[quote=Culture Shock]I never took AP classes and I am kind of in the same boat as Brain Toad as we both enrolled at community colleges after high school. However, I think you are better off taking AP courses because like others have said, they do require you to think a bit more. Sometimes that helps kids prepare for higher education while for some it does nothing.

I dropped out of an AP biology course but I wish I would have taken an AP history or literature course.[/quote]
I never saw any AP students at my school "thinking more", infact most of them weren't that bright they didn't even understand the basic principle of [I]Brave New World[/I].

[quote=Lazybassplr56]That chick from American Idol Catharine Mcphee graduated from my high school and tomorrow she's going to come to my school and sing a song and where going to have an assembly for her and fox is going to film it.[/quote]
Throw stuff at her and smash the cameras while yelling 'up the punx'

Of course.

[QUOTE=Brain Toad]I never saw any AP students at my school "thinking more", infact most of them weren't that bright they didn't even understand the basic principle of [I]Brave New World[/I].
[/QUOTE]
But that's because the only standardization for APs is the actual test and not the courses preparing you for it. If you're in the classes that will get you a 5 on the exams you damn well better be thinking more.

For the record AP exams are not a waste. I just finished my Senior year of college, in my second year here. :)

[quote=Brain Toad]I never saw any AP students at my school "thinking more", infact most of them weren't that bright they didn't even understand the basic principle of [I]Brave New World[/I].[/quote]
Well, those classes are still approached differently whether the students at your school had the 'proper' experience or not. Like others have said, analysis plays a big role and the students are left to interpret rather than to gulp down some basic facts.

[quote=Permanent Solution]But that's because the only standardization for APs is the actual test and not the courses preparing you for it. If you're in the classes that will get you a 5 on the exams you damn well better be thinking more.

For the record AP exams are not a waste. I just finished my Senior year of college, in my second year here. :)[/quote]
Yeah. You can get a couple extra credits but nothing that summer courses or a heavy load during a semester can't handle.

Edit: Double post.

Hey, maybe my school just sucked, but the students in AP were never doing more analytical stuff, never thinking more, etc. They were given more work, that was it. They were forced to pull all-nighters for work that in the end, means ****all. The teachers were no better than the regular teachers and some of the regular teachers were better than the AP teachers.

And the really intelligent kids, who got into Berkeley and the like, would've gotten in regardless if they had taken the AP classes.

Well, I guess we just come from different education systems. Either way, I didn't take any and I am doing rather successful (at a community college!).

[QUOTE=Culture Shock]Yeah. You can get a couple extra credits but nothing that summer courses or a heavy load during a semester can't handle.

Edit: Double post.[/QUOTE]
I don't think you understand. I did 2 full year's worth of work through APs. Try as you might you'll find it hard to get someone doing just summer school and a heavy course load to get that many credits so quickly.
[QUOTE=Brain Toad]Hey, maybe my school just sucked, but the students in AP were never doing more analytical stuff, never thinking more, etc. They were given more work, that was it. They were forced to pull all-nighters for work that in the end, means ****all. The teachers were no better than the regular teachers and some of the regular teachers were better than the AP teachers.

And the really intelligent kids, who got into Berkeley and the like, would've gotten in regardless if they had taken the AP classes.[/QUOTE]
Well, work is what you make of it. Some of the extra work is meant to root the knowledge in your brain more solidly. Some is just extra busy work. But regardless it's your choice to do it or not. You can never read the texts in AP courses and still do fine, I'm a fine example of it.

As to the teachers, that happens even at the university level. Some morons teach 3 and 400 level classes while the nobel prize winners are teaching intro classes, schools are just crazy.

But that last is true, I doubt taking AP has any bearing on college acceptance. But it saves on the gen ed BS you have wherever you go.

[QUOTE=Brain Toad]More work != better education.[/QUOTE]

No. I have AP US History, and I've learned so much. I really like it.

[quote=Culture Shock]Well, I guess we just come from different education systems. Either way, I didn't take any and I am doing rather successful (at a community college!).[/quote]
Hah, as am I. The only reason I'm going to a community is because it the end it'll save my family money, and when I graduated high school, I still wasn't sure of any goals or even if I wanted to get an AA or a BA or what. School is no longer about achievement for me though. What degree I get will have little bearing on my career goal right now, and the main reason I'm going is for the educational experinece (corny) and it gets me free health care!

[quote=Weezerfan_returns]No. I have AP US History, and I've learned so much. I really like it.[/quote]
And I had standard Government and Economics, and I learned a ****load as well. Same with my chemistry class. I had really good teachers.

[QUOTE=Permanent Solution]I don't think you understand. I did 2 full year's worth of work through APs. Try as you might you'll find it hard to get someone doing just summer school and a heavy course load to get that many credits so quickly.
[/QUOTE]

I guess my high school didn't offer as many. Well, at least nothing equivalent to that of an entire two years at a college.

[QUOTE=Brain Toad]Hah, as am I. The only reason I'm going to a community is because it the end it'll save my family money, and when I graduated high school, I still wasn't sure of any goals or even if I wanted to get an AA or a BA or what. School is no longer about achievement for me though. What degree I get will have little bearing on my career goal right now, and the main reason I'm going is for the educational experinece (corny) and it gets me free health care!
[/QUOTE]

That's funny, I am going for the experience too. I am middle class and I have the opportunity to go to college so I might as well learn what I am interested in.

Edit: Double double post.

For the other kid... So now that you graduated from college what do ya do? Just enjoying life for now?

[QUOTE=Culture Shock]I guess my high school didn't offer as many. Well, at least nothing equivalent to that of an entire two years at a college.[/QUOTE]
Haha, I took 11 APs and several college courses through my high school as well. Very useful.

Nick: Teachers do play a HUGE role, but, in general, a class preparing you for a comprehensive college level course test provides a better education than a standard high school course.

Teaching to prepare for a test ick.

That was the second highest thing keeping me out of AP, besides the extra work. Taking a class that focuses on preparing you for a test really bugs me. Half the fun of education is learning to learn, not learning to pass some test.

Well that's what basically all the American education system is. I can't think of any institution where you aren't tested on the material really. And as long as they're testing, they're teaching for a test. If you aren't tested on material that is a different education.

So yeah never answered my question. What are you doing now that you are out of college? And if you care to discuss it, what was your major and all that?

That's why I dislike our education system immensly :p. AP just gets a lot of fuel of my hate, but overall I hated the testing we were forced to do. By my junior year when I took the STAR test, I was just bubbling in random **** because I knew none of it would ever matter to me.

I also never took the SAT because of that hate, which lead to me going to community college.

[QUOTE=Brain Toad]That's why I dislike our education system immensly :p. AP just gets a lot of fuel of my hate, but overall I hated the testing we were forced to do. By my junior year when I took the STAR test, I was just bubbling in random **** because I knew none of it would ever matter to me.

I also never took the SAT because of that hate, which lead to me going to community college.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately, some schools here, Virginia, still require you to sumbut SAT scores when applying to a transfer school. VCU requires high school transcripts and SAT scores if you are under 22. It is such bull****.

[QUOTE=Culture Shock]So yeah never answered my question. What are you doing now that you are out of college? And if you care to discuss it, what was your major and all that?[/QUOTE]
Ah, I'm not out yet alas. I did finish my senior year but I still have not finished my major. I don't know if that will make sense or not.

But I'm an Electrical Engineering major (and that I can get out early in an engineering major is testimony enough for the benefit of APs), but after I'm out of under-grad I plan to do my graduate degree which should take about a year then take a year off in Europe or Latin America or a combination thereof.
[QUOTE=Brain Toad]That's why I dislike our education system immensly :p. AP just gets a lot of fuel of my hate, but overall I hated the testing we were forced to do. By my junior year when I took the STAR test, I was just bubbling in random **** because I knew none of it would ever matter to me.

I also never took the SAT because of that hate, which lead to me going to community college.[/QUOTE]
Well the benefit of college is even if you're testing it's all towards a common goal/subject. Though in my courses I know full well I will never use what I learn here in the job force. But that's because my job will require application knowledge and not theory knowledge.

But testing is unfortunately a part of the education system I can't see being abolished anytime soon.

[quote=Culture Shock]Unfortunately, some schools here, Virginia, still require you to sumbut SAT scores when applying to a transfer school. VCU requires high school transcripts and SAT scores if you are under 22. It is such bull****.[/quote]
That really is. The main reason people go to community college here is because 1) It's cheap 2) You can basically delete your high school transcripts from the eyes of the four year or 3) You don't have to take the SAT.

[quote=Permanent Solution].

But testing is unfortunately a part of the education system I can't see being abolished anytime soon.[/quote]
Testing will never be eradicted, yes. I don't mind course tests, like quizzes, finals the like (as long as they actually test you on some knowledge, and not just some big points booster). Those make sense. But state mandated stndardized testing is what irks me.

[QUOTE=Brain Toad]Testing will never be eradicted, yes. I don't mind course tests, like quizzes, finals the like (as long as they actually test you on some knowledge, and not just some big points booster). Those make sense. But state mandated stndardized testing is what irks me.[/QUOTE]
Well but then why hate APs? It's like one comprehensive year test. It actually eradicates all but the most minimal of testing. A year of knowledge in one 3 hour test.

I agree though, I wrote a 50 or so page report for my engineering design class semester and it was hell, I'd have preffered a test of my knowledge than a cookie cutter busy work assignment.

[quote=Permanent Solution]Well but then why hate APs? It's like one comprehensive year test. It actually eradicates all but the most minimal of testing. A year of knowledge in one 3 hour test.

I agree though, I wrote a 50 or so page report for my engineering design class semester and it was hell, I'd have preffered a test of my knowledge than a cookie cutter busy work assignment.[/quote]

Maybe I need to take an AP test, I don't know.

God I hate busy work. The instant a teacher gives me busy work, I start shutting down and hating the class. It happened last semester in my General Ed health class, god I hated that teacher.

[QUOTE=Brain Toad]Maybe I need to take an AP test, I don't know.

God I hate busy work. The instant a teacher gives me busy work, I start shutting down and hating the class. It happened last semester in my General Ed health class, god I hated that teacher.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I personally think they're actually a pretty solid system. I mean it's not like everyone passes them haha. I only passed a few due to my excellent teachers and I'm sure of it. I was lucky enough to have many teachers who help write the tests or are equivalently situated. For instance, my euro history teacher left us for a week to offer a seminar on euro history at a uni in Europe haha.

Yeah, busy work kills, I wish it was totally eliminated by now though it is getting to be a smaller percentage of the course grade and thus possible to neglect.

Euro History, I always hear about that, but my school was always too poor to afford it. If they offered that as an alternative to US History, I'd take it even if it was AP. I hated my US History teacher, he was a mordibly obese overly chrisitan black man who gave us ****loads of busy work as well as pseudo-religious lectures and covered the civil rights movement more than any other part of history.

Hahaha, oh man. I had a crazy white guy who went to my parent's church, good times. But he was cool, just crazy. Good teacher too, but having him for freshman US history was intense. He treated you just like his AP students haha.

Euro was great too though and I definitely appreciated it a lot more, t was a very interesting course and made even more so on my subsequent trips over to Europe. We literally covered 30 pages of material per day though, in depth. That man was amazing. But all but 2 of the kids in our class got 5's, and the other two got 4's so he obviously knew the material.

My Critical Thinking Sociology teacher tries to get people to cover 40 or so pages within a day, but nobody ever reads. He even canceled class because nobody read. Maybe we all needed AP classes.

I don't read because I'm already familiar with the topics and anything new I learn will be from his lectures rather than the book.

In other news, I am going to bed because I have a really busy day of two classes tomorrow (gasp!). Goodbye Vince and Pat (if you're still here)

Yeah, if you have that end of the year incentive there's always the push to know the material...

I never read Euro because he covered it so well in class but the kids who did read 3-4 hours a night just for that class, silly kids.

Night Nick.

I'm in AP US history right now. I really like this class.

Who knows anything about getting holes in glass? I could really use some help. I need 2 holes in a Snapple bottle, and I don't have any special drill bits, or any desire to get one. Ideas?

Razor knife...maybe. Sounds like Mr. Joe is making a bong.

....No. *shifty eyes*. I used a box cutter/exacto blade/razor blade/whatever you want to call it, trying to scrath the side a little and at least weaken it, but it didn't really do anything.

Sounds like someone should either buy a piece or smoke a joint. Sounds like too much work for a Snapple bottle. Sounds like sounds like.

A piece requires money. And I'm no good with joints. I'd just like my own bong. It's like a DIY project.

So... Another person from my high school died on Wednesday. Word travels pretty quickly on Myspace. They were in my Open Instrument class just like the last person who died. This one might also be a suicide. There was one (we think) on a street near us on Wednesday, so that might've been the person who kicked the bucket.

Though when I first heard he died, first thing I thought was OD. He was a big time druggie, proud pothead, wore pot related shirts constantly, probably took ectasy as well.

Idiot.

123

Dead people are funnni.

Pothead? Does that mean they're turning his skull into a fertilizer for more pot?

Yes.

im sure

[QUOTE=Brain Toad]So... Another person from my high school died on Wednesday. Word travels pretty quickly on Myspace. [B]They were in my Open Instrument class just like the last person who died.[/B] This one might also be a suicide. There was one (we think) on a street near us on Wednesday, so that might've been the person who kicked the bucket.

Though when I first heard he died, first thing I thought was OD. He was a big time druggie, proud pothead, wore pot related shirts constantly, probably took ectasy as well.[/QUOTE]

Maybe you are the one behind it. It's always the one you least suspect...:p

Today I went to a Persian restaurant with my family to celebrate my birthday. There was a professional belly-dancer there, and live Persian music. She was hawt. Tommorow: ALICE IN WONDERLAND TEA-PARTY! Complete with Fly Agaric tea, my dog, costumes, various musical instruments, a pack of Snickers flapjacks, and my new book of all of Banksy's street art!