<p>So AP scores just came in the mail where I live. I feel immensely bad about the Calculus score (5) since nobody else in the class passed except the girl that I tutored (a 5 too).</p>
<p>The teacher we had was good but he didn’t teach us stuff that would be on the exam. I realized this so I pretty much self-studied for it. I feel really bad since I probably could have tutored everyone in the class and they all would have at least gotten a 3. But since I am not very outgoing, I only give people help that ask for it (that girl was the only one that asked for personal tutoring for the exam). The class wasn’t stupid, the teacher was just not properly preparing them for the exam at all.</p>
<p>Should I feel bad since most of the class didn’t pass and I kind of knew that the teacher’s method would be insufficient for the exam?</p>
<p>No, you shouldn’t. It is up to the student to study on his or her own for the exam. That person would have realized they needed to do some outside studying and extra work towards the exam in order to do well.</p>
<p>With my AP Physics B class this year, the teacher tried to prepare us for the exam but we were running so late (we couldn’t even cover a unit in class) and he said it was up to the student if they wanted to do well. Most of the students probably failed the exam, and probably a handful got 4s and 5s. I did extra studying outside the class and actually went through my review book and got a 5.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t feel bad, it was just as much their responsibility as it was yours to figure this out. But, how does a teacher teach calculus in a way that nobody passes? I mean, calculus is calculus; derivatives and integrals. There aren’t so many tangents the teacher can go on (yes, terrible pun, I know). I mean, I can understand going on tangents and having a low spread of scores (like, a bunch of 3s instead of 5s), but how does everyone fail? Can you explain it better? Were you like doing different stuff like linear algebra or diff eq or some multivariate instead of single-variate calculus?</p>
<p>Well we never did any practice tests and were always allowed to use our calculator and the questions he gave us were kind of easy. It was BC and we were many chapters behind, we didn’t get the chance to cover series, polar or parametric. He also taught us some sections that wouldn’t be on the exam and skipped sections that would be. I knew this but never spoke up. I guess some people could have prepared for this but I still feel somewhat obligated like a person that knows the Heimlich maneuver that doesn’t help a person choking.</p>
<p>Nice to see people not just thinking about themselves for once but you should not feel guilty at all. It’s not up to you to tutor others or tell the teacher what he was doing wrong. Be happy about your score and feel proud that you helped someone else get a 5</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s right to call someone “stupid” if they failed to pass an AP exam. Not everyone can master a subject that they might struggle in.</p>
<p>Gman54,
You have no reason to feel bad. Although you helped out one student (and it obviously paid off), you were in no way obligated to help everyone. I know how you feel; I, too, have felt guilty about being really successful when others were not. Unfortunately the pressure you put on yourself to do well is the same pressure that makes you put the weight of the class on your shoulders. You have nothing to worry about. Congratulations on your 5! You deserve it!</p>
<p>Did you take AB before? It’s really hard to fail BC if you passed AB. If they didn’t pass AB, there is no reason to be taking BC. 50 percent of all BC students get a 5.</p>
<p>Unless you were getting paid to teach the class, no, you have no obligation, moral or otherwise to have taught everyone else. You took the initiative to figure out that the teacher wouldn’t teach you everything you needed to know AND studied it well enough to teach someone else… you should be proud, if anything, not bad. Good for you. Never feel guilty for being successful because other people aren’t, unless you’re actively trying to limit their success. But who does that? You’re fine.</p>
<p>I have this problem too, in like several of my classes.</p>
<p>I try to help, even pointing them to CC, >.>, but quite a few of them just don’t have the self-motivation. So, there’s not much more I can do I guess=/.</p>