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Hello, Looking for some help in trying to downplay a rumor of a major curriculum change at GW and perhaps in all of District #87…I have been told by neighbors that a series of major changes that seem to make no sense are coming down next year. My daughter enjoys school and we were pleased to see that GW offered a number of AP classes. We are interested in having her take a challenging course load. As a freshman she has taken mainly honors classes-but was hoping to take her first AP as a sophomore. Neighbors have told us to start with European History AP-which from all indications has a great track record of attracting strong students-while producing high test scores in the June exam. Now we have been told this class will no longer be available to sophomores starting next year. I was surprised to learn of this because it seems to be the honors level history course available at most other local high schools. I was also told major changes are coming to the science dept.Why would GW scrape one of its strongest courses? Hope to find out this was simply a rumor….Parents might need to follow this…
One reason not to panic - many AP scores do not end up being honored at the university level, in the way that we are led to believe. So while it's always nice to have on the college application, the truth is all those credits don't always transfer over. There's not quite as much a head start for the AP student as is generally thought.
good point, scribbler. my kid had 12 credit hours of AP...and it has hardly helped at all. some colleges will, for example, still make you take their freshman writing seminar, even with a 4 or 5 on the AP. so the credit turns up on your transcript, but good luck making it count for something at many schools. more competitive colleges do, however, look for the difficulty of the cirruculum. also, AP classes at West are generally excellent prep for college level work. finally, if a HS changes cirriculum or stops offering classes there is room on most applications to describe problems with the school...as many of us learned in 05-06 when district 87 cut a whole academic period from the day. sounds like lots of fun ahead...
My kids received quite a bit of credit through AP classes that were applicable at 2 of our state schools, including towards engineering and biology degrees. One intends to graduate in 3 years. So it is well worth exploring this option. But I don't recall any of my kids taking AP classes as sophomores.
If this class is simply restricted to juniors and seniors, instead of being eliminated, it may not be that big of a deal. Talk to your kid's counselor, and then take it from there. As I have no more kids at West, I do not know the state of their program. Just saying, keep your focus on the big picture. One particular class is unlikely to play a deciding role in your kid's later success.
(Not meaning to be patronizing or insulting - sorry if it comes across like that.)
True, AP courses are not always counted toward college credit this is especially true for Math and Science courses. However they give you a leg up especially for those Math and Science courses.
If you have one year of Calculus at West and then head off to college you will be that much farther ahead when you do take it.
When your daughter takes her AP English class, she will be able to tell you that the proper grammar is "Fewer AP Options".
OUCH! I think that is going to leave a mark! Can't believe you were so mean!
quote:
If you have one year of Calculus at West and then head off to college you will be that much farther ahead when you do take it.
TP, just picking nits here, but "farther" relates to physical distance. "Further" relates to metaphorical distance or depth. I point this out simply to help out my fellow man, not to take any sort of perverse pleasure in pointing out someone's mistakes.
