S18 took AP Bio yesterday and proclaimed it “easy.” This coming from a kid who claims he doesn’t really know how to study and who has a first-time AP Bio teacher who has been so terrible that many parents have hired tutors. We did not hire a tutor (because he will probably never take a biology class ever again), but did send him to every review session the teacher offered plus extra free AP Readiness review sessions. I hope he at least gets a 3.
As far as AP’s, be aware of licensing requirements for your kid’s possible profession. My D’15 is a freshman accounting major and she is able to use her 10 AP classes towards the 150 hour requirement to sit for the CPA exam. It’s a nice savings as opposed to a year of graduate school or even summer school classes.
Happy Birthday @ak2018 ! My D also turns 16 this month (alas not interested in driving yet). No APs for her. Her school is IB so she’ll have a few exams next year, but really run the gauntlet senior year!
No APs this spring for our DD’18 either. She will have 3 next year plus the subject tests - There is just no way around junior year being so busy.
Happy Birthday to the May babies! In this crazy time of AP’s and end of year may they take time to celebrate.
Our D18 took the Government test today and said it was pretty easy - but she also studied non-stop for it for the past month. Meanwhile, our S16 took 3 APs and I don’t think he spent any time studying for any of them…we’ll see how things look when scores are posted in July, I guess.
@suzy100 I’m actually the son of my father, who is not on CC. :)) Thank you for the birthday wishes! I’m actually going to try to get my license before the end of the summer. My dad said if I get my license before the end of the summer, I can use the car that my uncle gave him when he was getting his car fixed. It’d definitely be nice to not have to ride the bus anymore.
@1822mom I’m also not as interested in driving, compared to 3 years ago. I still haven’t memorized the drivers’ manual for the permit test yet. I’ll be taking a class this summer, Health and PE 10, and the first two units actually help you prepare for the test. My dad is very good at driving, my mom, not so much. Her cataracts are mainly to blame. I also have eye problems, and wear glasses, as well, so I just feel like I’d be not as good as a driver.
I have no APs this year, however, our statewide finals start next Tuesday, with my first finals next Wednesday.
Did anyone’s DC or DD skip regular Physics and taking AP Physics directly? My DD’18 wants to take AP Physics next year (Junior year) but I don’t want her to have 4 heavy load AP classes (AP English Language, AP Calc AB, AP US History, AP Physics, Chinese 3 Honor, Athlete Golf)… I suggest that she takes regular Physics and take AP Physics in senior year. But many of her friends are taking AP Physics and told her that AP Physics is actually easier than regular Physics (AP with more math and regular is more concept)… Not sure…
my kids take AP Physics 1&2 (combined class) and then AP Physics C. At our school the better teachers teach AP classes and that often makes them easier classes than non AP classes.
At my D’s school they don’t permit you to take AP Physics without taking regular Physics first. My D is taking accelerated physics (one year in a semester) this year and if she likes it, then likely will take AP Physics next year.
My older son took AP Physics his senior year without taking Physics Honors first. I think that is a pretty common thing in the local HS. He had no problem with it and said it was an easier class than AP Chem. I know that’s what S’18 will be doing his senior year.
Our high school only offers Physics “Traditional” (for non-honors students), AP Physics 2, or AP Physics C (the calculus version). No honors level unlike Bio and Chem. Not sure exactly why but, if you’re an honors student at our high school, your only option is the AP route. Typical four year honors plan is Bio H, Chem H, AP Physics C, and then another AP of your choice (Bio, Chem, Environmental Science).
Sounds like every high school is different…
Good to see several familiar names still going strong on CC. My DD got her license but not driving by herself yet. well, I am not letting her drive yet, she being my first one, I am taking time to fight my fears. Like most of you, I didn’t introduce CC to my D18 also, she knows it exists, she looked at it once and got scared. DD18 doesn’t know what she wants to study and she was in tears the other day as most of her classmates know what they want to study. she just took one AP, she said she didn’t do well. I saw her she worked hard, if that’s all her ability is I am fine with it. I don’t know how your DC’s taking subject tests,multiple AP’s and ACT/SAT but my DD struggled to take one AP. she is now in to finals. she is not taking any other tests until fall of next year. I am hoping she would do some prep this summer.
Each kid is different @sonoran. You know best what pace they should take this at.
As for S’18, the timing is right for the SAT subject tests due to AP studying. He took AP World History test yesterday, so he’ll never be more ready for the SAT Subject test on World History than now. And the timing for Math 2 is when they are wrapping up Pre-Calc. So, he’s taking them both in June. We’ll wait on the actual SAT until next year, maybe December. He gets a free one (administered by his HS) in March or February. Hopefully, that’ll be enough.
My D18 said WHAP test was hard…something about one of the essay question about the feminist movement in Mexico and one on afro-asian trade she said it will be a miracle if she pulls a 3.
@labegg I also heard from a lot of the students who took the WHAP exam that the essays were the hardest. I’m not in WHAP, but a lot of my friends said the same thing when I asked them what they thought the most tricky part of the test was. They had said it was the essay on the afro-Asaib trade route. Other than that, they felt they did okay.
I agree with you @dadotwoboys. Each kid is different and we need to go with their pace. Like SAT/ACT, SAT subjects tests also can be taken multiple times? Any recommendations/helpful links on ACT prep are appreciated.
On the HS 2018 Student Thread, we’ve been talking about affirmative action. This is what I posted concerning my decision, hopefully, to not apply for affirmative action, when the time comes, after having a conversation about it. I am African-American, by the way.
"So, I asked my dad about affirmative action yesterday and he actually gave me a good definition. I asked him if he decided to apply to college with affirmative action, and he said no. My father, being an immigrant from Ghana, went to and graduated from George Mason University in 2007 at the age of 35. While my father was definitely disadvantaged, when it came to his schooling, he decided not to apply affirmative action as he felt like he didn’t need it. Then I asked if I should apply affirmative action and he said, and I quote “Hell no!”. He wasn’t mad when he said it, and I agree with the reasons he gave after he said it. He said this because he, I as well, believe that I’m definitely more advantaged than the average black person my age. His reasoning was pretty simple as he stated ways in which I’m a lot more luckier than most.
- I currently live in a 2-story house in the suburbs and am not, and have never been, an inner-city kid in an academically-poor school district, like DC.
- While in the United States, at and after the age of 3, I've rarely ever lived a day without a computer, the Internet, or electricity.
- Through the Internet, I have a condensed version of all the information my local library could provide me at my fingertips and with the press of a few buttons.
- I live in a county with many STEM-related opportunities, like VEX Robotics competitions.
- I go to the most academically-challenging (rigorous) high school in my county and am getting better grades than I did back in middle school.
- (Which he believes is the most important!) (His words, not mine.) Unlike my brother and a lot of the black kids my father sees today, again, his words, not mine, I've been instilled with a mentality to succeed and excel above average, despite living in a society where some people assume that my race/skin color is correlated with how intelligent or knowledge I am. Meaning, I don't let the fact that Whites or Asians usually perform better in school compared to black people deter me from reaching my full potential. I don't give up, even though I work myself ragged. The disadvantages I have, if any really, are very minimal compared to other black kids. He also recognizes that those of any race could be disadvantaged as well.
My dad definitely notices all the hard work I’m doing, even likes to brag about it to his friends, and commends me for it. When he was in school, in Ghana, he was actually at the top of his class at his boarding school. He knew from an early age that education was the key to his success, and to not live a life of selling stuff on the street just to make end’s meet. I may not tell him, but I admire the work he did when he was younger, and all of the struggles he faces made him stronger. I just sometimes hate it when he uses it as justification for me to stop complaining, which is something I rarely do in front of him.
Back to affirmative action, he said I don’t need to apply for it, as I’ve had plenty of opportunities to succeed and have, for the most part, never really missed that much of an opportunity. He said affirmative action should be for people who definitely aren’t as lucky as I am, and I agree. I should not apply for affirmative action just to make my academic-life easier."
So, I just mainly wanted to get your opinions on affirmative action. The 6 points from above are what my father had said.
I’ve never seen a separate application for affirmative action, FWIW. There are places on applications where you can indicate your ethnicity/race, but these are optional. And colleges cannot legally use numerical quotas in the admissions process. They can, however, give preference to certain “plus factors” when considering admissions.