Prerequisites for AP/Honors classes?

[Goku]

What are you high school's prerequisites for taking AP/Honors classes? Or is your school one of the select few that does not have any prerequisites other than parent permission?

 

[Faded Dreams V]

I just had to ask permission from the teacher who was teaching the AP course the school year beforehand, and get my parents to sign some shit, I think. This was back in 2007-08.


....Taking that AP course was one of the biggest mistakes I made back in high school. Fuck that. lol.

 

[totheark]

It depends.

In my High School, you need to sign some contract if you want to get into any AP Science classes; AP Bio for example.
Others don't like AP Stats.

Every one of them does require a certain grade in past courses that are related to the subject.
There's always a waiver you can sign that will get you into the class if you don't meet the grade requirements, but if you find that the class is too difficult, you're stuck in that class for the rest of its term.

 

[bloodsport]

at my high school i just went to register, picked up my schedule and saw i had AP classes. if i wanted to change to AP all i had to do was tell my counselor to make it happen. but they would only allow you to change schedules the first 2 weeks of semesters.

except math, i couldn't take any AP math classes freshman year because i hadn't taken algebra in 8th grade. also if you had failed, or weren't doing godlike in the normal class, they would deny you for AP classes. basically if there was no proof of you actually being smarter, working harder/faster or excelling in general, you were stuck in normal classes.

my high school was so free.

 

[crosstalk]

Do as many AP courses as you can in high school, especially if you're heading into engineering or science... seriously. I think just about every university will accept AP credit as a substitute for taking an actual course, which saves you money in the long run. If you take a lot of AP courses, you can even graduate a semester or two early. Just be prepared for a larger workload, as the courses will be more rigorous. Also, your high school may be part of the Virtual High School program, which also offers a lot of AP courses that your high school may not have. Check to see if it does so you can take more AP courses haha.

 

[Mr. Mileena]

AP courses are worth it in the sense that you get the workload of a college student. Most do not pass the AP test, but you still take the exp out of it. I took AP and never passed any exams (for college credit)

i did take a couple of dual enrollment which was basically a college class in high school, and passed them and earned college credits for like 4 classes.

That was like in 09 or 08

 

[ryublaze]

I took 2 APs in high school which weren't worth it IMO. Tbh, my AP calc teacher was terrible at teaching so I didn't pass the AP exam. It did however make me study more, so I was more prepared for calculus in college. But still, studying my butt off for a whole year in high school and having to pay to take an extra final exam my teacher didn't even write just to maybe get college credit for a semester isn't worth it at all for me.

This is just from my high school experience though (which sucked) .

 

[CitizenSnips]

For my High-School, you only needed permission from teachers/parents for taking AP classes as a freshman. After that you can sign up for whatever AP but I think teachers had to sign you off, which they always did unless you had like a C in math and tried to get into AP Calc.

Take a bunch of APs, especially things like Social Sciences which are generally easy and that way you won't have to take them in college. Just buy those AP prep books and you can study a night before and pass the Social Science APs. Generally speaking, the AP classes aren't as intense as teachers make it out to be. You will actually have homework and the tests are a bit more difficult than standard classes, but you can really do well even with minimal effort (not saying you should put minimal effort)

 

[Gruntypants]

In my school you just have to be recommended by a teacher to take the class, which really is just ask the teacher to be in the class and you're in. So far I've taken 3 AP classes (which all of the exams I've passed) I'm taking two AP classes this year and I plan on taking 3 AP classes next year. In short, take as many as you possibly can because the credit hours in college will really help.

 

[Blind_Ducky]

Had to write 1 essay for AP us history and AP English. Grades didn't seem to matter because I had a C in History and D in English.

 

[Zoidberg747]

AP courses are worth it in the sense that you get the workload of a college student. Most do not pass the AP test, but you still take the exp out of it. I took AP and never passed any exams (for college credit)

i did take a couple of dual enrollment which was basically a college class in high school, and passed them and earned college credits for like 4 classes.

That was like in 09 or 08

This. After this year I will already possibly have 7 college credits, and next year probably 1 or 2 more.

Not to mention the fact that really, if you want school to be slightly interesting find your strong subject and take it AP, you might actually learn shit instead of copy down notes over generally known info.

 

[Goku]

at my high school i just went to register, picked up my schedule and saw i had AP classes. if i wanted to change to AP all i had to do was tell my counselor to make it happen. but they would only allow you to change schedules the first 2 weeks of semesters.

except math, i couldn't take any AP math classes freshman year because i hadn't taken algebra in 8th grade. also if you had failed, or weren't doing godlike in the normal class, they would deny you for AP classes. basically if there was no proof of you actually being smarter, working harder/faster or excelling in general, you were stuck in normal classes.

my high school was so free.

What AP math classes could you have taken even with Algebra 1 in 8th grade? AP Stats requires the lowest math skills, and you need Algebra 2 completed for that.

 

[bloodsport]

What AP math classes could you have taken even with Algebra 1 in 8th grade? AP Stats requires the lowest math skills, and you need Algebra 2 completed for that.

i'm not sure, my school had a weird math program. if you took algebra 1 in 8th grade, you got put into an AP class that counted for dual credits. that or they just threw your ass in algebra 2 with a bunch of juniors.

 

[The Green Machine]

You have to do 90% cyrax combos

 

[Error]

Most AP classes in my school require you to have at least taken the general class offered i.e. biology, chemistry. I think you need to take pre-calculus to take AP or at least it's recommended, and there are 3 other math courses leading up to pre-cal. Others classes like AP US history and Government have no pre-requisites.

I took AP Biology and Chemistry my junior year and it sucked lol. The classes were fun, but the workload was insane. I was poorly prepared for AP chemistry due to my weak math background, so I switched out halfway with a D. I stuck with AP Bio and got a C for a final grade but I got a 4 on the AP exam.

 

[Mikemetroid]

Honors = 85 or above previous level of class.

AP = Select courses must be completed with a higher grade.

 

[WannabePlayer]

In my high school the prereq was to have a good grade in the class you would normally take before the AP (probably like a C or higher, but I can see why they wouldn't let anyone in who got below a B), and you had to let the teacher know you wanted to take his/her class. Taking AP classes was the best thing I did in high school. I wish I would have taken more. Be prepared to work hard, friend.

 

[Goku]

In my high school the prereq was to have a good grade in the class you would normally take before the AP (probably like a C or higher, but I can see why they wouldn't let anyone in who got below a B), and you had to let the teacher know you wanted to take his/her class. Taking AP classes was the best thing I did in high school. I wish I would have taken more. Be prepared to work hard, friend.

I am already in AP, the point of this thread was to see how everyone elses high school handles AP/Honors. It appears everyone's school pretty much has the strict prerequisites similar to my school.

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

The risk/reward is not worth it

It just isnt

pre req require you to have A in the subject throughout and 4.0 GPA usually

 

[FrothyOmen]

Man, if you want to be in an AP class just ask. Understand that you're going to have to put in a bit more work, but so long as you're disciplined you'll only have to sit down and study an hour or two a week per class which is no time at all. Those college credits mean a LOT man.

I skipped an entire semester of college from AP classes, I am $25,000 richer because of it, so do yourself a favor and put the time in because it will pay dividends when you go on to college

 

[Goku]

Man, if you want to be in an AP class just ask. Understand that you're going to have to put in a bit more work, but so long as you're disciplined you'll only have to sit down and study an hour or two a week per class which is no time at all. Those college credits mean a LOT man.

I skipped an entire semester of college from AP classes, I am $25,000 richer because of it, so do yourself a favor and put the time in because it will pay dividends when you go on to college

Sigh, please read my prior posts and the title...

 

[FrothyOmen]

Sigh, please read my prior posts and the title...

Here's the thing. It's just highschool. Literally go and ask to be in an AP class. They can't just tell you no, keep pushing and pushing to get in them and you will get in them. It's 100% your choice if you want to give them a go, regulations be damned. "oh, you only got an 84% in your english class, we don't recommend you take an AP class" is the worst they can say. So long as you waive that you're golden.

 

[Goku]

I am already in AP lol, I just wanted to know everyone else's high school prerequisites. That was the point of the thread, not to ask for advice on how to get into an AP class, or how hard they are. This isn't directly specifically at you, as MANY others have done the same (and I do appreciate your post, as I can tell it came from a good place ).