Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy PSEO and AP

To do or not to do....

We have to plan Rite's schedule next year. He has AP and the following year, PSEO (the state won't allow sophmores to take PSEO early).

Which is better for him to do?

Are they necessary for going on to a great college? (He wants Stanford or something of that ilk)

Is AP really horribly hard like everyone says or is it just a heavier homework load, not necessarily an intellectual increase?


Does taking AP and PSEO impact the kid's ability to get onto college sports? I read that it could affectually make a kid a "transfer student" or "upper classman" rather than a freshman and that can impact the ability to play in a sport. Rite is an excellent soccer player and wants to play in college.

What is the difference between AP and PSEO and which is better to take for getting into the colleges he wants?

I don't know what PSEO means but I think if there are issues with processing speed, AP might not be ideal. Talk to the school administration and teachers, but when I took AP courses it just never really "clicked" for me...but outside of AP, the same courses came very easily and were subjects I loved (which is why they put me in AP every other year, because I excelled so much outside of it...but I would choose not to be in it the following year and et cetera...it was a cycle with me).

What is PSEO?

I don't know what PSEO means either. But when I was in hs AP courses meant a little bit more depth AND more coursework. But I don't think it matters much to the college unless you take the AP test for college credit. Of course, I suppose it would make more sense for gpa to take a course not so demanding, if overall gpa is more important than courses. Is Rite looking at a possible athletic scholarship? Because then I think that overall gpa matters much more than level of courses taken. So I would then think that taking a regular or honors course would be better than an AP course. Not sure if it all still applies, but that's my experience and opinion, for what it's worth!

Post-Secondary Education Options. Apparently the state pays for college credit courses at participating colleges for any high school junior and senior that wants to take them. Theoretically you can finish 2 years of college that way.

I think Rite would like an athletic scholarship and according to his coaches has a good chance for them because of his academic talent.

Rite NEVER does homework at home. He's in the top classes for 9th grade, but they don't have honors courses in 9th grade. He was in them up to that point, though. Next year he can begin the AP courses. We want to see him challenged a bit, but we'd aso like to see if have a positive impact on his college applications. If it isn't going to help him get into the schools he wants, then why bother?

BTW, he developed the idea to take soccer (just started in the summer of 05) JUST so he could get into a good college. He felt he'd have a better chance at some of the GOOD schools with lousy soccer teams 8^()!! This is also the kid who started a job last month and sets 50% of his paycheck aside (so far) so he can, and I quote, "Buy a house when I'm 18 in the area where I'm going to college so I can rent out the rooms to other students and live there free myself, then sell it for profit when I done with college".

He's always scheming.

That's very helpful info Debbie and AMD.

So what really is the point of AP, then?

My understanding is that AP classes are graded on a 1-5 scale on the high school GPA, while other courses are graded 1-4, so he is potientially competing for those competitive spots with kids who have OVER at 4.0 GPA.

I don't know if you can call Stamford and ask, but it seems worth a look at their website, or a phone call - ((shrug))
Best Wishes and Congradulations on Rite's forward thinking,
Trinity

mmm....when I was in HS (long ago, but dipolomas were not carved in rocks!) you took the AP course (I took American History, english and biology) you took the course and were graded just as if it were any other HS course. But then in the spring you took the AP test. That test was scored on a scale of 1-5. I got 4's across the board, and earned a year of college credit for each test/course. Now, unless things have changed, you don't just get college credit by taking the course, you have to take the exam. Otherwise, it is just a HS course. But perhaps things have changed and they did away with the test, grading the work differently. As I said, my HS days are part of American History to be sure!

Now, my son who is a senior this year is taking an english/rhetoric class that is also for college credit. He is simultaneously enrolled at the junior college and got a first semester grade from the college, in addition to his grade on his HS report card. But it is NOT an AP course. It is structured differently. I don't think our rural HS even offers AP courses for test taking purposes. But they do this concurrent enrollment in certain classes. Meets the same purpose without the test - the HS kids earn college credit for higher level coursework.

I suppose the reason to take the AP courses would be to earn the credit while in HS so there's fewer required courses to take, less tuition money to spend and more freedom to take preferred or major-related courses while actually in college. That was the advantage for me. I started college with enough credits to almost be a sophomore! Saved tuition!

Anyone with kids in IB diploma program? Is it worth the effort? Do colleges here in the US really pay more attention to kids graduating from this program? Anyone with kids studying abroad after an IB?
Ania

This is another one I'm considering. Rite is adamant that he doesn't want to change schools. He's also doing well; so, I think we will honor that, but Mite suffers so. He's not an "E"; so the social stuff, while ok, is harder for him. He needs to be with peers. My impression is the IBO middle school program in this state has a lot of gifted/talented kids.

My impression is the AP is pretty much as you describe, Debbie. They have to take the exam to get the college credits. The Post-Secondary Options are courses actually taken at the participating college or university offering it. So, the credits are earned for mere completion of course.

I'm just not sure which way to tell Rite to go.

We did a Stanford campus tour last summer so we know a bit about what Stanford is looking for.

AP (or IB) classes are almost a must to be competitive in applying Stanford or, for that matter, Ivies. Most top students have 3-4 AP classes under their belt. Some, a lot more than that. Of course, you have to take AP tests and do well on them too.

As for the question of which is better: getting B on an AP class or getting A on a normal class. The standard answer is that colleges prefer that you take AP class and get A. Some school gives extra point for AP/honor classes so it is a good way to boost the ranking of the student. On the hand, you don't want to get C or D on your AP classes which will back-fire.

No, AP is not horribly hard. My older daughter is take AP chem as a 10th grader. It is a lot of works but nothing unmanageable. We will see how it goes with the AP test.

"Rite NEVER does homework at home. He's in the top classes for 9th grade"

Sorry, it might be a little of subject here, but I just picked up on that. How is it possible not to do any homework at home in ninth grade? Do they have study time during school hours? My sixth grader regularly comes home with homework, sometimes as much as 3-4 hours of it. Granted, he does not use his time during school to do homework, but still....
I sometimes think that my son has too much homework. He can come home with 25 geometry problems, some of them requiring proofs. Besides day to day homework there are long term assignments. So please xplain how is it possible not to do any at home? Maybe we can learn :-)
Ania