Post Secondary Education...are AP/IB/Honors/Advanced Courses Necessary To...?

[Ventus]

So for post secondary education (University/College), I have a dream to be successful although I do not know what I want to do. The thing is, though, that I'm in high school and I have not done any AP or IB courses; my school does not offer them due to our size. I have, however, completed a few Honors courses - they were some fun stuff.

I know a lot of you ZDers have done your fair share of AP/IB courses and I want to ask, is it absolutely necessary to do those courses and exams in order to...
a) Make it in life
b) Be smart
c) Present yourself eloquently
d) Get college for cheaper

?

In addition to that, should we non-AP/IB students be ridiculed for not having those smarts?

 

[Skittles]

The only thing AP courses do is they let you take a college course while you're still in High School. Mine was AP English. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter if you get an A in both semesters or not (and I did) but only if you do well on the exam at the end. I didn't do well on it because I was rather sick that day....

However, it doesn't matter really if you have these are not in the long run. You can take a CLIP test given by your local (community) college or university and get the same credit. It just cost money to take these, whereas AP courses are offered for free at your high school. CLIPs do the same thing as AP courses though, and you can CLIP out of general eds if you want, such as Math, Science, English, and History. Most CLIPS and most AP courses though are just 200 levels, not higher levels...

I personally advise that you guys don't take CLIPs if you don't know what you want to do. Since gen eds give you an idea of what courses are like in Post Secondary, and trust me, they're usually quite different than High School courses...even AP/IB courses. Just stop worrying that you don't have them, Ven, it's not a big deal if you take them or not...

 

[Curmudgeon]

The answer to A-C is obviously not universally no. Is it possible that people who take AP classes are exposed to more material and gain more practice with skills that one needs to be successful in a university setting? Sure. Should you feel that you are at an insurmountable disadvantage? No. I had wonderful teachers in non-ap classes from whom I learned a great deal.

And D is variable. I entered college with ~34 AP and language credits, so I had credit for a full year of classes before I even started. That eventually opened up my schedule later so I could take an additional 10 electives that both deepened and broadened my experience in the long run. I didn't get out faster, but I feel that my experience was better than it would have been otherwise. It's not like my peers who didn't get to do this are ruined for life though.

Don't worry about something that you can't control - it's not like you had the option to take advanced classes and chose not to. Admissions departments like a good GPA, extracurriculars, ACT/SAT scores and volunteer work. Most importantly, they want to hear from you and from people who know you best. Your letters of recommendation are a critical piece of the equation because it's one of their only chances to hear from someone who has spent a lot of time with you why you are special. It's critical to pick teachers who know you and your strengths. The guy you had for a random class for a semester of your sophomore year probably isn't the best choice.

I teach at a school where kids are trying to get into very competitive schools that reject well over three quarters of applicants and class selection can and does come into play. But it's not a deal breaker and the other factors I mentioned above are all considered.

 

[Skittles]

I teach at a school where kids are trying to get into very competitive schools that reject well over three quarters of applicants and class selection can and does come into play. But it's not a deal breaker and the other factors I mentioned above are all considered.

Just have to add to this.

Competitive Universities like good stories. They will be willing to accept a student sometimes that doesn't have the same opportunities because that student explains that to them in an eloquent way. So, the very fact that you went to a very small school might be to your advantage especially since competitive schools like to accept students from a variety of different schools and only accept a small percentage from each. It's how they get to be diverse...or so they think.

 

[ILU]

^ Never even heard of CLIP before.

I don't do public school, but AP classes are still offered. With my education courses, AP classes can be taken as soon as the required classes before them are completed. I took AP bio when I was 14, but my cousin couldn't take AP courses until his senior year. Dunno how it works for your school.

Anyway, all they do is let you take college courses early, but I heard that sometimes colleges won't transfer the credits if you go to one that didn't participate in some program with your HS. Dunno how that works either.

But, if you plan on going to college, getting more out of the way sooner seems like a good idea. I am personally against college for what I'm interested in, but it may be a smart move for YOU if you plan to go.

As for your question about being ridiculed.... No, you should NOT be ridiculed for "not having those smarts." My boss has been going to school for 5+ years trying to learn things I taught myself over the course of the summer last year. I'm sure I'll eventually take his place once I've been there long enough.

Nowadays, purchased education isn't always necessary as long as you can prove your skills, so if you don't have those smarts yet, you can obtain them any time.

Of course, I think it goes without saying that I'm mainly referring to business/computers/etc. Obviously, if you intend to be a chemist or doctor or something along those lines you DO need those smarts and should take AP classes to shorten looooong college courses. But I figure I might as well make myself clear on that. ^_^;

 

[Claire]

One of the biggest perks to taking AP classes is that you can get a lot of college-level work finished before college. Everyone wants to finish college on time or earlier, if possible. A lot of people don't even finish on time, so to be able to have AP credit (assuming you do well on the exam and get the credit that the college will accept) is a huge advantage over other students who might end up super seniors (4+ years for a bachelors). The other things (A-C), I'm not sure I'd agree with. I've never seen where it was an advantage in that regard. However, if you play your cards right, you can easily skip a whole year of college by doing well on your AP courses. Your options then could be to graduate earlier or to pick up a double major with the extra time you have (which is what I'd do if I had the time, but I don't).