Our school doesn’t allow either AP Lang or AP Lit before senior year, so our only choice is advanced English 3 vs. regular English 3. I was told AP seminar is a huge time commitment and told D I want her to take an easier elective since AP Spanish, Calc BC and APUSH is already plenty IMHO. What do you guys think?
@typiCAmom " I was told AP seminar is a huge time commitment and told D I want her to take an easier elective since AP Spanish, Calc BC and APUSH is already plenty IMHO. What do you guys think?"
D is currently taking AP Seminar and AP Research next year to get the AP Capstone designation. AP Seminar is a time commitment but I would not say “huge” for D but then again her classes are 3 honors and only 2 AP.classes this year. I know some on CC don’t think much of the AP Capstone designation but I think the research, writing, presentation and group assignments are invaluable as these skills will carryover into college and any career you may have.
@socaldad2002, thanks for your input. Maybe I’ll run it by our HS counselor first to see what she thinks. How does AP research work - would D be able to choose any topic of her choice, i.e., smth related to foreign language NOT taught at her school? Who would act as her mentor - HS teacher? Is she encouraged to reach out to college professors who are experts in the field even if HS has no connection to that particular college?
AP Research “The course culminates in an academic paper of 4,000-5,000 words and a presentation, with an oral defense; during which you will answer 3-4 questions from a panel of evaluators.
AP Research is the second course in the AP Capstone™ program. AP Seminar is a prerequisite for AP Research. If you earn scores of 3 or higher in AP Seminar and AP Research and on four additional AP Exams of your choosing, you will receive the AP Capstone Diploma™. This signifies outstanding academic achievement and attainment of college-level academic and research skills. Alternatively, if you earn scores of 3 or higher in AP Seminar and AP Research only, you will receive the AP Seminar and Research Certificate™. Note: AP Research will only available to students whose school is participating in the AP Capstone program”
Hope that helps?
@socaldad2002, frankly, I am not interested in titles/diplomas, but rather research skills that are simply invaluable when it comes to college prep. Since my daughter is not a STEM kid, she wouldn’t have a lot of options for conducting research before college, while this class (2nd class in two-year series) would give her a chance to do smth on her own terms, and again, I am interested mainly in skills and experience that would help prepare her for college, and have absolutely no expectation of any break-through results worthy of publications, etc.
I was opposed to it previously because my initial impression was that this class would be very time-consuming, but you and some others are assuring me that it would be quite manageable and actually on par with AP Psychology, so that makes me feel much better. Thanks!
@typiCAmom The AP Research teacher at D20’s school happens to be one of her teachers this year, so I picked her brain during the spring parent-teacher conference. It may work different at different schools, but the information I was told is that, yes, the kids can do research in (almost) whatever area they want. The teacher/mentor will help them choose and/or flesh out a topic. It does NOT have to bee STEM related. I was given some examples of topics kids are working on this year, and while I don’t remember exactly what they were, they had roots more in liberal arts than STEM. D20 is very interested in this class because she will be able to focus on something that truly interests her. Because SHE is the one taking the lead on this, I’m all in. She hates school, so anything that is academic that holds her interest is a plus. We don’t care if she gets the capstone diploma or not.
@tutumom2001, another reason I have not considered this track before is because it looks like most projects the first year are group projects and D hates them because she somehow ends up doing all the work in those under the mantra “oh, you are the best artist among us” or “you know the subject so well, and you have extra time because you don’t have team sports practice/competition coming up.” On one hand, I want to spare her the feeling she is being used all the time, on the other hand, she needs to learn to collaborate and make others pull their own weight, too.
My d20 is planning on doing the Capstone program. It is new to our school so we are not exactly sure what to expect. It sounds like it will be good preparation for writing college papers and getting an introduction to research. My d20 is excited about it.
DD did AP Seminar this year and loved it. There were group projects but individual ones too. She has the same frustrations you describe @typiCAmom with group projects but the teacher did a good job of giving them ways to navigate those issues. I assume that is part of how they are trained to teach the class. The class took time but they also were taught how to be more efficient by the time they did their solo project that was due recently. The actual AP test grade comes from more than just one test at the end. If your DC loves to dig into a topic, sees a possible research type career in their future or wants to learn to research and cite before needing to write papers in college, I recommend the class.
@typiCAmom D has had similar issues. But, I would think that kids who voluntarily sign up to take a college-level seminar class are going to be kids who will share the workload. At least I’m hoping. If not, well, then c’est la vie.
At our school it almost Like AP Human Geography or AP Comp Sci. The requirements to get in isn’t too much. You have to take a test in 8th grade and if you’re admitted, which quite honestly, is anyone taking the test. My daughter was in a gifted junior high program and parents asked about it. The gifted teacher basically said don’t waste your time. I told believe any of the jr high kids did take it.
@Nicki20 I don’t consider APHUG and APCS to be anything like AP Seminar. There are no prerequisites or test in options. With that said, AP Seminar is required to take AP Research and if you take 4 more AP classes you get the AP Capstone diploma. It’s similar to the I/B diploma (but maybe not quite as rigorous).
For the AP Seminar exam: 25% of your grade is team project/presentation work; 35% individual essay and presentation; and 40% final exam (3 short answer, 2 essay questions).
AP Research exam: The course culminates in an academic paper of 4,000-5,000 words and a presentation, with an oral defense; during which you will answer 3-4 questions from a panel of evaluators.
At our school it was a bit of a sales job to get people to take it. I don’t think at our school you get the top kids to take it. I’m not sure what the AP capstone means to all colleges either. I think many kids get the same things from classes and other school activities that AP capstone delivers.
AP seminar/research feel very similar to all our IB courses/independent research requirements.
Thanks everyone for replies. As mentioned before, I am just looking for a way for D to learn research skills that would come in handy in college
First ACT scores received! A very solid score. I know DD is required to take it again with her entire class spring of 2019 so no immediate plans to take again—unless she insists. Feels good to at least have something real to go by as we start to come up with a list.
My D20 is taking next year…
APUSH
APHG
AP English Language
AP Gov
Honors Spanish 4
Honors Forensic Science
Honors Marketing
Honors Precalc
@Cheeringsection Congratulations to your DD!!! I just signed up S20 for June’s test. He is still happily playing video games whenever he has free time…we will see if the test results will give him some push 
@chb088 wow, that seems like a very heavy load (4 APs, 4 honors) her junior year. Impressive.
Thanks @whataboutcollege ! I hope the testing goes smoothly and he is happy with his score!