It turns out very few kids actually only want to go to college for 3 years versus 4.
@VickiSoCal I agree. My oldest son had enough AP for 1 year of credit. He had more AP qualified, but that is all that counted towards his first major. Instead of graduating in 3, he decided to double major and do a semester away with a little lighter course load. AP didn’t really save us any money (we had to pay for the tests, so it actually cost us), but did allow him to do much more with his four years.
@VickiSoCal I agree. Frankly, I think there is something to be said for being with your peers…part of a class…and the maturing that happens that last year.
If you look at the American Freshman study that UCLA puts out every year, the average college freshman has only taken between 1-4 AP classes: https://heri.ucla.edu/cirp-freshman-survey/
@SMMom1 What you didn’t mention is that 30.3% of college freshman took between 5-14 APs (25.7% took 5-9 APs and 4.6% took 10-14 APs.).
Absolutely AP Human Geo is an AP “lite” to most, but if a kid is taking it as a freshman, having had no prior experience with AP, it is invaluable. It introduces those thinking of taking more AP’s to the pace of an AP class, introduces DBQs, which are an integral part of non stem APs, and when they actually sit for the test, they get testing experience. Sure it is of little value when seeking credit for college, but it is a fantastic “AP prep” class. And since so many people on CC wouldn’t dream of taking an ACT/SAT without some type of test prep, I don’t see why it is looked at with such disdain here on CC.
I get so frustrated at the perception on CC that certain AP classes are “easy”. The fact is, it’s entirely dependant on the person teaching and the actual student. AP Psych at our HS is no walk in the park…most are lucky to earn a mid B. AP music theory is absolutely one of the most difficult AP class/exam, particularly if you do not have some prior knowledge of music theory and I don’t mean just knowing how to play an instrument.
I say, if a student is taking approximately 6 APs (or honors courses) they are demonstrating a willingness to challenge themselves. If they take more, bully for them! Take classes that will be useful to you. If you want to study psychology in college take AP Psych and AP Stats, but there is no reason to take AP Physics C. You wanna be an engineer, well then you probably do not need be taking AP Euro. There is no sense raking up the APs just because you can or think you should. Caveat: Texas, We are so messed up here, you are unlikely to crack the top 10% at most large suburban HS with less than 10 APs. It is stupid and you have to decide how you want to play the rank game. My family opted to play it down the middle, my kids took more APs than should be necessary (9-11) but picked APs that interested them and helped with future career aspirations. Another huge factor that has been mentioned here, sometimes taking the AP/Honors classes at a big public school is more about the “track” and “environment” than it is about the actual class (and yes that is incredibly elitist, but sadly a reality).
I think most folks would agree that one should not take the real ACT/SAT just for practice, i.e., cold. But what you are suggesting with AP Hum Geo is just that – take a real AP class Frosh year as prep for the more serious APs? Not sure I see the logic.
Seems like many high schools offer AP human geography as the 9th grade honors social studies course – 9th grade is the most common grade level that this AP test is taken. It does seem like an appropriate course for strong 9th grade students, even though “college level” might be stretching it.
@bluebayou what I am saying is that AP Human Geo is a wonderful introduction into the rigour of AP/honors classes. It does not move incredibly fast (like AP Euro) and some of the concepts are things that would be vaguely familiar to most 9th grade students but with ample exposure to new material and concepts. I absolutely believe that dropping a kid into APUSH as a junior with no prior exposure to the structure of AP social studies/language arts is a risky. My kids did well in AP Human Geo (4s on their exams) and claim that it helped them be prepared to perform well in their later AP courses. Many kids who take APUSH as their first AP at our HS end up dropping because they struggle with the pace, volume of reading and outlining, all things that they would have been exposed to in AP Human Geo at a slightly slower pace. And actually my kids did take a “practice” SAT in the 10th grade, cold, it was called the PSAT, lol! It is required by our school district, before the real PSAT as a junior.
At our HS AP Human Geo is the first and only AP class available to take as a freshman. With the exception of AP Bio if the student took the prerequisites Honors Bio as an elective as an 8th grader. There is no Honors World Geography, so you either pick AP Human Geo or on level World Geography.
A little research here showed that Human Geography is a college course at both our state flagship and a CTCL. So, it is a valid course. The question becomes, is AP Human Geography taken in high school the same rigor as taking a college-level human geography course? If so, then does it really matter if it is an “AP lite” course or not? College courses don’t all have the same rigor, and a 3-hour human geography class is the same credit-wise as a 3-hour western civilization class or a 3-hour college algebra class.
But rarely at a private college/university
I’d posit that the students taking college algebra are not the same cohort who are taking multiple APs in HS.
I’m not sure anyone is saying that it is not a valid course. It’s certainly a valid course for high school. It’s also a good course for introducing high school students to the rigors of an AP class. But, in my mind, AP classes are supposed to be equivalent in content and rigor to an introductory college course. While there may be many 9th-graders who are ready for the challenge of a college course, I’m unconvinced that there are 120K HS freshman annually (the # who took the exam last year) in this category. So in that respect, I am in agreement with @ucbalumnus and @labegg on this.
When D was in 9th grade we really struggled with whether or not she should take AP Human Geo as she already had a class schedule full of Honors classes and wanted to make sure her transition to HS was smooth, academically. She ended up with 4.0. Fast forward to Sophomore year with 2 APs and 3 Honors classes and so far, so good.
A couple of points:
- Not taking AP Human Geo did not hurt her grades in APs this year;
- If all goes well, she will complete 9 APs in HS and that "missing" AP course probably won't hurt her.
I think all situations are different. My daughter took AP HumanGeography freshman year. The only other AP option was AP Seminar if you got tested and accepted to High School District Gifted Program. Being in k-8 Gifted Program we were interested but we’re told by the eighth grade teacher not to do it. my daughter also heard it wasn’t too good at least at our high school. It worked out. she got a 5 on the AP exam. Like poster #91 my daughter is taking 2 AP classes. She has 4 for junior year since classes have already picked out. In our case and I’m sure for many others the sequence of classes just sort of lead you to the AP classes.
“Seems like many high schools offer AP human geography as the 9th grade honors social studies course – 9th grade is the most common grade level that this AP test is taken. It does seem like an appropriate course for strong 9th grade students, even though “college level” might be stretching it.”
I think many HS in California do not have a social studies requirement in 9th grade and these HS do not offer AP Human Geography. And given these kids get into all the top schools, I don’t think AP Geo provides any sort of advantage in college admissions. And the local HS here have diagnostic tests for APUSH and APLAC to see if you can handle the course. As I said before, you do not have to take 30 APs, you only need 5-7, just the right ones.
I’m sure many freshman who take APHUG are aware that it’s not helping them get into college. Some students might want the prestige among peers that comes with being a freshman in AP. Others might seek the most difficult coursework possible, regardless of how it relates to college admissions.
I don’t believe anybody said that it will. I’m not of the belief that any AP class provides any advantage for admissions. The value (and I use the term loosely) of APHUG is that it can help freshman prepare for more challenging APs later. However, one can certainly excel in an AP class without ever having had APHUG.
Agreed that one does not need them all from an admissions perspective, although I would probably take exception with anyone’s definition of the “right” APs. AOs all know that some APs are more challenging than others.
With about 150 students taking AP hug every year at our school I’m not sure it provides much prestige. The above poster is correct in that California does not have a 9th grade social studies requirement. At our school most freshmen take one semester of health and one semester of career studies. However the pre IB kids all take hug instead and are exempt from career studies and take Health online over the summer.
Haven’t read every response, but I would talk to the GC and to your daughter. If she is aiming for the tippy top and can handle it, I would let her take the APs she wants to take (and is eligible for). The college will look at what is offered and if she only takes 2 APs and others are taking 10, she would not stand out.
The other question I would have is what is the school offering as a replacement for the top students? Are there going to be honors classes that are as rigorous (or even more so) than the APs now offered.
High schools are looking at ways to reduce student stress. Our district does limit the number of APs kids can take by not allowing freshman to take any and sophomores to only take AP Euro with few exceptions. There are also a lot of prereqs. Physics 1 is required before AP Physics, unlike some other schools.