AP Class Credits and Units
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Okay all you intellectuals out there, I need some clarification on a subject. So me and my friend are in an argument about the worth of AP classes. He says they are pointless and that you get only 2-3 credits when taking the AP exam and passing to fill 110 credits required in a course for example. I still say they are worth the effort for the basic information and the feel of an advanced course. Keep in mind we're in high school where CP classes are the slow, easy classes filled with non-intellectuals aplenty and AP classes are the faster, harder classes filled with more intellectuals and less non-intellectuals. Part of his argument is as follows:
"The other problem I have with AP tests is that they really only help the people who get 5's on them. Not all colleges accept 3's and 4's. In psychology, commonly believed to be an easy test, the only score colleges will accept in order to get the class exempted is a 5. So if someone gets a 3 or a 4, they pretty much just wasted $84, and will have to pay hundreds of dollars when they take that course in college.
I think these classes are better suited for college. First, the student wouldn't have the burden of taking the test, having to study for it and hoping they did well so colleges will accept it. College professors are much more intelligent than high school teachers. Students would learn much more in college than from a teacher with a bachelors degree teaching to the test. In my view taking the classes in college would offer much more life experience. College courses would also help a student in deciding what career they want to pursue.
I have to say, AP classes aren't really worth it. For the students that really want to expand their knowledge and intelligence, college courses would suit their needs much better than any AP class"
So what I need is some clarification on the subject who knows absolutely how the system works and some insight on your view of the worth of AP classes.
Thanks for any help you may provide.
"The other problem I have with AP tests is that they really only help the people who get 5's on them. Not all colleges accept 3's and 4's. In psychology, commonly believed to be an easy test, the only score colleges will accept in order to get the class exempted is a 5. So if someone gets a 3 or a 4, they pretty much just wasted $84, and will have to pay hundreds of dollars when they take that course in college.
I think these classes are better suited for college. First, the student wouldn't have the burden of taking the test, having to study for it and hoping they did well so colleges will accept it. College professors are much more intelligent than high school teachers. Students would learn much more in college than from a teacher with a bachelors degree teaching to the test. In my view taking the classes in college would offer much more life experience. College courses would also help a student in deciding what career they want to pursue.
I have to say, AP classes aren't really worth it. For the students that really want to expand their knowledge and intelligence, college courses would suit their needs much better than any AP class"
So what I need is some clarification on the subject who knows absolutely how the system works and some insight on your view of the worth of AP classes.
Thanks for any help you may provide.
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Lughost
the Lugoat
Your buddy was kind of right; not all colleges will accept threes or fours for all AP scores. That depends on the course and the colege, though. Even if they don't accept themfor credit for that specific class they may still take them as elective credits. I would advise you to take them if you think you can because I took enough that I tested out of two semesters of calculus. Paying $125 for two college classes works for me.
Another thing you can do is see if you can do college classes while still in high school at a local community college. The place where I live does this very conveneintly and it's free for the students that live nearby.
Another thing you can do is see if you can do college classes while still in high school at a local community college. The place where I live does this very conveneintly and it's free for the students that live nearby.
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A lot of high schools have gotten to the point of paying for classes to take the Advanced Placement exams, particularly the AP United States History and AP Language and Composition classes.
As for scores, that hardly represents the majority. There are multiple schools, both public and private, that take scores of three and four. Having to pass the AP test is a bit of a short-sight for gaining credit necessary for the class, but that seems to be his only strong argument, to me.
College professors are more intelligent? How does one figure that? Yes, college professors require a doctorate of philosophy (Ph.D.), but more and more high school teachers are being "required" to have a master's degree as opposed to a bachelor's degree. I suppose it is up for debate, but I refuse to accept that a person with a doctorate is necessarily more qualified than one with a master's degree.
As for life experience - I hate that claim. There is no "life experience" from college. It is just a simple matter of teacher's no long coddling their students, and if a student has that problem in a high school AP class then that is the fault of the teacher, not the system at large. I took several Advanced Placement classes in high school, and not one of them did I have my teacher's coddling me, reminding me to do my homework, reminding me to study, telling me about my grades... In the end it was up to us students to seek out the teachers, no longer was it the other way around. It was foreign at first, but that was certainly adequate to the "college experience"
Then again, I ended up not going to college, but I didn't preform well on any of my exams with posible exception for AP United States History and AP European History, both of which I only did manage to score a three.
As for scores, that hardly represents the majority. There are multiple schools, both public and private, that take scores of three and four. Having to pass the AP test is a bit of a short-sight for gaining credit necessary for the class, but that seems to be his only strong argument, to me.
College professors are more intelligent? How does one figure that? Yes, college professors require a doctorate of philosophy (Ph.D.), but more and more high school teachers are being "required" to have a master's degree as opposed to a bachelor's degree. I suppose it is up for debate, but I refuse to accept that a person with a doctorate is necessarily more qualified than one with a master's degree.
As for life experience - I hate that claim. There is no "life experience" from college. It is just a simple matter of teacher's no long coddling their students, and if a student has that problem in a high school AP class then that is the fault of the teacher, not the system at large. I took several Advanced Placement classes in high school, and not one of them did I have my teacher's coddling me, reminding me to do my homework, reminding me to study, telling me about my grades... In the end it was up to us students to seek out the teachers, no longer was it the other way around. It was foreign at first, but that was certainly adequate to the "college experience"
Then again, I ended up not going to college, but I didn't preform well on any of my exams with posible exception for AP United States History and AP European History, both of which I only did manage to score a three.
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Lughost
the Lugoat
Another counter-argument is that some college professors put their lectures onto the Internet and an AP teacher can basically give the same lecture the professor did. My physics teacher did just that with the professor from MIT.
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As far as I know, it takes a seriously high level college to only accept a 5 (I know that Northwestern takes 4's on 25% of tests and the rest you need a 5 to exempt). Most schools will accept the 3 or 4.
But even beyond the tests, the idea of a harder course for brighter kids is something that I've always liked. When I was forced to take a regular level class, like a foreign language or something else lacking an AP option, I always had trouble dealing with the pace that we were held to by the slower kids. AP lets me escape that and actually learn stuff with other kids who don't need to spend 4 weeks learning something simple. That's why I take so many AP courses (2 my sophomore year, 4 my junior year, 5 my senior).
But even beyond the tests, the idea of a harder course for brighter kids is something that I've always liked. When I was forced to take a regular level class, like a foreign language or something else lacking an AP option, I always had trouble dealing with the pace that we were held to by the slower kids. AP lets me escape that and actually learn stuff with other kids who don't need to spend 4 weeks learning something simple. That's why I take so many AP courses (2 my sophomore year, 4 my junior year, 5 my senior).
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Toxic Influence wrote...
As far as I know, it takes a seriously high level college to only accept a 5 (I know that Northwestern takes 4's on 25% of tests and the rest you need a 5 to exempt). Most schools will accept the 3 or 4.But even beyond the tests, the idea of a harder course for brighter kids is something that I've always liked. When I was forced to take a regular level class, like a foreign language or something else lacking an AP option, I always had trouble dealing with the pace that we were held to by the slower kids. AP lets me escape that and actually learn stuff with other kids who don't need to spend 4 weeks learning something simple. That's why I take so many AP courses (2 my sophomore year, 4 my junior year, 5 my senior).
I totally understand you. Whenever I have a mandatory class for graduation(i.e. Health, World Religions, etc.) it's full of dumb, wannabee ghetto people that seriously get on my nerves everyday. AP classes usually have more mature people and are generally more peaceful. And yeah the advanced course is faster which I like also.
I'm taking 5 AP classes next year(junior year). I don't know how I'm going to survive that.
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I took five classes in total amongst all three years students were allowed to take AP classes. AP European History, AP United States History, AP Language and Composition, AP Calculus AB, and AP Spanish, to be specific. I only struggled with AP Calculus. I should have never taken it. I never got a firm grasp of the advanced mathematics classes after Honors Geometry. I was too embarrassed of the idea of repeating Geometry, but I should have. I may not have nearly flunked out of Calculus if I hadn't. Actually, in truth I did flunk out. My teacher somehow always managed to have my percentage higher than it should have been, which was odd since she didn't like me.
Thankfully for my Academic Honors Diploma I had an extra math credit, so I threw out my Calculus score and had it stricken from my GPA. Not that it mattered much anyway since I didn't go to college, but I digress.
I was wrong too, not all of my AP classes were "adult." My AP Spanish class was a joke, but it was as much (if not more) our fault as students than the teacher. We used Spanish class as an hour-and-half course that were allowed to relax and unwind. We learned very little Spanish to speak of throughout high school (foreign languages just wasn't a strong point in my school corporation), and we especially were lacking in our AP class. I don't believe any of us bothered to take the AP Spanish exam. For good reason, I would assume. I seriously doubt a single one of us would have passed.
Thankfully for my Academic Honors Diploma I had an extra math credit, so I threw out my Calculus score and had it stricken from my GPA. Not that it mattered much anyway since I didn't go to college, but I digress.
I was wrong too, not all of my AP classes were "adult." My AP Spanish class was a joke, but it was as much (if not more) our fault as students than the teacher. We used Spanish class as an hour-and-half course that were allowed to relax and unwind. We learned very little Spanish to speak of throughout high school (foreign languages just wasn't a strong point in my school corporation), and we especially were lacking in our AP class. I don't believe any of us bothered to take the AP Spanish exam. For good reason, I would assume. I seriously doubt a single one of us would have passed.
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Cruz
Dope Stone Lion
Most AP test have a 3 = 33%, I forgot how much a 5 was but it can be any greater that 60%.
But some AP classes are worth it if you know the subject well, which is a lot cheaper than than taking it in college. And even if you didn't get the college credit, at least you got some knowledge on that subject.
But yeah, AP classes are for "intellectuals".....yeah right. A bit too high and might now aren't we?
But some AP classes are worth it if you know the subject well, which is a lot cheaper than than taking it in college. And even if you didn't get the college credit, at least you got some knowledge on that subject.
But yeah, AP classes are for "intellectuals".....yeah right. A bit too high and might now aren't we?
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cruz737 wrote...
Most AP test have a 3 = 33%, I forgot how much a 5 was but it can be any greater that 60%. But some AP classes are worth it if you know the subject well, which is a lot cheaper than than taking it in college. And even if you didn't get the college credit, at least you got some knowledge on that subject.
But yeah, AP classes are for "intellectuals".....yeah right. A bit too high and might now aren't we?
Saying it's for intellectuals might be pushing it, but you almost always get smarter kids in the class. Occasionally a dumbass tries to take the courses (we had two kids that could barely figure out how to derive in my AP Calculus BC class) but since you have a lot of info you need to cover by May the teachers won't stop to coddle those kids. A lot of the time, they end up dropping or failing while the rest of the class keeps moving. Suffice it to say that an average kid in an AP class is usually smarter than the average kid in a regular class.
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If you are smart enough to handle AP classes then I recommend you take them. It will really prepare you if you go to a good college. You'll build a better studying habit and need less time to study later on.
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I took some AP classes during my high school years and I'd say coming from a low-income area and going to a public school with bad rep, the environment of the AP classes outweigh the General classes to graduate. I think they are worth it not only for the information and the possibility of saving money but also because you work with people that share a common goal to go to a university.
