AMSTUD or APUSH + AP Eglish lll at Plano West (Jasper: college, teach)

[VelVin]

My son is currently a Sophomore at Jasper. He Took HGAP in 9th and is currently doing EHAP and World History Hons. He finds Euro tough, but is managing fairly well. He is hard-working but English is not his forte. Based on this, is it easier to do well in AMSTUD or take APUSH and AP English 3 at PSWH in Junior year? Looks like AMSTUD does not prepare you for the AP English 3 final exam. Is the AP English 3 final exam tough compared other AP exams? Any other combination that might work out better for the STEM route? Please help!

[UnfairPark]

I don't know the ramifications of picking one over other but have heard that most top students prefer two separate courses instead of taking double block AMSTUD.

[VelVin]

Thanks UnfairPark! Can anybody else who has first hand experience shed more light please?

[unexpected]

Originally Posted by VelVin

Thanks UnfairPark! Can anybody else who has first hand experience shed more light please?

I'm confused as to what your goal is. Is your son looking for an easy class or is he looking for the class that would help him most in college?

[unexpected]

If I look at the PISD website, it implies that you don't take either or - you take AP US history, AP English, and then the American studies class.

https://sites.google.com/a/pisd.edu/amstud/home

So as a STEM focused kid, you're devoting half your day to English/History classes?

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by unexpected

If I look at the PISD website, it implies that you don't take either or - you take AP US history, AP English, and then the American studies class.

https://sites.google.com/a/pisd.edu/amstud/home

So as a STEM focused kid, you're devoting half your day to English/History classes?

No. I know for sure that it's either AP English Language and AP US History or AMSTUD, not both. AMSTUD students take both of these AP subjects in a double block class and take both AP tests. It just means that you can't be in part of the AMSTUD, you have to take both periods.

While students who do it separately are free to take either course that year and they can take other course next year or just take non AP US History or non AP English Lang during summer or online, whatever suits their schedule. As many students take double block AP sciences, they want some flexibility in their schedule not another double block.

[purplemooster344]

As a current American Studies student, I wanted to give my perspective. Although this is an older forum, I recently came across this feed and wanted to add my input in case other students also happened by it. If you want to go the double AP route and take both AP US History and AP English 3, then American Studies is a better choice than taking the classes separately. However, if you only desire to take one AP course, then taking AmStud wouldn't make sense. American Studies keeps students on the gifted and talented track and incorporates some humanities elements into the course. By being a double block class, more time can be allotted for English or history on a given day, depending on the need. Also, it is untrue that the class doesn't prepare you for the AP English 3 exam. AmStud spends a lot of time writing essays for the history and English exams, which helps with preparation. Further, historical documents are often analyzed in class, with efforts made to highlight and teach the rhetorical strategies used in the papers. As a person taking this class, I have biases in favor of it, but to me, it doesn't make sense to take the two AP classes separately.