<p>If you go to a school where Honors/AP is available, how well Regents/Regular Courses culd prepare you for Tier 1/Tier 2 schools?</p>
<p>I wonder how well it would prepare you a top 20 school, if all…</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>It’s POSSIBLE to be prepared for a top 20 school taking only on-level classes. But unless your school just didn’t offer anything better, you won’t get in that way; you’d be competing against people who took the more challenging classes and did just as well.</p>
<p>I’m a New Yorker so I know that most regents-level classes, at least for the people I know, are a joke. My school district has actually started to administer the regents to middle schoolers. The regents have been simplified to a ridiculous point. My AP Bio. class last year was meant to prepare me for the AP exam and the regents, so my teacher would tell us which facts we needed to remember for the regents. We went through all the details of the digestive system (discussing organs, enzymes, the parts of the small intestine, villi structure, etc.) and he said that for the regents all we would need to know is that animals eat food for nutrients. If regents level courses are all that you can handle then of course that’s what you should take, but if you can do well in AP and honors class then definitely take those. And if you are looking to get accepted into a top twenty school then you shouldn’t take more than one regents class a year (and you should get 100 in that class).</p>
<p>A top 20 school would definetly want to see some honors/AP classes, as they generally want the most rigorous curriculum your school offers. If you are taking only regular classes and are a freshman or a sophomore, don’t worry, but try to take honors/AP classes as a junior and senior. If you’re a junior or senior, definetly try to take these classes as soon as possible. In a subject you’re good at, it is sometimes fairly easy to go from regular to honors classes, or even to an AP class. An Honors Regents class is, at least not at my school, significantly more difficult than a regular Regents class, for a good student. In non-honors classes, at least try to keep your grades 96+, preferably A+.</p>
<p>Yeah. I do have all A+ in my Regents classes, besides Earth Science, which is an A.</p>
<p>However, I asked this question, because I just wondered why Regents was so easy in NY. Plus, I go to a college prep school, which I thought it wouldn’t be easy. My school really has a strict policy for those who don’t start in honors classes, it would harder to get into one over the coming years. I am a freshman, and am still not aiming that high, but I still trying to self-study APs. I mean I have no idea why Regents is so easy. I mean in Earth Science, the reference tables are definitely cheat sheets!!!</p>
<p>The regents are so easy because they are meant for everyone from the mentally handicapped to the geniuses.</p>
<p>I agree completely. In Earth Science and now Chemistry, the reference table is half the test! Regents classes and Regents exams have to be easy because everyone, from the failing inner city kid to the prep school valedictorian, should pass them.
Are you new to your school, or just not in Honors Regents classes this year? If you do extremely well, like you are right now, you should hopefully be able to get into Honors classes next year. It would probably help if you approach your teacher now, after the first semester is over, and just mention that you are interested in taking Honors (Biology, Geometry, etc. . . ) next year. They do have a lot of influence. If needed, they might be able to recommend you or write a letter of recommendation so you can take Honors classes next year. Espeicially since you say your classes are so easy, Honors classes might be more interesting for you, and are definetly something you should try for.
Honors classes are a definite for anyone who has such excellent grades and is clearly bored in the easy, simplistic Regents classes. As a freshman I did pretty well in all my classes, and the teacher for a non-honors class recommended I take AP as a sophomore.</p>
<p>The Regents are ridiculously easy because NY wants a higher passing rate. =P</p>
<p>And ahah, I remember the reference tables! Both Earth Science and Chemistry were total jokes because of those. I don’t think I ever studied in those classes, because all of the formulas one would need were within the reference tables.</p>
<p>I try not to headdesk whenever someone in my filler classes complains about how hard a regents was. A ton of people avoided Math B here (what), and for some reason, think that Global and US are hard. Oh no, memorizing and regurgitating facts! :|</p>
<p>Well, I am in Honors Regents in World History, but I waiting for my final semester grade for that class, before I talk to any teachers about my interest in honors classes. I am still in junior high to senior high transition mode, so I might need some assurance. </p>
<p>I have been at this school since 7th Grade, but honors placement was based on 8th Grade performance. I did get an A average in 8th Grade, but I was outperformed by some of my peers. Honors placement is teacher reccommendation, so yes, it is harder to get in than public schools, where you just take the class if you sign up. It is also hard, because there’s just so many honors classes you can have with the right cailber students and so much room. All honors classes are full, so I might not be in any honors classes, next year. However, when we start having APs in junior year, we have more spots for honors, because half of the former honors students will be jumped to AP.</p>
<p>My Regents Chemistry teacher refuses to give us the reference tables, makes us memorize everythings, asks AP/SAT II type questions, and calls it an Honors Regents class. It’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>OP - Your point about Honors students becoming AP students is a good point, and a good opportunity. My public school also has Honors admission for Math and Science in 8th grade. However, if there is room in the classes, those with excellent grades can be approached by their teacher, and “invited” into Honors classes. Good luck, and hope you get into the Honors classes you deserve! Will APs be hard to get into as well? I really think it’s unfair that 7th/8th grade performance should affect sophomore/junior AP classes this heavily.</p>
<p>@nightpwnsj00 - Global was the easiest class on the planet, complete joke. I didn’t know there was a US regents? Maybe I took it in 7th/8th grade? I took a couple Regents in middle school too.</p>
<p>Yeah, US History. Here, you take Global in 9th and 10th (or substitute it with AP World), and then continue with US in 11th (or APUSH). As for taking Regents in middle school, one can take Integrated Algebra if one is in the honors math track, and either Bio or Earth Science if they did well in 7th grade science. I took Earth Science, and was quite happy to skip 8th grade general science. =)</p>
<p>Oh right - I forgot about the US Regents because I’m taking IB History. I took the Regents for Earth Science and Integrated Algebra in 8th grade, and I think there might have been a Spanish Regents, but I’m not too sure. For me taking Earth Science in 8th grade meant I can take Honors science as a freshman and sophomore, and IB classes next year.</p>
<p>I live in NY too and I never took any APs but everyone regents class I took was honors becuase regents classes are a joke because everyone has to take them.</p>
<p>I live in Florida, and regular classes are BS. If you end up with a B in one of them then you must have a one-digit IQ.</p>
<p>OP, do you go to City Honors by any chance?</p>
<p>Nope. I don’t go to City Honors. I live in Syracuse, not Buffalo.</p>
<p>ohhh i gotcha. then wow I’m surprised you know of a buffalo public school haha.</p>
<p>Really? It’s a public school? I thought City Honors was a private school due to its caliber and offerings, even despite the name. I heard you guys offer a gazillion APs and even an IB programme. I go to a college prep school where the tuition is $8,000 per year. Our school is no where near your school.</p>
<p>melin: do not even try to compare NYS public schools to Florida…let’s leave it at that…</p>