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Unread 12-06-2009, 12:02
RMiller RMiller is offline
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Re: America's Top Public High Schools

Quote:
Originally Posted by JesseK View Post
AP classes, IMO, are great if one wants a harder class or wants to see what college classes are like. They're TERRIBLE for replacing a college course. Don't do an AP Calc, Chem, or Physics class in high school and expect that you'll know even half of everything you'd get out of a good college's Calc I, Physics I, or Chem I class. As an engineer or scientist, this really only sets you up for failure in the follow-up courses.
I am sorry, but I have to agree with

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber View Post
... but to say that AP classes don't teach you what you need to know is outright wrong.
Again, this is from my experience.
I took AP Calc BC as a sophomore, then went on to take linear algebra as a correspondence course junior year, Calc 3 and Diffy Q as a senior at a local college. I took stats in college. I had no problem whatsoever.
I took AP Chem as a sophomore then analytical chem as a senior at a local college without any issue. I got a degree in chemical engineering and chemistry without too much difficulty (other than late nights because I would fall asleep too much in lecture )
I took AP Bio as a junior. In my second year at college I took the required biomolecular engineering class (for ChemE) and was bored to sleep (literally).
I took AP Physics B (non-calc based) as an online class junior year. In the honors calc-based physics I did struggle some, but in the non-honors class second semester, I was bored enough to rarely come to class.
I took AP Micro and Macro econ as an online class senior year. In my fourth year at college, I took intermediate microecon. I worked more often on Senior Labs than listened in class and breezed through.

So, AP Classes can definitely replace college classes. If you put the time into it in high school, it can be of value later.
Are there people who struggle with college classes, even if they took AP Classes? Absolutely.
There is no across the board answer. If you are the least bit unsure, it might be wise to retake the class (and risk an easy A).

Note: I do not advise sleeping, skipping, or working on other classes in college.

Side Note: I do agree with others that [(#AP (or IB) Tests Taken in a year)/(students graduating)] is not a very indicative measure of a school.

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Last edited by RMiller : 12-06-2009 at 12:15. Reason: Side Notes