AP Exams

[Sakura]

Haha, just because one took the test doesn't mean one didn't partake in the interesting class for the sake of learning. Most of us who take AP aren't standing in line waiting excitedly to take the exam, because it's actually pretty terrifying and off-putting. Actually, I'm taking all my classes next year for a reason that actually pertains to what I want to learn, not what I think I need for college. And usually, if you've enjoyed the class or done well in it, taking the test isn't too much of a stretch (unless you have severe test anxiety). My teacher described it as the victory lap, actually, after two difficult semesters of "training."

See, to me the idea of not getting to take those classes in college sounded incredibly unfun. English was always my favorite class, and I didn't want to miss out on Freshman English just because I could take a test to bypass it. Twice the English = twice the fun.

Ahh yeah I was blessed this year and didn't have to pay to take the exams either. But of course, I'm taking AP Bio and AP Chem not so I won't have to take them in college, but to kind of get a feel for what college courses will be like. I'm gonna take them again in college, too. Of course, since my tests are paid for by state (I'm not sure if they are this year, but I hope they are), I would probably be more inclined to take them, not to mention my teachers would be mad if I didn't take them.

Also, Syrill, if you get a 5 on Calculus BC exam you can still get a lower number on the Calculus AB exam. That happened to my friend. Frankly, I don't understand why, but haha guess that's a weird quirk.

[Caesara]

I took AP US Gov and Comp Gov, but at my school they're one class, so I got two classes for the price of one! :B I got 4s on both. The class itself was pretty hard, at least at my school; but from what I've heard it's on the easier scale compared to some of the other APs.

I'm taking US History and Eng lang/lit (also a combined course) this year.

[Shoyru_Lover]

What are AP exams?

[theonlysaneone]

What are AP exams?

In America, you can take college-level classes in high school. The AP exam is a standardized test that you take at the end of the course to ensure you have learned the material well enough to get college credit. The tests are scored on a scale from one to five; most colleges require at least a three for credit to be earned.

All the tests I've taken so far:

World History: 5
US History: 5
Calculus AB: 5
Statistics: 5
English Composition: 5
Computer Science A: 5
Physics C Mechanics: 4 (darn it!)
Physics C Electricity/Magnetism: 5
Calculus BC: 5
-AB subscore: 5
US Government: 5
Macroeconomics: 5
Chemistry: 5

12 AP tests, 1 four and 11 fives. Not a bad record I'll be entering college with about 35 credit hours, many of them honors.

Also, Syrill, if you get a 5 on Calculus BC exam you can still get a lower number on the Calculus AB exam. That happened to my friend. Frankly, I don't understand why, but haha guess that's a weird quirk.

The Calculus BC exam includes material from both the AB and BC classes. Because of this, you are given an "AB subscore" based on your performance on the AB portion of the test only. The score for the entire test is comprised of both parts. You can still earn credit for Calculus AB with an AB subscore, so there's really no point in taking the Calculus AB test.

I honestly can't remember if they were called AP or pre-AP, but the tests were not required for any of us - we had to pay extra, though only a few people in the classes didn't take 'em. TOSO might be able to remind me, as he just grad'd from my high school, though a lot of things have changed since, as they went from 6 class periods a day to 8 split over two days shortly after I grad'd, and other minor changes. But yeah. They called all of our "honors" classes AP or pre-AP or something like that (though I could've sworn it was pre-AP in intermediate school). I was in mostly honor's classes, but our HS was crazy competitive and thus we had multiple sections of said honors classes (for instance, there were usually at *least* 6 honors math classes per grade).

Pre-AP classes were classes for the younger students that were at a more advanced level than their regular counterparts, but were not designed to prepare for any specific AP test. For instance, my sister just finished a Pre-AP Chemistry class. It was designed to prepare students for the AP Chemistry class the following year.

AP tests are never required for students who have taken an AP class. I took AP Spanish my sophomore year, but decided against taking the AP test as I would have bombed it. You can even take a test without taking the class. They cost about $100 each, but many school districts subsidize them (I only had to pay $57 for each one my senior year).

Finally, Pickles, they converted away from the block schedule before my freshman year We had 7 classes per day, plus one lunch period which was the length of a regular class. The district has been trying to go back to block schedule for several years, but they have had trouble coordinating it with athletic and fine arts instructors who want to meet with their students every day.

[Shoyru_Lover]

Those are some pretty darn impressive scores! I think we may have a genius on our hands here people.

[Pickles]

TOSO. WOW! I don't think I knew anyone my year that even *took* that many AP exams, much less did that well on that many! Congrats!

Finally, Pickles, they converted away from the block schedule before my freshman year We had 7 classes per day, plus one lunch period which was the length of a regular class. The district has been trying to go back to block schedule for several years, but they have had trouble coordinating it with athletic and fine arts instructors who want to meet with their students every day.

Sheesh. First 6 classes per day, then 8 (with block), now 7. Sigh. What a mess. I'm glad I left before they started block scheduling and all those messy changes.

Those are some pretty darn impressive scores! I think we may have a genius on our hands here people.

LOL, no kidding. Especially if he was up "on the stage" (IE, within the top 20-30 students of his class) for graduation like I think he mentioned he was. If you're "on the stage" at the high school we both went to, that indicates you're insanely smart. Especially when the average class size is over 700 students.

[theonlysaneone]

TOSO. WOW! I don't think I knew anyone my year that even *took* that many AP exams, much less did that well on that many! Congrats!

Those are all the ones I've taken; I didn't do all of them in one year I started taking AP tests after my sophomore year.

Finally, Pickles, they converted away from the block schedule before my freshman year We had 7 classes per day, plus one lunch period which was the length of a regular class. The district has been trying to go back to block schedule for several years, but they have had trouble coordinating it with athletic and fine arts instructors who want to meet with their students every day.

Sheesh. First 6 classes per day, then 8 (with block), now 7. Sigh. What a mess. I'm glad I left before they started block scheduling and all those messy changes.

Block scheduling was awesome (they had it at my intermediate school), but the seven-period day was very messy.

Those are some pretty darn impressive scores! I think we may have a genius on our hands here people.

LOL, no kidding. Especially if he was up "on the stage" (IE, within the top 20-30 students of his class) for graduation like I think he mentioned he was. If you're "on the stage" at the high school we both went to, that indicates you're insanely smart. Especially when the average class size is over 700 students.

Haha, thanks. This year, there were about 50-60 people who graduated summa cum laude (with perfect 4.5 GPAs). One person (our valedictorian) had over a 98 in every single class, but for college application and ranking purposes, she was tied for first with us mere mortals They're changing the way GPAs are calculated so that it's impossible for several people to be tied for first place.