In
most American schools, difficulty is (roughly)
standard < honors/college prep < AP/IB < dual-enrollment (college credit course) < college course.
Unfortunately, that's not really standard either, and there are instances in which the honors course or some other accelerated thing is actually MORE difficult/rigorous than the AP option. But that seems to be somewhat rare.
It does drive me crazy that high schools think they can control the pressure on students via policy. Nutso, it is.
Agreed.
I also had to chuckle at Dandy's wry observations. Our HS has a similar outlook on things, evidently-- because if you take an actual COLLEGE class, they'll give you credit for differential equations or whatever else you take... 400-level biology? Sure! Counts towards your GPA just like freshman PE.
LOL.
They justify this by stating that they can't offer a GPA weight for a class of "unknown" quality.
(Yes, really-- and what's even more amazing is that the administrator managed that plum without even bursting out laughing or anything...)
