Question About AP Classes?

[Christine]

Does your child's high school have some sort of admission standard to take AP classes (i.e., a certain GPA, or a certain grade in the course that they want to take AP for)? I know not everyone can take them but I know some schools differ on who they allow to take them and I'm trying to get a feel for how strict the high school we use is for admission to them.

 

[Longsx3]

DD will be in 9th grade she had to have a teacher recommendation but I do not believe anything is required for later grades.

When I worked in DODD Schools there were zero requirements.

 

[Holly]

In our school system the teachers from the previous year make the recommendations.
I also know that with some of the courses (AP physics and AP calculus), the teacher personally preapproves the students coming into their classes.

 

[goofy4tink]

Our teachers have to recommend any students for both honors and AP classes. The students have to have a certain grade in their current class in order to be considered for honors or AP placement.

 

[ashleybea]

In my school there was no test or grade needed to take an AP class. But if you wanted to continue with another AP class or honors class you needed to have an average of at least an 85 in the class.

 

[AristocatFan]

Here it is teacher recommendation for Honors and AP classes aren't taken until junior/senior year.

 

[claudia]

here it was by teacher recommendation and the student must also be on continuous honor roll placement, which would mean a minimum 90 GPA. They also needed approval from the teacher giving the course. Also if they took the AP course they were also required to take the State Regents Exam if one applied to the course. They were also required to maintain a minimum 85 grade to continue in the AP course.

 

[Liberty Belle]

At my son's school they need teacher approval, but no specific GPA. I'm not sure about prerequisites, but it's not been a problem for my son.

 

[Christine]

Thanks for the input.

At my son's school they must have a 90 or better for each semester.

My son thought he wanted to take AP World History in 10th grade. He had an 86 the first semester and an 89 in the second semester. The last two semesters he had over a 90. His overall GPA in the class was a 91. He also needed to have a B+ standing in English in order to take AP History. He does have that. But, anyway, they won't let him take it because he had an 86 the first semester and an 89 in the second semester.

I was a little surprised because when my daughter was in high school she was recommended for an AP course, which she took and did well in, but her overall grades were crappy. My son's grades are much better but he is in a different school.

 

[jme829]

Looking at dd17's course description book, it looks like at her school, each AP class has certain pre-requisites as far as other classes/grades that needed to have been taken.


For example next year she is taking AP Lit and Comp. She can only take it as a senior and needs College Prep comp, and Amer Lit before she can take it (which she has)

She is also taking AP Psych and needs only to be a senior to take it (no other requirements).


For some examples of the other AP classes at our school:

AP Gov: needs to be a sr. , can take in place of reg Gov class

AP Physics: "b" or better in Physics E (enriched) or instructor consent, Pre-Calc highly recommended, grade 11 or 12

AP US Hist: gr 11 or 12/ can take in place of regular Amer. Hist

AP.CHEM: Chemistry E (enriched) or instructor consent, grade 11 or 12

AP Calc: needs Pre calc , grade 12 only


They also offer AP foreign language classes (Span and Germ), studio art and computer programming.


So at least for our school each AP class has its own (or none) pre-requisites.

 

[AshleyW]

My school had a custom-made standardized test that you had to get a certain score on to graduate. You start taking it in 8th grade until you hit the graduation score. If you scored high enough (I don't remember the score - but it was above the graduation requirement) then you were eligible for AP classes.

 

[tar heel]

To sign up for honors classes when they are moving from middle school to high school, our kids have to have had an A in the class the previous year. After they are in high school, to sign up for AP or honors classes in the spring, they have to have teacher signature on their class registration form.

Ironically, iff they aren't recommended or don't have the A in eighth grade, they can still get in the classes by changing their schedule with a counselor during the summer. The classes fill up quickly, though, so they may not get in by that method.

Kids have to make sure they know what they're getting into, though, as they are not allowed change once classes start. If they realize they should have been in the regular section, they're out of luck.

 

[PatsMom]

At my daughter's high school there were very few AP courses available. Getting into them was quite competitive. There was no set GPA but some courses had prerequisites. You needed teacher recommendation. And for AP US History she had to write an essay on a subject chosen by the teacher. They did a list of all who got teacher recommendations and the course teacher made the final selections based on the essays. That created some controversy since grading an essay can be subjective.

 

[mamacatnv]

DS Graduated 2 years ago but his HS had no requirements for AP - it sucked really, too many kids who should not have been in the class signed up to get the weighting on their grades. The teachers then had to struggle to get the lower kids up to speed.

At another HS same district entrance was based on recommendations.

IMO, the true indicator of a good AP program is the pass rate of a 3 or better on the AP tests. Our district is less than 15% and DS's former school was 6%. Dismal and IMO not really worth the price of the classes and the tests.

 

[Katie's Butterflies]

In my high school (it may have changed by now )

Mainly, in order to be and stay in the honor’s track, one had to maintain a B or higher, have teacher recommendations, new teacher approval, and principal approval

In order to get into an AP class, a student had to take an exam written by the AP teachers, get teacher approval, and meet certain grade requirements.

One thing I hated was some of these AP teachers denied entrance because they disliked certain students. These decisions could NOT usually be overridden.