Colleges count harder, more time-consuming coursework in a weighted manner that most high schools do not. That load of courses (well, 7 last term and 8 this) adds up to just 7.0 semester "credits" on the year. In a quarter-based college setting, that same load would generate as much as 70 quarter hours over that same period of time (assuming that the student could do it, which most couldn't), and often undergraduates need only 130 such quarter hours (properly distributed of course) to complete a degree. Of course, maybe it's just me that has a problem with "career exploration" being given equal billing and crediting with AP physics. LOL.
Therefore, the time pressure invoked by a full high school schedule that includes 2-3 AP courses is not comparable to college to begin with. Good thing, actually, but that isn't the real point. The real point is that to accommodate that reality, AP courses aren't collegiate in content/level.
They do a lot of hand-waving about this, but ultimately, the way that high school get around it is to do more work in those classes (thus keeping a clear conscience re: 'rigor') but in a way that is still feasible for the most intrepid students of more modest ability. That is, those students willing to go without sleep to get through the sheer workload of it all will be rewarded (generally speaking) with passing grades in those courses.
But this is why colleges have a certain disdain for AP as a marker of high quality. Fortitude, certainly. Great proxy for THAT.
Last edited by HowlerKarma; 05/28/13 11:43 AM. Reason: to add info
