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06-27-2008, 10:21 PM
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#16 | | Junior Member
Join Date: May 2008 Location: Texas
Posts: 70
| My 2 cents as a Language teacher at 2 different schools--I value the fact that students posting to CC aren't just about the grade. I hate to see my students looking for As when they can't possibly make a 4 or 5 on the test. Old school-we were pressed to give some As when we knew the kids would BOMB the test. New school-5/70 and that is about what I expect (5s) on the test.
My advice to oli-present yourself in the best possible light, and let them sort it out. There are many factors that weigh into admissions, and you should highlight your best features and explain your faults if necessary (lack of opportunity in your case) in interviews or essays. There is something to students who understand their situations and make the best of it. I am also guessing that you are a junior?? So maybe another round of tests helps you-do additional independent study on your own with some of the other AP material. | 
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06-27-2008, 10:21 PM
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#17 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 224
| honestly, the class must have been much easier. being as you kept 99s in the class. not saying you didnt earn the 99's... it just isn't up to par with an ap course. | |
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06-27-2008, 10:21 PM
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#18 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 45
| He gave us a review packet and I did actually use it. But then again, it was constructed by him. My view going into it was, I can't blame it all on the teacher. Looking back on it, in this moment, realizing my failure, I'm gonna say it might be due to his abilities.. or lack thereof. | |
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06-27-2008, 10:22 PM
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#19 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 224
| yeah btw, dont let your teacher dictate your score.
i come from a school where the highest grade on the statistics exam in the past was a 2. i went online to teach myself statistics and didn't even know there were that many hypothesis tests. (ended up with a 4 on the exam)
no one at my school has gotten above a 3 on ap english language. i just did my work and read as much as i could... despite what everyone says about the teacher.... i ended up with a 4 on the exam.
no one in my school ever takes subject tests... my 790 on the chem was like unheard of. people flipped and thought iwas a genius.
just dont let your school dictate you. in the end you cant just say "well my school didn't prepare me well enough" because thats bs.... thats why i prepped for this stuff. because in the end if i were to get a 1 i would look dumber than my school. | |
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06-27-2008, 10:29 PM
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#20 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 45
| Glad to know someone can motivate themselves to do better...
To be perfectly honest, I'm not dissapointed in myself as much as everyone else would be. I earned some 2's, that's fine. It's just that everything else about me is up to par in my opinion and two little tests are gonna end it. it's not the scores that dissapoint me... only when I compare them to the rest of my resume do I feel discouraged. | |
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06-27-2008, 10:31 PM
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#21 | | Member
Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: PA
Posts: 903
| after reading this thread i realized i took my teachers for granted. i have really well qualified teachers even though they sometimes **** me off for being too difficult at times lol. | |
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06-27-2008, 10:36 PM
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#22 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 285
| I had a terrible chem teacher that hated my guts, yet somehow I got a 4... | |
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06-27-2008, 10:37 PM
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#23 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 45
| yeah.. i love 90% of my teachers.. my government teacher is AMAZING; had her for psych last year. i would feel guilty if i didnt get at least a 4 on the ap gov test beacuse she's so brilliant...haha. we keep getting flooded with new staff and most of them are underqualified or ill suited for the position. example.. we've had a new ELS/gifted teacher every year for the past for years. My gifted teacher should be helping me with college just as much as the guidance office, but the most she's done is had me take a test to figure out how i learn. woohoo? | |
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06-27-2008, 10:43 PM
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#24 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 45
| Eh I can't motivate myself for crap when it comes to tests. I go into every single one with a doom and glood attitude. So far the only lights I've seen at the end of any tunnels are in the area of bio; on the subject test and AP. Good thing I'm gonna major in biology and not history :] | |
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06-27-2008, 10:57 PM
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#25 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 225
| I had an amazing APUSH teacher, so good that I didn't use a prep book and studied minimally outside of class and I got a 5
AP Chem on the other hand...is a different story. Everyone before my class got 1s and 1 kid got a 2......Teacher is not that motivated to prep us...so I tried to do as much as I could outside of class (though I have to admit I could have done a lot more), and I ended up with a 3, which I am proud of, even though it won't get me college credit in a lot of places...If your class is not prepping you, its up to you to take on the challenge, practically everyone in my chem class gave up after the first month (except for a select few), and those are the few that passed...
From what I hear, however, AP scores aren't as important as other things in your transcript (GPA, SAT, Extracurriculars, Initiative, Volunteering, etc.), so don't fret, if they see that you did well on some APs and bombed one or 2, they can probably tell that you had a bad teacher but that you are still a good student (because of your grades, GPA, etc.), so, if I where you, I wouldn't worry about it much | |
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06-27-2008, 10:58 PM
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#26 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: cornell '12 <('.'<) (>'.')>
Posts: 288
| err...you know it isnt impossible to self study history or calc. in fact, i believe both, especially calc, have pretty helpful curves. i dont think you should place all the blame on your teachers.
no offense, but this has grade inflation written all over it | |
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06-27-2008, 11:00 PM
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#27 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 45
| I know you don't mean to be offensive.. and I didn't take it offensively. But calc and history aren't like.. my only two good classes. I'm 5th in my class with a 4.0 unweighted GPA. I'm not like a fly by average kid... I don't want to sound like I'm that conceited but.. idk. People who know me expected 5's. I was riding more on my so-called abilities than my teachers. I studied my ass off for history too. The essays killed me. I actually used Pocahontas, yes the disney movie, as my reference for one section. I was clueless... I deserved a 0 (yes I know it's impossible) if they were to base it just on my essays. | |
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06-27-2008, 11:03 PM
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#28 | | Junior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 253
| In the future, I STRONGLY suggest you to get prep books for AP exams and DEFINITELY practice with the released MC questions and the FRQ available online. | |
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06-27-2008, 11:05 PM
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#29 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 225
| thats the thing, yatta is right....
My APUSH teacher FORCED us to do like 15 practice AP multiple choice questions and we did free essays and dbqs every week, very intensive class
In Chem; however, we did 2 practice tests...he didn't go over them either...But, here's where you need to motivate yourself and do the practice tests and prep yourself!! | |
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06-27-2008, 11:08 PM
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#30 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 45
| Yeah.. money is a big issue. My family could barely afford the exam fees let alone the prep books. The only ones I own are ACT/SAT and that was a christmas gift. I know there are a TON of other things I could've done other than get the books, and lesson learned, but not having the 20 dollars to buy the book kind of puts a damper on it.. | |
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