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A couple things about those AP numbers. The number of test takers may have increased but I can tell you from personal experience that there are a lot of kids that schools are jamming into AP that really don't belong there. The main reason is that damned Challenge Index and, at least in my former system, the numbers in AP classes was yet another way Principals could measure their wieners.
Thanks for the thoughts. That all makes sense to me.
In my local paper I read about a kid who took 20 AP classes! He wrote a bunch of apps and did scientific research with some megacorps. Isn't he being robbed of his childhood? To me it seems he is just doing things his parents have pressured him into doing because it will look "good" for college admissions.
And these apps and research are stuff that most adults could do in a few days/weeks. Nothing groundbreaking about them. So why are kids like this pushed to be like adults instead of being kids? And why do colleges like this when it's obvious parents are pushing them to do this?
20 AP classes? There are that many AP classes available?
20 AP classes? There are that many AP classes available?
Last I looked there are 32. Now, it would be an unusual school that could offer all of them but the College Board also authorizes a couple online providers.
That may well be what this kid did but you're still looking at 4/6 AP classes each year 9-12.
When I was AP Coordinator at my high school I had a couple kids start Calculus BC online one year.
Neither lasted for a quarter (which I knew would happen).
As a matter of fact, the fat cats who have owned and are high execs at the companies I've worked for let their kids major in stuff like music, dance, and art.
Maybe they figure they are so wealthy that their kids don't need to work hard and can do whatever they want.
Remember the old proverb: "The first generation makes the money. The second generation spends the money. The third generation sees none of the wealth."
IMO there are several factors. A good number of students, according to what I've noticed, read and been told by my psychologist buddy, this group is mostly male as well, don't hit their academic strides until college. Some very bright people never really hit an academic stride.......a college cohort and now long time friend dropped out of Rice, no real shame in that, took a job with an oil independent and before long he was programming and then he/they figured out he was amazing at examining old cheap 2-D seismic data/maps and deciding when and where to invest in much more expensive 3-D seismic, further what plays to invest and how much etc.
It seems the other direction doesn't work out as cleanly. Sure, some high school kids work diligently and perform very well but don't have the brainpower to succeed in college. However, per college, considering most majors anyway, students who do very well must be intelligent.
I think someone the average or just above average intelligence wouldn't have any trouble doing it intellectually speaking I think the component that is missing in the most people when it comes to excelling in colleges drive.
I found one I went the traditional roll I didn't see a point in it it was hard to nail down when I was even there. I consider myself average intelligent. I didn't want to be a professor I didn't want to be an engineer I didn't want to work in an office so it I just didn't have the drive. The courier I was focusing on was really not a good one anyway.
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For various reasons I've been interested in intelligence, measuring intelligence and related for a long time. The University of Minnesota Medical School used to keep track of graduate's IQ. The long time running overage was in the high 120s (128 I think) and that makes sense. IQ128 = ~97th percentile, medical school is very, very difficult yielding both an information barrage and many very advanced concepts that must be well understood.
I'm not so keen on the numbers but again I'm a non conformist. I think a lot of IQ is based on memory. Further IQ is really general some people can be really good at math and terrible at Reading like myself others can be great at reading and editing and all that business and just terrible at math. These two people that have two very different strengths that are very marketable would do poorly or better based on the type of IQ test they're taking.
I find trying to put people in boxes it's not really a valuable endeavor.
I would never force any of this on my kid. I don't even know how I'd handle if they were like this. I don't want them to miss their childhood and regret it.
Why do you think these kids are missing their childhoods and will regret it? That seems to be a common theme. I think if you look at driven kids, whether they are driven in academics or athletics, they don't look back with regret.
As for taking 20 AP classes, if the school offered them, and let 9th/10th take them, it wouldn't be hard to rack up 20 or more AP classes. Kids take 5-6 classes a year in school (plus some that are half or quarter year) so just taking AP instead of regular classes easily get to 20.
Because they very easily could regret it. And I don't believe that any kids wants to give up being able to be a kid. I think alot of parents are behind it forcing the kids.
In my local paper I read about a kid who took 20 AP classes! He wrote a bunch of apps and did scientific research with some megacorps. Isn't he being robbed of his childhood? To me it seems he is just doing things his parents have pressured him into doing because it will look "good" for college admissions.
And these apps and research are stuff that most adults could do in a few days/weeks. Nothing groundbreaking about them. So why are kids like this pushed to be like adults instead of being kids? And why do colleges like this when it's obvious parents are pushing them to do this?
I can't speak for this one individual student but "overachievement" is a status symbol for students in the same way that being wealthy is a status symbol for adults. At some level people think the individual "earned" it, even though in reality there are a lot of factors involved such as the support the person is receiving from parents or other family, or the institution.
Because they very easily could regret it. And I don't believe that any kids wants to give up being able to be a kid. I think alot of parents are behind it forcing the kids.
Right, but what gives one person the right to force their idea of a good childhood on someone else?
One person's torture is another's paradise. This applies no less to AP students than to athletes, musicians, or sales people for that matter.
Speaking from my own experience, if someone had told me I couldn't take a lot of AP classes when I was in high school, I would have been angry at that person and frustrated that they were projecting their idea of "fun" onto me.
In other words, different people enjoy different things.
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