<p>I always assumed that my son would never take any AP English or History classes because that is not where his interests are. There is a lot of reading in his Honors English class but it appears to be on the surface where they are just reading chapters in a book, not the entire book. This also seems to be true for history…a lot of jumping around. Some have suggested that because the AP classes involve more discussion and analysis, it may be more engaging and interesting. Did anyone find this to be true?</p>
<p>My sciencey D stayed away from AP English and AP History, and my humanities son stayed away from AP Chemistry.</p>
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<p>I wouldn’t count on this unless the teacher is known to be excellent. General rule of thumb is to only take AP classes in subjects that interest you. Otherwise, it can be a miserable grind, especially if the teacher is mediocre or worse.</p>
<p>My sciency son took AP US History so he wouldn’t have to take it in college. My humanities/social science son took AP sciences because everyone else does and because he’s interested.</p>
<p>In our school the AP history courses are more engaging and interesting. US history is not that much work. AP Euro is a bit weird - lots of essay writing - but not so much test prep. The teacher has the reputation of being the best teacher in the school and you will come out of that class writing well. No idea how the kids do on the exam. But everyone loves the class.</p>
<p>In our school the AP English courses are a lot of work and focus on the kind of analysis my kids hated. So they didn’t take them. They loved their senior English electives. They didn’t love the honors English classes they took as juniors.</p>
<p>My older son (very science/math oriented, now junior engineering major in college) did not take AP english or history in hs and didn’t even take honors classes his jr/sr years. I think that was a mistake…that he didn’t stretch himself. Granted, he would not have been able to use the credits to opt out of any core requirements as he attends an engineering-focused university.</p>
<p>But with S2, we encouraged him to take a broader range of honors/AP courses. Even though he is intending to pursue a math major in college, he has taken both AP Lang and AP Lit. He’s not getting the sames As in those courses as in AP Physics and AP Calc, but I think he is learning more than he would be in a lower level class – at least in our high school. In our case, the better, more engaging teachers tend to teach the AP level classes.</p>
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<p>Why, oh why do teachers DO this?</p>
<p>If your S will be applying to extremely selective colleges/universities, have him check with his GC to see what courses need to be taken to get that “most demanding” checkmark on the Common Application. This varies by school.</p>
<p>I’m a science/math guy and took both AP US History and AP European History. US history was the only AP offered at my school to kids in 10th grade. It was a really good class with a great teacher. We had a ton of reading, but the textbook was pretty good, so I didn’t mind.</p>
<p>My AP Euro class was a nightmare as the teacher was terrible, and often our assignments would be to go home and copy pages out of the textbook. It was made worse since I was taking AP Calc AB and Chem at the time, both of which I enjoyed tons more.</p>
<p>I lean very heavily to the Math/Science side of things and always have. That being said, I took both AP english and AP US in HS because being in a lower level class would frankly be boring. I sat in on the honors US class for the first week of school to see, but there is no way i would be happy learning at that level.</p>
<p>At least at my HS, the AP classes were taught at a higher level and involved much more discussion and analysis of central concepts and their relation to specific case studies.</p>
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<p>Depends what colleges you plan to apply to. The most selective colleges are looking for kids who are well-rounded in their academics and who have taken the most challenging HS curriculum available to them. That’s why the Common App GC recommendation form asks whether the applicant has taken the “most demanding” curriculum available at the school. If that box isn’t checked, it may be close to disqualifying at HYPS-level schools, and a significant admissions disadvantage at most top-25 schools. For the vast majority of colleges, it won’t matter much, if at all, and a higher GPA is probably more important at these schools than taking all the APs available.</p>
<p>S1 is a math-head. Physics runs a strong second. He struggles with writing or anything literary.</p>
<p>He took AP World History last year, scored a 4 on the exam and really got some good practice at writing. He also learned how to read a college textbook such that he was forced to glean the right information for class writings, tests and other assignments.</p>
<p>It was good for him, and I don’t think he would have learned how to do that without taking that course. He is now signed up for AP English Lang. and APUSH and doing well. Good teachers help, of course. </p>
<p>I didn’t think it would serve him well to limit him to AP courses that are easy for him.</p>
<p>Most math/sci kids I know take AP Hist/English. But then, most of us AP kids center around English as our unifier- even if it’s not our best class, we ALL had the same US Hist and English Lang teachers, as well as Ap World History. There’s only two AP Lit teachers. </p>
<p>Personally, I feel history is the most straight forward- just study and recall. Depending on which History he’s taking you’ll need to know more or less, but if he has a good textbook, he should just read it all the way through, and study/flashcard it. Simple enough.</p>
<p>English Language is all about forming and developing arguments, and recognizing them (as far as I saw, and I got a 5 on the exam). I think you can easily buy a book on writing arguments, and the Penguin dictionary of literary terms, and practice finding things. Literature probably gives people more problems, because it’s more open. Solve that problem and buy “How to read literature like a professor.” It’s absolutely worth it, and I analyze better because of it. </p>
<p>But I figured that those math/sci kids did it because you absolutely need that level of english in college- whereas I don’t necessarily need AP Calc.</p>
<p>I’d say the decision should be based on a couple of things already talked about on here: level of colleges your child is looking at and the quality of the teacher.</p>
<p>Ds, a mathy-sciencey senior, is batting 1.000 for college acceptances, and I firmly believe it’s in part because of his rigorous schedule. In addition to all the math and science APs (BC Cal, APES, Stats, Physics B & C), he also did two years of AP language, APUSH, AP English Lit and Comp. He also took a lot of humanities electives, partly because the SS teachers are so strong. He wasn’t interested in HYP, but if your ds is, I would think stretching in areas out of his comfort zone would be looked upon favorably.</p>
<p>About the teachers: As I said above, ds took so many SS electives because those are his favorite teachers. As a whole, it’s the strongest dept on campus.</p>
<p>Ironically, this math-science kid, when asked about his favorite subjects, always mentions a SS class. Consequently, a couple of years ago, he thought he’d study environmental science but now thinks maybe he should go more the policy route. You never know what they’ll end up loving.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove - I don’t get it either. What is there to gain by only reading certain chapters in a book, especially a work of fiction?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your input. Son will be registering for his classes soon so there is a lot to think about. I am inclined to think that he could enjoy AP humanities with the right teachers so I’ll have to snoop around at school and find out more about these departments.</p>
<p>bogibogi, try to talk to math/sciencey kids a year or two ahead of your S to see who the good teachers are.</p>
<p>S1 (math/CS guy) took AP Eng Lang, World Hist, Comp Gov’t and US Gov’t.
S2 (polisci-humanities guy) took/is taking AP Bio, Enviro, Calc AB and Stat.</p>
<p>Most colleges have some level of distribution requirements across the disciplines, so whether or not my kids got credit, they wanted to at least have a good foundation. IMHO, EVERYONE needs to be able to write effectively. At flagships, these classes will also enable students to get out of a decent number of requirements (and the 8 am, 300-student lectures). </p>
<p>S1 took Honors Lit senior year and was mighty sorry he didn’t take AP Lit, even though he hates poetry. He was never engaged in the class and had to battle his way through.</p>
<p>At our HS, the very best teachers handle the AP courses, and have done so for many years. A number of them are also AP graders in the summer, so they do know how to teach the course successfully (rigorously!).We have plenty of kids who get a B in the course but a 4 or 5 on the exam. Talk to the teachers as well as other students and parents, and see if your child would be comfortable in the course and how big the dropoff is between AP and honors, or whatever the next level would be. Also, if the majority of top track kids take the AP, the other courses may not be so convenient to schedule, depending on the size of your HS.</p>
<p>A lot of top schools want to see that your student has tackled the hardest course load, so this is a consideration. Also, think about preparation for a top college. Mine got a pass on one semester of “Freshman Writing” by getting a 4 or 5 on AP English, and said that the two AP English classes had trained him better than a lot of other students in his other humanities courses.</p>
<p>S1 leaned more toward humanities (740 v. no prep) but was a good math/sci. guy too.</p>
<p>He took AP Eng. Comp. junior year and hated it, had a not great teacher. He made a 3.
First time in his life he didn’t enjoy English. Over 50% of the kids who took it his year made less than 3.<br>
He would not consider taking AP Lit. for sr. yr…took Honors Eng. with the most beloved teacher in the school, thoroughly enjoyed it. </p>
<p>He took APUSH, loved the teacher,loved the class, made a 5, got 6 hrs. of credit for it at his big state u. </p>
<p>Teachers make all the difference.</p>
<p>Yurtle - After a little research, the books you mentioned seem to be great resources. Thank you for bringing them to my attention. I wish I knew about them for my Jr. daughter…</p>
<p>My S is a math/science guy. I was a little shocked when I heard he was taking AP EUro History his sophomore year (along with AP Calc BC and AP Spanish Language.) Euro is a toughie at our HS, although the teacher is good. Well, he ended up with a B+/A- and a 4 on the exam but most importantly, a much different way of analyzing issues.</p>
<p>I have to say he enjoyed AP US History and AP Macroeconomics more than AP Euro. He enjoyed AP English Language. The outlier it AP English Lit this year. I think a combo of him not being a lit guy (he was hoping to graduate with no lit senior year but there’s no way) and senioritis creeping in doesn’t help matters. Same team teachers as AP English Language, too. Oh well.</p>
<p>So far, his only rejection is Stanford SCEA. He’s in at USC, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara and waiting to hear from five OOS privates, with three of those reaches.</p>
<p>D hates history, but the only AP available to sophomores was World History, so she took it, got A’s and passed the AP exam. Same for AP US History junior year. It didn’t hurt her and most likely helped her in college applications.</p>