12 kids in her grade to do so). She switched to Enriched Math this semester. She was struggling in Algebra because of her CAPD, she couldn't understand her Korean teacher's accent. In enriched, she has the same teacher, but she's doing fine because she can figure out the problems from the book.

I digress. She is also struggling (B's) in her gifted Lang/Lit, which is being taught as a high school AP class. The teacher is not sure she should do Honors English next year, and I have been worried about that. Not thinking about college yet (though apparently we should be). But I feel that in regular English, she would be reading books she went through 2-3 years ago, and she will be bored. Which means she will do poorly. She can elect to take the AP course without the teacher's recommendation. Reading through this thread, I'm thinking, well she should, and then, maybe she shouldn't! She reads and writes quite well, analyzes well, loves Shakespeare. On the other hand, she takes a very long time to write (by hand), hates to edit, and does poorly at grammar workbooks. She just takes a long time to do homework period.

Would it be very hard to try AP English as a Jr./Sr., after two years of regular English? I think maturity might help. She will be taking AP Math, gifted Social Studies classes, and probably AP Science after 9th grade. Thanks for any input from you experienced students/parents.

 

[Dancind]

I have another question! My DD is a fairly serious dancer. Her HS activity of choice would be drill team. It's a very serious and time consuming activity at this school, they go to Nationals etc., and is treated as a sport with an elective credit. It is a class on the schedule every day. I doubt she would have time to do much else, especially since she will still dance at night. What other things should she try to do?

 

[sharbear]

I don't know if this has been brought up before but one plus of AP courses are that you have an entire year to learn material that is taught in 10 or 12 weeks at the university level. Our HS generally has the best teachers teach AP courses (although I feel lucky that most if not all of the teachers are great). I know that our teacher's make themselves available to help students "get" the material before there is a test. In HS, you generally have many quizes and test through out the year. Also, homework is done for a grade. In college, kids will find that many classes have 1 midterm and 1 final and your final may count as much as 60% of your grade. In HS you can bomb a quiz or test and still pull a decent grade.

I understand that some major's do not have AP's (I think that musical theatre was one mentioned) but every major I know has electives. In most school's AP's can be counted as elective and so they serve a purpose for most students. Taking AP courses is just another way of preparing students for college.

But if a student is not on a AP track or doesn't take AP's in HS does not mean that they can't succeed in college. There are kids in my kids HS who are not taking AP's and I am sure that they will be successful in college.

 

[cheerdancer11]

Hello! My username is because I like cheerleading and aerobics/dance. I think if your dd is into music should take mostly music classes, absolutely. However, music school will still look at the classes she's taking, so make sure she has some academic as well. good luck!

Also just to add- only about 40 or so out of 170 in our school take AP courses. It def. isn't necessary for college, but can't hurt in giving you a heads up on the intro courses.

 

[DisDuck]

I am either a minority of one or in a very small group on this thread. I do not believe in taking AP courses just for the sake of taking them. A leg up on college or not. And I have been there/done that. I took AP bio in HS (many moons) ago and used it to bypass Intro Bio in college plus I have 2 children who have completed college and 1 half way thru. Neither have taken AP and AP would not have meant much in the overall scheme of things with their HS or college experiences.

One person brought up how tuition will be saved in senior year because of AP credits coming into college. Noble reason but is it worth the stress. Very dependent on individual. In my case none of my children needed the added stress of AP.

Now I am going to get real controversal. I believe that most Intro/Gen-Ed College requirements should be dropped. This would eliminate 1 reason (get out of taking these courses by testing out) for AP needs. If anyone is interested I am willing to elaborate further on why I would eliminate some courses.

 

[Maggie0507]

That's the scary part--it's no longer just about getting good grades. You now have to get good grades in high level classes.

And while you're getting good grades, you have to play a sport well AND volunteer your time to the community to be considered for the "finer" colleges.

Maggie