To go to Championships...or not....

[Andrew Y.]

so the dates have been released for Championships.... April 27-30 i believe.

Which happens to be the weekend before AP tests. 100% of our students take AP exams. A few take about 7 each year. Our mentors have finals that Monday. So....the idea has been thrown around in our group to attend 3 regionals without the intent to attend championships.

I was just curious on what peoples thoughts on that was? Are any other teams in the same situation?

And this is only thoughts, not saying this is our plan.

[ttldomination]

Originally Posted by Andrew Y.

So....the idea has been thrown around in our group to attend 3 regionals without the intent to attend championships.

Well, from one GA Team to another, in the past, I would've jumped on the chance to go to nationals. In next year's case, nationals aren't exactly in our backyard, and a trip to St. Louis would meaning coming back Saturday afternoon at the latest. Which, in this case, means a day of rest before students began the exam sessions.

But there is no doubt that the splendor of championships is beyond that of any regional, and it'll be interesting to see if FIRST does something new in St. Louis.

With this said, our school takes AP testing very seriously, so I'm wondering if our school would even let our students go to nationals on these dates...

I would recommend if you are able to, and your students/their parents have no issues, then go for it. Try and get some studying done on the bus/plane. Implement a study session in the afternoon.

- Sunny

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Andrew Y.

Our mentors have finals that Monday.

This is a big big red flag for me.

Jane

[gblake]

Studying early is just a matter of being disciplined. If success on a test hinges on studying the material in the one or two days/nights just before the exam, then you haven't mastered the material. That doesn't mean that no one "survives" academically by cramming before exams; but it does mean that studying right before a test is not required.

Returning rested might mean missing out on enough of the fun to make the trip a poor choice, or might not.

Perhaps folks only travel if they do well on a practice exam (or in study hall sessions?) taken shortly before the trip?

Blake

[Chris is me]

You have a week between the Championship and the very first AP exam. I honestly don't think anyone needs to cram for tests for that long. If APs were the very next week, I would say no. but they'll have at least 8 days for the close - to - test intensive review. If they need more than 8 days, I have trouble believing they paid attention at all in class.

IMO 3 regionals is actually more detrimental to academic success, since unless you go 1-3-5 or 2-4-6 you will be doing back to back at least once.

Mentors having finals on Monday? That's rather different, and those are actual college classes. No way should they go.

[Andrew Y.]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

You have a week between the Championship and the very first AP exam. I honestly don't think anyone needs to cram for tests for that long. If APs were the very next week, I would say no. but they'll have at least 8 days for the close - to - test intensive review. If they need more than 8 days, I have trouble believing they paid attention at all in class.

IMO 3 regionals is actually more detrimental to academic success, since unless you go 1-3-5 or 2-4-6 you will be doing back to back at least once.

Mentors having finals on Monday? That's rather different, and those are actual college classes. No way should they go.

the Exam starts May 2, the Monday after Championships.......

And yes, we will be having a meeting with the team parents, mentors, teachers, and school representatives to discuss if we can go.

Jane: Yea.....im 99.99% sure i wont be albe to attend. WAY too much at stake. Though i may be able to change my finals schedual. The dean of my school happens to love FIRST and be very involved. but even then.....professors dont like it when you are the ONLY one they have to make another exam for...

[yarden.saa]

May be a week after the CMP (I am not sure aqbout the date) I will have my final exam in computer science that is one of the most important for me
hard decision!

[Cory]

SEVEN AP exams by one student? That just sounds excessive. I know this isn't a debate about the merits of AP tests, but how is it even possible for a student taking 7 AP exams (I assume that is probably more like 3-4 AP courses, with 3-4 exams being taken independently) to make a meaningful contribution to an extracurricular activity?

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Cory

SEVEN AP exams by one student? That just sounds excessive. I know this isn't a debate about the merits of AP tests, but how is it even possible for a student taking 7 AP exams (I assume that is probably more like 3-4 AP courses, with 3-4 exams being taken independently) to make a meaningful contribution to an extracurricular activity?

You'd be surprised. We've had kids who have done things like this and have been the backbones of either programming or mechanical.

Also, I don't know many people who study more than a few days for AP tests, especially if they put in the effort during the course of the year. Your kids should be fine.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Andrew Y.

so the dates have been released for Championships.... April 27-30 i believe.

Which happens to be the weekend before AP tests. 100% of our students take AP exams. A few take about 7 each year. Our mentors have finals that Monday. So....the idea has been thrown around in our group to attend 3 regionals without the intent to attend championships.

I was just curious on what peoples thoughts on that was? Are any other teams in the same situation?

And this is only thoughts, not saying this is our plan.

I have a tough time sympathizing, what I'm hearing is you and your students have the foresight 9 months ahead of time to identify the issue. Why not just prepare ahead of time.

I took a good deal of APs in high school, it wasn't very difficult to prepare ahead of time; AP classes/tests aren't nearly as hard as people make them out to be (or useful as they're said to be for that matter).

Let the kids make an adult decision, they're adult enough to take more than a full course-load of college classes after all.

[yarden.saa]

I have Bagrut tests (The ticket to the university in Israel):
Math
Phisycs
Computer Science
Hebrew
Citizenship
English
History

FIRST gets you out of school for 3-5 months, it is hard to study when FIRST is on your mind, but I will pass it.

[Shmee]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Let the kids make an adult decision, they're adult enough to take more than a full course-load of college classes after all.

While that would be ideal (for students to make their own decisions), that really isn't going to happen.

As for seven APs-one girl on our team will be taking AP Bio, Euro, both Englishes, BC Calc, and if she decides to, Environmental Science. All of these would be prepped by a class except for Environmental Science. She's also part of the leadership, as well as a coxswain on the crew team. So yes, it is possible, and she does contribute a lot to her extracurriculars by prepping a lot during the summer.

The problem is not that we need the time to cram. It would mostly be to alleviate nervousness and rest up before the tests. To balance that goal with the stress and time that Championships takes up? I don't totally know how we would manage that. St. Louis is at least a ten-hour drive from Atlanta, and even if we fly, which would probably be more expensive, we'd still be tired.

And that's just pre-college exams. Our mentors' exams are for graduating college, and in one case, heading off to med school. So-pretty important stuff.

What is everyone else thinking about tests and championships? I know some people said they have standardized tests that weekend that would have to be made up?

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Shmee

While that would be ideal (for students to make their own decisions), that really isn't going to happen.

As for seven APs-one girl on our team will be taking AP Bio, Euro, both Englishes, BC Calc, and if she decides to, Environmental Science. All of these would be prepped by a class except for Environmental Science. She's also part of the leadership, as well as a coxswain on the crew team. So yes, it is possible, and she does contribute a lot to her extracurriculars by prepping a lot during the summer.

The problem is not that we need the time to cram. It would mostly be to alleviate nervousness and rest up before the tests. To balance that goal with the stress and time that Championships takes up? I don't totally know how we would manage that. St. Louis is at least a ten-hour drive from Atlanta, and even if we fly, which would probably be more expensive, we'd still be tired.

And that's just pre-college exams. Our mentors' exams are for graduating college, and in one case, heading off to med school. So-pretty important stuff.

What is everyone else thinking about tests and championships? I know some people said they have standardized tests that weekend that would have to be made up?

That's why I said let the kids make an adult decision; the team goes, and if a kid can't handle doing both, he will have to choose one or the other (I would assume that means the student chooses to miss champs).

[mathking]

My concern is not the study time, it is the rest time. If you are traveling and don't get back home until late Saturday or Sunday morning (or even Sunday afternoon or evening) it will be hard to get your rest schedule back on track by Monday morning. I think that Chemistry, Enviro, Comp Sci and Spanish would be the most affected. Those are the Monday and Tuesday exams. I am sure that if we qualify for the Championships we will have to discuss this issue, as I am sure other teams will. Thanks for bringing it up.

Then again, as a personal matter this is an easier weekend for me, since it does not fall on the weekend of our big home track meet, which is also by far our biggest fund raiser for the track team. It is in the middle of the quarter for Ohio State, so it shouldn't be a problem for our mentors.

[Chris is me]

I think if a student is taking AP classes because they chose to get a deeper education (rather than being prodded into looking good for colleges) they would be fine going to the Championship barring a Monday exam. For me personally, RPI pushed its exams back so I have a good 2 week window. I will go if 2791 goes, and if not I'll probably end up at Vex.