NationStates Jolt Archive

Wondering who out there is gearing up for the AP (advanced placement) tests in th US high schools, and what are you taking?

Me;
Stats
Euro
English lit

Next year I'm going to have to take IB tests. So if you think AP tests are hard, try fucking IB.

Wondering who out there is gearing up for the AP (advanced placement) tests in th US high schools, and what are you taking?

Me;
Stats
Euro
English lit
US Government and Politics. But I'm not gearing up for it.

Took em last year. Gearing up for finals. Don't worry too much though, it's relative to how other people score for your own final score.

What do the IBs require/format?

I'll take US gov next year

Envirosci, Calc AB, US History and Physics B. Or something.

What do the IBs require/format?

I'll take US gov next year
Good luck. I'll give you all the answers if you want them:)

Good luck to everyone on their AP/IB exams and finals.

Next year I'm going to have to take IB tests. So if you think AP tests are hard, try fucking IB.
Aren't you in middle school?

Good luck to everyone on their AP/IB exams and finals.


Aren't you in middle school?

Yes, 13 year olds dont take AP/IB exams...the lying prepubescent pinko.

I'm in university now, but I took English Literature and Composition... or whatever the junior and senior years tests are... and American History.

They were really boring, and easy :/.

What do the IBs require/format?
Well, if you're going to do the full IB diploma program, you have to do six courses (one each from six different areas), write an extended essay, take a class called theory of knowledge (TOK), and complete at least 150 CAS hours (CAS stands for "Creativity, Action, Service" and is basically community service stuff). Of the six courses you take, three (or sometimes four) are taken at Higher Level (HL), and the rest are taken at Standard Level (SL). The IB grading scale is from 1 to 7 (7 being the best grade), and you can also get three bonus points for excellence in TOK and your extended essay. So at the end of it all, there are 45 points up for grabs for your final IB diploma. I think the minimum score for getting an IB diploma is 24 points.

You can also choose to get IB certificates instead of doing the full diploma program. Essentially, you take IB courses, but there are no requirements for the number of HL courses you do, you're not required to do TOK, CAS hours or the extended essay, and you don't receive an IB diploma. This is what I opted to do when I was in high school.

My school had both AP and IB. I passed the AP psych with flying colors (it was rather easy). I took the IB Physics and almost cried when I got done with it. IB World Lit was easy also; the lit section of the test was from The Life of Pi, a book I had just read, so it was a little difficult to keep my knowledge of the book out of the essay.

Good luck to all of you with AP/IB exams and to all the univeristy kids who still have finals ahead!

I have English Language (Monday), Statistics (Tuesday), and US History (Friday) all this week. And then the SATs on Saturday. Fun, fun.

Oooh, I'm starting High School next year, and planning to take the IB. I was reading some of the extended essays: pretty intense.

Are the IB's a Californian thing? I've never heard of them.

I'm doing:

US History
Envi Sci

and i just got a 44 (Weighted) on the my latest REA test, so I'm starting to worry about how badly I'm going to do...

Are the IB's a Californian thing? I've never heard of them.
No, they're international. I'm not sure where they originated, but schools in the U.S. have only recently adopted the IB program. So I understand, anyway.

I'm taking Calc AB, Biology, and English Literature... fun fun fun

my AP world civ test is on wednesday, and i just started studying for it yesterday. probably not the smartest thing to do....

No, they're international. I'm not sure where they originated, but schools in the U.S. have only recently adopted the IB program. So I understand, anyway.they have IB programs everywhere -including Canda. The whole idea is to have an international curriculum that's interesting and very rigerous.

I took the English Lit AP test a couple years ago - it wasn't that hard. You just need to learn how to write the style of essay they're looking for, essentially, a close reading style analysis. Nothing too original. I got a 5. [/brag]

I'm doing:

US History
Envi Sci

and i just got a 44 (Weighted) on the my latest REA test, so I'm starting to worry about how badly I'm going to do...
REA is a piece of shit. I can't get above a 75 oo 100 and I've been getting 85+ on the real exams (I 'borrowed' a few), which roughly translates into a midrange 4 WITHOUT THE FLIPPING ESSAYS.

No, they're international. I'm not sure where they originated, but schools in the U.S. have only recently adopted the IB program. So I understand, anyway.

Ah, I see. I graduated 6 years ago, and I went to high school in a very small, rural town (8,000 people) that wouldn't have had any such program anyway.

I really should be sleeping because I have my first final exam at 8:00 tomorrow.

Yeah, hopefully I will do well on mine.... I am taking way too many.

Computer Science A
Statistics
Calculus BC
English Literature
US History
Physics C E&M
Chemistry
Psychology

Oh well, I took the same number last year and did pretty well, hopefully my luck will hold.

No, they're international. I'm not sure where they originated, but schools in the U.S. have only recently adopted the IB program. So I understand, anyway.

They're from Switzerland.

AP Biology.

I have English Language (Monday), Statistics (Tuesday), and US History (Friday) all this week. And then the SATs on Saturday. Fun, fun.

I've got the same thing without the English.

Jesus Christ! I came here to forget about this crap.
I got 6, 3 each week.

Three I might not do well on, but that's the teacher's fault. I say that not out of deflecting responsibility, but due to the simple fact that in those courses, I was not adequately prepared for the AP (in one of them I wasn't even adequately taught the subject.)

Yeah, hopefully I will do well on mine.... I am taking way too many.

Computer Science A
Statistics
Calculus BC
English Literature
US History
Physics C E&M
Chemistry
Psychology

Oh well, I took the same number last year and did pretty well, hopefully my luck will hold.

!!!. Which ones did you do last year?

Hmmm. Taking my first AP this year, AP Chem. Not until next week. I just took a practice multiple choice. Got a 50. So, I'm thinking its not going to be that hard...

I may be wrong though.

Next year, its Phys (Dunno what kind), Calc BC, English lit, Latin, and AP US. I'm so looking forward to next year... [/sarcasm]

!!!. Which ones did you do last year?
I took these tests and got these scores, so I actually did alright last year and hopefully some divine force or luck or whatever will assist me this year.

English Language-5
Calculus AB-5
Biology-5
Physics C Mech-5
MacroEconomics-5
MicroEconomics(self study)-4
US Government-4
Comparative Government(self study)-3

I live in germany and was a foreign exchange student to the states my senior year.

I took AP tests in English (a 2ND language) and it was easy as fuck

I took IB test in German and they were exponentially harder!

I took these tests and got these scores, so I actually did alright last year and hopefully some divine force or luck or whatever will assist me this year.

English Language-5
Calculus AB-5
Biology-5
Physics C Mech-5
MacroEconomics-5
MicroEconomics(self study)-4
US Government-4
Comparative Government(self study)-3

Ah. Economics and comparative government my school doesn't have.
And I lack initiative... Very impressive repertoire.

Ah. Economics and comparative government my school doesn't have.
And I lack initiative... Very impressive repertoire.
Yeah, my school did not have micro or comparative government. It was just that the tests for those were free with macro and US gov. They stopped that now, the freeness that is. But really, I will take most things if they are free, like free t-shirts!:D

REA is a piece of shit. I can't get above a 75 oo 100 and I've been getting 85+ on the real exams (I 'borrowed' a few), which roughly translates into a midrange 4 WITHOUT THE FLIPPING ESSAYS.

You have no idea how releived that makes me... I hate the whole I, II, III, IV, Questions, and the last one had a ton of them.

English tomorrow and I'm getting the US History Exam deferred until about a week from now because the current schedule conflicts with the state level social studies competition.

As for how I’ll do tomorrow, I get all the questions right on the past year example tests we have in class and my writing abilities are certainly far above average. I should be fine.

History will be even easier.

finally my last year of AP tests...
this year i've got

psychology
microeconomics
english literature
us government
spanish literature

Calc AB
:eek:
Why are you calculating me?

*Just realized AP tests are in two days*
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AB Calc
English Lit
Euro

*Just realized AP tests are in two days*
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AB Calc
English Lit
Euro

What language is this?

The differentiation and integration of myself, the burning of a language and a currency! Just for some Associated Press test?

What language is this?

The differentiation and integration of myself, the burning of a language and a currency! Just for some Associated Press test?

AP stands for "Advanced Placement," a type of test you can take to earn college credit in high school. Schools sometimes offer classes that prepare you for the exam by teaching you the material needed to pass the exam.

AB Calculus is a class and a test that you can take. AB is the level of the class, which is slightly easier than BC. English Lit is high school slang for English Literature, which is also anouther class and test. Euro is also high school slang for European History.

As a university instructor, in my experience AP credit is counterproductive.

I know every moderately smart college-bound high school senior thinks it will be great to "get ahead" or get classes out of the way for college. But the vast majority who get AP credit actually seem to fall behind in one way or another.

Why? Mostly because your high school teachers, no matter how you may worship them now, cannot capably provide a college-level education. And the AP tests are just easy enough for you to get by without really achieving knowledge and skills equivalent to what you would by simply taking the appropriate college course.

For instance, right now I have a student in a (required) second-semester English composition course. She was exempt from the first semester because she "aced" the AP exam, so this is the first college writing class she has had. Unfortunately for her, she is significantly behind the other students. What they learned last semester, she had to try to catch up on now.

I checked her transcript a few weeks ago, and it seems she is getting A's in everything else... but she will be getting a C in her English class. It's too bad, because she seems bright. I think if she had taken the first semester, she would have been fine.

This is not an isolated incident.

My advice? Don't bother with AP credit, or think very carefully about what courses you will be missing. No one should miss out on college writing, which is useful for all majors. As for calculus, if you never plan on taking math or science classes in college, then it might be all right to get this out of the way using AP... but, if you can score well on the calculus AP exam, you probably enjoy mathematics and you may want to see how much more a real mathematician can teach you than you can learn from your high school teacher (who probably only has a four-year degree, and that from ten years ago).

More importantly, I think this notion of "getting out" of an education is perverse. You should savor every moment of learning that you can get at the university level.

The only circumstance in which the "bare minimum" seems justified, to me, is when money is a real issue... and if you are going to school full-time, tuition is likely to be about the same no matter how many classes you "skip."

As a university instructor, in my experience AP credit is counterproductive.

I know every moderately smart college-bound high school senior thinks it will be great to "get ahead" or get classes out of the way for college. But the vast majority who get AP credit actually seem to fall behind in one way or another.

Why? Mostly because your high school teachers, no matter how you may worship them now, cannot capably provide a college-level education. And the AP tests are just easy enough for you to get by without really achieving knowledge and skills equivalent to what you would by simply taking the appropriate college course.

For instance, right now I have a student in a (required) second-semester English composition course. She was exempt from the first semester because she "aced" the AP exam, so this is the first college writing class she has had. Unfortunately for her, she is significantly behind the other students. What they learned last semester, she had to try to catch up on now.

I checked her transcript a few weeks ago, and it seems she is getting A's in everything else... but she will be getting a C in her English class. It's too bad, because she seems bright. I think if she had taken the first semester, she would have been fine.

This is not an isolated incident.

My advice? Don't bother with AP credit, or think very carefully about what courses you will be missing. No one should miss out on college writing, which is useful for all majors. As for calculus, if you never plan on taking math or science classes in college, then it might be all right to get this out of the way using AP... but, if you can score well on the calculus AP exam, you probably enjoy mathematics and you may want to see how much more a real mathematician can teach you than you can learn from your high school teacher (who probably only has a four-year degree, and that from ten years ago).

More importantly, I think this notion of "getting out" of an education is perverse. You should savor every moment of learning that you can get at the university level.

The only circumstance in which the "bare minimum" seems justified, to me, is when money is a real issue... and if you are going to school full-time, tuition is likely to be about the same no matter how many classes you "skip."
Good luck explaining why you didn't take AP courses to the admissions committees though. -_-. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I had the Enlgish AP test today. It was hard. I bet I failed.:(

I'm taking:

AP Computer Science
AP Stats
AP Physics B

^Sophomore^

Next year I'll be taking the IB and AP tests for Calculus AB/Methods I+II, plus AP US History, AP English III, AP Bio, and AP Chem.

^Junior^

I'm taking AP World History Exam on Wednesday, and I'm only a sophemore :D

Back in High School, I took AP Lit and Comp, English Lit, Macro, US Govt, US history, Euro History, and German. I got either a 4 or 5 on all, so I got college credit. AP wasn't exactly hard, but I think it's sometimes an exercize in futility. Colleges hate high AP scores because you have to pay for fewer classes, that's why colleges are only accepting higher scores. Effort put into AP classes in order to pass tests is a lot more than effort needed to pass the equivalent college classes. I guess it's more about personal preference than anything else. I detest IB, not because it's hard, but because it breeds little globalist socialist kids. I swear, EVERYONE I know who has an IB is a little socialist bastard who thinks the UN is the greatest organization ever dreampt up by mankind. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I think IB gives students a VERY skewed view of the world and is outright anti-american. Not saying normal schooling prepares kids any better for the world as a whole. I honestly think true knowledge of international affairs can only be taught to an extent, you have to travel and experience it for yourself. Although, I like to think my Catholic school did a not too bad job of informing me.

I took AP Human Geography as a freshman and got a 4 on the test. There weren't any AP classes available to me this year, but next year, in addition to taking Dual-Enrollment Pre-Calculus and Honors Physics, I will be taking 5 AP classes:
American History
Chemistry
English
Latin
Psychology

Don't take Honors Physics. Just get on with it and take AP Physics. It's more interesting and goes faster and deeper.

At my school, we're required to take Honors Physics first.

Ah, that sucks. Oh well, I'm pretty sure it at least goes over most of the same general areas of study.

I'm takign the Eng Lang, Calc AB, Eng Lit, Art History, Micro- and Macroeconomics exams this year.

Unfortunately, I'm going to Yale, which only awards advancement credits for some exams (whereas I could enter BYU as nearly a junior).

I got 5s on the Physics B, Spanish Language, and US History Exams last year.

I've taken every AP class my school offers except German (and I took the Economics ones independent study).

Ah, that sucks. Oh well, I'm pretty sure it at least goes over most of the same general areas of study.
I hope it does. I'm planning to take AP Physics the year after next.

im only taking ap world this year...

im only taking ap world this year...
What grade are you? I know my high school restricts AP classes to juniors and seniors.

Wondering who out there is gearing up for the AP (advanced placement) tests in th US high schools, and what are you taking?

Me;
Stats
Euro
English lit


Computer Science A, Calculus AB, Physics B, Macroeconomics

Good luck to you all.

What grade are you? I know my high school restricts AP classes to juniors and seniors.

The guidance counselor or administrator who tried to hold me to that would rue the day they ever tried to restrict my educational advancement. Fortunately, the GC assigned to me is very impressed with me, but I would otherwise be forced to loudly, dramatically browbeat them and call in my parents and sympathetic teachers in order to intimidate them into acceptance of my choices.

Computer Science A

I've got the AB exam tomorrow morning. AHH! Are you ready?

Another note on AP/IB credit in college. At least at my university, AP/IB credit was nearly worthless. The units you were awarded counted toward your graduation requirement, but not towards any GERs (general ed requirements) or in-major requirements. Just about everyone I know maxed out on the number of units awarded (the max was 45), but it didn't really get them ahead because they still had to take all the same courses as everyone else. There were rare exceptions, of course, but overall the whole AP/IB credit was kind of a joke. You got a 5 on your AP calc exam? Good for you, but you still have to take the intro math series. A 7 on your IB physics? Excellent, but you can't skip the intro physics courses. And so on and so forth.

I haven't taken any AP courses yet and I'm a Junior. I've taken a total of 9 honors courses though. Next year I'll take Calculus AB, Spanish Language, and AP Biology

The guidance counselor or administrator who tried to hold me to that would rue the day they ever tried to restrict my educational advancement. Fortunately, the GC assigned to me is very impressed with me, but I would otherwise be forced to loudly, dramatically browbeat them and call in my parents and sympathetic teachers in order to intimidate them into acceptance of my choices.
A lot of the issue at my school is resources - there aren't enough teachers to allow younger students to take AP classes. Ohio's public education system needs a whole lot of work...

I'm taking AP English Literature. In my school, we don't have an AP course, except for a weekly meeting at lunch to discuss various literary works... basically, it's study on your own, and write the exam. Basically, I'm looking to faaaail. :p Having heard that skipping first year english is a bad idea whether you write the exam or not - and having that opinion confirmed earlier in this thread - I think I'll take first year english even if I do pass this AP test. So really, I shouldn't have spent the money on it, but I'm curious to see if I'd pass or not.

Good luck to everyone on their AP/IB exams and finals.


Aren't you in middle school?
Next year. Not this year.

Next year. Not this year.
Your high school lets freshmen take IB exams? Really? That's kinda cool.

Good luck explaining why you didn't take AP courses to the admissions committees though. -_-. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.Take the courses, don't take the tests. The courses will help you to prepare, and look good on your application. "Testing out," however, is a bad idea.

I'm taking AP World History Exam on Wednesday, and I'm only a sophemore :D
I took it my sophemore year and got a five. PWND

I took it my sophemore year and got a five. PWND
Is it unusual to take APs as a sophomore?

AP World History next year.

Actually, as far as I know, AP World History is offered only to sophomores. I got a 4 on mine - all of our "study sessions" were spent tanning or in the pool :D I've had 4's on all of my APs without studying, which drives my teachers nuts, since I could have had 5's if I felt like it was worth my time.

Actually, as far as I know, AP World History is offered only to sophomores. I got a 4 on mine - all of our "study sessions" were spent tanning or in the pool I've had 4's on all of my APs without studying, which drives my teachers nuts, since I could have had 5's if I felt like it was worth my time.
The difference between a five and a four is miniscule. With a four you get credit for the course nearly anywhere.

Next year I'm going to have to take IB tests. So if you think AP tests are hard, try fucking IB.

Yep, totally agree. I managed to pass them though last year :D. I did Bio higher, chemistry standard, english A2 higher, Dutch A1 higher, ITGS, art standard, math methods. (people told me i was crazy for taking 7 subjects, but I managed somehow)

Apparently in some schools, people take both IB and AP, because if you do IB there's very little that you need to know extra for AP, and i guess for those in america it's an advantage to have an AP diploma seeing as most people haven't heard of IB

By the way, goodluck to any of you taking AP/IB/other exams.

Really, it all depends on the the university you attend whether credit is distributed for IB. In the US IB courses are less accepted than AP because its a newer program. Also, usually both AP and IB courses are accepted in place of classes. (Yay for two years of spanish out of the way!)

After my school started IB 6 (?) years ago, they had to convince the state universities to accept the tests for credit. This worked, so I had friends entering college as 2nd semester sophmores. I think, most likely, that there has been progress on that front in the last few years.

To anyone who is thinking of using IB/AP credit as class substitutes: becareful what you don't take. I was okay not taking any college Spanish because the profs thought I would do well enough in the 300level classes. However, because the style of the classes are so different, if you are going to be taking another course higher up in that subject, be sure to talk to a professor about how your knowledge will measure up to that of the students who took the university course.

On a slightly funny/frustrating note: my 6 on the English A1 HL granted me credit for WRTG 104 at my college. What is WRTG 104, you ask? REMEDIAL WRITING.