<p>I’m in a middle school, will be in hs next fall, want to know some which i am sure i’ll hear about next year but would like to know earlier and hear from you guys - when do people start taking AP courses, for example. sophomore? Junior?
Also, when you take ap courses, do you take ap test? I heard someone get all As in AP coures but got 2-3 in ap tests, strange? why?
If I want to do humanity in college (not sure what yet, maybe… i duno) do you advise me taking ap math or something? I’m good at math. probably top 1-5 in my middle school - i’m not boasting, but i don’t really like to be a science/math major. should i still do things like ap math? calculas? all that stuff?
Thanks.</p>
<p>Some people start taking them their freshman year, some during their sophomore year. It all depends on your school. Like, for example, if your school offers AP Human Geography, you can start taking that next fall. Just make sure you study hard and don’t fall victim to the multitude of other freshmen that get 1s.
BTW, you can start self-studying APs your freshman year if you want.</p>
<p>Yes, you normally take the AP test for the classes you’re taking, unless for some reason, you can’t or don’t want to take it. The reason for some people getting an A in their AP class at school and only a 2-3 on the exam is because AP classes aren’t standardized-- you can’t tell if an A in AP such-and-such really means you actually learned anything.</p>
<p>Take all the AP classes you can get. If you really love math and/or you think you can take the challenge, sign up for AP Calculus AB, but you usually can’t until Junior year, depending on your courses.</p>
<p>I recommend taking all the AP tests for your classes unless you are either 100% sure you will fail or you have financial hardship (though it cost me $100 per test at my school, versus thousands in college tuition). It can’t hurt, and it bumped me out of a ton of prerequisites in college.</p>
<p>Also, my speculation as to why many students do very well in AP classes grade-wise but fail the exams: high school has a tendency to be lopsided in favor of homework. Some people are great at making sure they get help on all their homework, get full credit on projects, etc., but I was not one of those people. I generally got B’s in my AP classes, but got a 5 on every test I took. The fact is that the class introduces you to the test material, but you have to put in a lot of practice for the test itself.</p>
<p>Thanks!! i don’t really like math, i’m just good at it because my mom and dad are all math profs I guess i have some kind of genes or they teach me a little or whatnot. but i really love literature and history stuff. i may teach myself history, or literature, from next year. is it possible to self study literature? i just finished reading a tale of two cities. it’s nice but pretty hard for me. i get lost at various places.</p>
<p>^ Note I edited a little more information into my last post. 
You can self-study anything you like for AP tests, as long as your school lets you take the exam (talk to your counselor, most likely). Also, if you want to self-study literature, I highly recommend the book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” by Thomas Foster: [Amazon.com:</a> How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines (9780060009427): Thomas C. Foster: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Literature-Like-Professor/dp/006000942X]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Literature-Like-Professor/dp/006000942X)</p>
<p>You can’t really “study” AP Lit, from what I’ve read around these forums. The English exams are more of a skills-based test, rather than knowledge-based.</p>
<p>Thanks very much all of you. sirsteveh i will try to get that book with my bday gift card. 
is “A tale of two cities” a must read? what other books? I read Jane Eyre and loved it! Dickens was pretty hard for me but my mom said if i liked literature i must read it so i did it. ouch at times. is it typical or it’s just me?</p>
<p>You can take AP Human Geography as a freshman. You can usually take an AP history class as a sophomore. I wouldn’t recommend taking a science like AP Chemistry before first taking the Honors version.</p>
<p>So something like:</p>
<p>9th- 1
10th- 1
11th- 4
12th- 5</p>
<p>My school does it like this</p>
<p>9 - 0
10th - 1-3
11th/12th - tons, like 10. I really don’t know its a lot.</p>
<p>Best kept secret about these classes is no or little hw. The little hw is just stupid busy work though. Just pay attention in class, read the book (I prefer other sources than the text book), and you’ll ace the exam.</p>
<p>I didn’t take notes, do the homework, or classwork for AP Bio/Euro/US and got 4+ on the exams.</p>
<p>Also unlike other schools, we can go straight to Calc BC. I did that, its not hard at all. I just hate my existence in there because I hate math.</p>
<p>They won’t let you start taking AP’s until your sophomore year at my school. Try in to get in some (I think one is good as a frosh), though.</p>
<p>It depends on the school. Some let you take them as a freshman, some won’t let you start with any until junior year. That’s something you’re going to have to sort out with your guidance counselor. How difficult each class is also depends on your school–though the test curriculum is standardized, the method of teaching it is not. I highly recommend buying the AP prep books for each class you take. And keep in mind that colleges will expect you to take an exam for every class marked “AP” on your transcript, so don’t jump into an impossible curriculum without knowing what you’re getting into. </p>
<p>As far as how many to take each year, that also depends on the school. More rigorous schools may only allow up to two a year, while others won’t cap the amount. I recommend taking honors classes instead freshman year to get a good grasp of the format of your school. In general, Calc AB and APUSH are taken junior year and Euro senior year (at least at my school), but there aren’t any set guidelines… The key is to take APs in classes that you are motivated in, because there is a lot of extraneous reading/work involved compared to regular homework-based questions. </p>
<p>And I just urge you not to jump into an AP curriculum simply because you’ve been a good student through middle school. Middle school is largely a matter of understanding what the teacher is asking. AP tests are going to ask you to explain what you know about a particular subject without pointing you in the right direction.</p>
<p>do NOT get addicted to this site while in middle school. that is ridiculous. seriously, leave while u still can.</p>
<p>I’d suggest you take AP math if you can, even if you don’t want to do math in college. It’s a good education, regardless of what they think in college admission. </p>
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<p>I agree with the above posters in that when you take APs completely depends on your school. My private school does not allow APs until junior year, but my honors classes before then were more difficult than AP classes some of my friends were taking. It is the difficulty of the course, not the name, that is most important to colleges. This is another reason why students have As in AP classes but do not score well on the AP test - the curriculum is not difficult enough to adequately prepare them.</p>
<p>I would definiltey not recommend self-studying and AP English or History course. Even after two writing-heavy high school honors English classes, my AP class is a giant step up. And my teacher professes that she grades as we will be graded on the AP. Middle school English will definitely not prepare you enough. As for AP History, I have about 400-500 pages of typed-single spaced notes from the first trimester. This is not something you can self-study and take a single test on with expectations of suceeding.</p>
<p>The amount of work in AP classes also vary. All of mine require 1 hour + of homework each night and are extremely difficult. As an above poster stated, at some schools these classes barely rquire work. I would definitely inquire as to the difficulty of the courses before you take them to understand what your courseload will look like. Good luck!!</p>
<p>yes be careful what you sign up to. some APs require so much work. If you sign up for something and get a 1 in the test, it’ll look bad in the future. - it’s good to think about the future. I wish i did something like this when I was in middle school, like the op. </p>
<p>Maybe ask the teacher or your older peers before you sign up for the class, esp. if you plan to do several APs at the same time.</p>
<p>thanks all of you. i look forward to HS it sounds like fun and more opportunities, more choices…</p>