What do you think of AP courses?

[Shawn On the Border]

My son qualified for Pre-AP courses in high school next year. I definitely want him in AP Math and English. Do you think it would be too much to do AP (or Pre-AP) across the board? When I was in high school, we just had honors classes- are the AP classes pretty much the same? I know they work toward preparing for the test, but is it that much harder?

[Michelle in AL]

I think AP classes can be great. I would be willing to bet the public/private school AP classes vary in level of depth and quality. For instance, the AP class my dd took had weekly tests that were so difficult she studied about 5-6hrs/test plus an additional 5 hrs reading and doing homework.

 

From what I've heard about our local AP classes is that very few kids actually pass the AP test. They don't care since the test isn't part of their grade.

 

So I guess it depends on the difficulty level. Most homescool AP classes that I know of require 1-2hrs work/day. If you multiply that x 4, that could be overwhelming.

 

My opinion would be to try 2 AP classes 1st.

[Shawn On the Border]

Michelle- thank you for your reply. It sounds like it would be too much to have all AP. I just want to make sure my son is challenged. He's a smart kid, but doesn't push himself. He would love to coast through high school with easy courses!

[Michelle in AL]

Is he just going into 9th? If so, you could have him take one or two in 10th, maybe even one in 9th and then work up to 4 in 11th grade if he does well with them.

 

Some kids thrive on difficult classes.

[Joan in GE]

You asked if AP are the same as honors...

 

I think it depends on the school, but probably if they are gearing for the AP, they would call it AP.

 

In the school where my brother teaches physics, there are 4 levels of physics.

 

General

College-prep

Honors

AP

 

So for that course at least, it would seem like it is not the same. But the honors course uses a book that would work for the AP Physics B. So I'm presuming that the AP level is actually for the AP Physics C...But most AP's don't have that double level, except Calculus and Physics (as far as I know).

 

Joan

[Karen_OK]

If your son is taking AP classes at a public school, the difficulty will depend on how it is taught. I believe that AP teachers are supposed to receive special training to teach the subject at a higher level. However, our experience has shown that it depends on the teacher's commitment to actually teach the class at a higher level. My oldest is finishing his senior year and has taken as many AP courses as possible throughout high school. His results on the tests have corresponded very closely to his opinion of how well the course was taught, i.e. high scores from great teachers, lower scores in the classes that weren't taught any differently than a regular class.

Having quite a few basic credits out of the way when he starts college will hopefully give him some flexibility to actually finish in four years. Most state colleges I've looked at give credit for a score of 3 on an AP test. Many private schools only give credit for 4's or 5's.

 

Karen

[Mary in GA]

DO you have dual enrollment available as an option? I found that AP courses were often 1 yr long and student would only get 1 semester of college credit after testing. Colleges have different standards as to what AP score they will accept for credit. One large U here only takes only a 5 on AP chem for a semester's credit. They accept transfer credit from the smaller U ds attended, but you have to take both the 101 and the 102 courses to get that one semester of credit. Either way the student is taking a year of course work, but getting that 5 would be a whole bunch of pressure.

 

You can also research in advance what U's would take the transfer credit from the CC or other local U. From ds's and my point of view the dual enrollment path seemed less time intensive. And I really think in some case the actual college course ends up being a little easier than the AP class. Just my $.02. Good luck with your decisions!

 

Mary