<p>@milthick -</p>
<p>Oh, stop with the conspiracy theory. With holistic apps and all, the US is giving out so much freedom to do w/e. Most people in certain Asian countries study 16 hours/day starting from late-elementary to middle school, with the ones attempting to go to the upper universities generally studying 20,21,etc hours a day from even earlier. </p>
<p>Their whole college career depends on getting a near-perfect/perfect score on one test (in Japan though, I hear you take a test for each college you apply for - could be wrong) their senior year. Think college level [like, legit upper (think Ivy League) university level - not “AP”] math, native language, science, and some other topic… I assume English. </p>
<p>See, the people coming in from those Asian countries for college often claim the math in U.S. Ivy League schools a “joke”, although a lot of them eventually fall behind because of the disparity in English/major slacking off. (Lol the English they learn in schools is so wrong, and a lot of teachers teach the language without being able to speak it fluently themselves…)</p>
<p>The (unnamed) Asian countries’ curriculum consists strictly of memorization. No labs (parents have sued teachers who focused on labs), no creative writing after sometime in elementary - middle school at the latest (ditto), no nothing to help them understand the material. Although I really do think many of the labs done at school are a waste of time (boring…), they inevitably do help me understand the topic. </p>
<p>Sorry, I sort of went into BS-mode here x~x. But seriously, the U.S. people aiming for Ivy League may be busier in some ways with hours of sports, orchestra, debate clubs, etc. But here, at least you have more freedom of choice.</p>
<p>How this connects with AP: </p>
<p>Hmm… I don’t know… That mini-rant just made my brain fart. But I think AP classes are great. They give you that extra edge over people who only take honors/normal courses. I think it’s unnecessary to have to take courses that you won’t ever need, as long as you have a decent (i.e., 5-on-AP) understanding of it. </p>
<p>I’d still recommend that people taking, say, Calculus BC and planning on a mathy/sciency career retake some Calculus/Stats class unless you attended a really rigorous, top-tier private high school or had an over the top AP BC teacher. College math is so much harder, and that extra year in math is really going to aid your understanding. </p>
<p>Same goes for the humanities-related majors, although obviously with the distinctive classes that pertain to each major. But I’d advise against retaking Music Theory in college for those musically inclined people… During an orchestra camp at a university, I took a music theory course, and it was the most boring and confusing thing ever. But that’s just IMHO.</p>
<p>But I strongly advise that those going into math/science-majors take at least one creative writing course in college no matter what, unless they were extremely well rounded to begin with & have a really firm grasp on creative writing or w/e. </p>
<p>There have been a couple studies in the past few years (that I can no longer find) about how a lot of computer programmers tend to be antisocial, moody, and prone to misunderstanding creative language (esp. in the case of hyperboles) spoken by people around them. I assume the same goes for accountants, certain scientists, etc.</p>