Conversely, it was my impression in high school that I was getting less homework in AP than my compadres in the non-AP equivalents... to which they would respond, "At least I don't have to write nearly so many essays!" This was a trade in which we both considered ourselves winners.

My perceptions are slightly skewed, mind you, by the fact that for my most labor-intensive classes (namely, math), I solved the problem of excessive homework by not doing it. Also affecting my perceptions was the fact that I could crank out an essay of acceptable quality, on any topic, in one hour. So take that for what it's worth.