Tentatively... very tentatively considering an AP history course

[Janice in NJ]

This is for my dd - a 10th grader next year. She is strong in the humanities. I'm considering an AP history course for her sophomore year. She'll probably begin taking some CC courses in her 11th grade year. She is a strong reader and a decent writer. She is also a social butterfly. I'm considering Ms. Richman's US History course or maybe Ms. Harrison's European History with PA Homeschoolers. For some reason, I've gained a sense that Ms. Richman is more chatty and enthusiastic, and that Ms. Harrison is more serious.

Does the US course offer more college credit (6 credits comes to mind) than the European course?

Thoughts on these courses and/or classes?
Reviews?

Peace,
Janice

Enjoy your little people
Enjoy your journey

P.S. This may just be an anxious Friday thing too. Not sure that anyone around here needs an AP class next year. I'm just exploring the idea that my senior may not even need a history course next year; he may just take microeconomics. I would love to really focus on science with my to-be 8th grader with a bit of 20th century history tucked in around the edges. SO I'm exploring the idea of NOT having a history-driven year for me too. Seems weird - but also intriguing. ;) I have some time to blue-sky today, so I'm blue-skyin' and would love one of you to tell me what to do!

[LynnG in Hawaii]

Mrs. Richman's AP US History class is excellent. It is very rigorous and time consuming, but in a good way. ;) My daughter is taking it now. I think you will likely be very pleased!

[RealJoy]

My D has taken Mrs. Richman's APUSH class and Mrs. Harrison's AP Euro class. Both are excellent; however, APUSH is a lot less time-consuming and easier overall. Both teachers are great and my D has loved both classes.

[HollyinNNV]

My dd is currently in AP Euro with Mrs. Harrison. (no experience with APUSH yet) Mrs. Harrison is extremely organized. The class seems to be designed to make sure students are very well prepared to take the AP test in May. Students are well practiced in both content and skills. My daughter has found the class challenging, yet very beneficial. We highly recommend the class & teacher.

[Nissi]

I was considering AP Euro for ds. for next year too. Thanks for your review. Would European History provide the background needed for APUSH? So, would doing APUSH after European History be a better choice? Thanks, Janice for bringing this up.

[HollyinNNV]

I was considering AP Euro for ds. for next year too. Thanks for your review. Would European History provide the background needed for APUSH? So, would doing APUSH after European History be a better choice? Thanks, Janice for bringing this up.

Hmmmm-I doubt that there is much overlap between Euro and US. You might get a little within explorers, WWI & WWII. But, it is pretty minimal. I've even heard that the overlap between Euro & World is very minimal too.

I suppose it would be nice to learn about the American Revolution after learning about the French Revolution (in depth).

I'm not sure that there is any order that you should take the courses in, however you might want to find out what subjects most appeal to your child. They will spend a great deal of time studying that subject, so I think it helps to "like" the subject, especially when taking the first AP class. It is a lot of work.

We are looking at taking APUSH next year, and I have only heard great things about Mrs. Richman. My dd chose Euro because she wanted to learn about that time period. I don't think she was expecting to learn about such a grand sweep of history. There is a large focus on isms-Marxism, liberalism, conservatism, socialism, Darwinism etc., rather than the people of history. You learn about artistic periods rather than artists and philosophies rather than philosophers. Of course, people are mentioned briefly, but the emphasis is broad. I think the kids grumble about this at first, but then they get used to it. It is something to consider when deciding to take an AP class. Some kids are not ready for this type of broad based assessment of history.

The other thing to consider is that there is no time for bunny trails. Blink, and WWI is over! Blink, and you've covered the philosophs. Or that is the way it feels. This is in-depth coverage at the speed of light. We discovered that dd had never really covered the religious wars and happenings of the pre-Enlightenment era. She knew next to nothing about the history of the Catholic church, popes, nor any of the artwork of the period. (Bad mom!) I suppose you could look at it positively: at the end of the course you will have far fewer holes than when you started. :tongue_smilie:

Oh, and someone from a APUSH class could respond, but Euro does cover a fair bit of art. If your child has never covered art, or enjoys art, they might consider Euro for that reason. I've noticed that my daughter has taken a much greater interest in art because of the course. That's been an unintended positive consequence.
Holly

[Nissi]

Holly, thanks for your input. I was considering Euro. for ds. since he is familiar with the Spielvogel text ( he has been reading portions of it for Omnibus). He has done some art history and has visited Art museums in Philly, NY(Met), Boston, etc. We are leaning towards European History since he has read some of the Great Books using Omnibus II and III and this course will help to fill some of the holes for this time period and then we can move on to APUSH and AP World.
Thanks again.
P.S. Ds. reads history for fun. He has not studied it formally yet. This will be his first organized course ( it's time! :-)) I showed him your message and he said he's game for either.

[LBS]

I did not see a reply that dealt with the part of your question regarding how much college credit awarded for a course. I would suggest you visit some college websites, as each one will accept test scores as they wish.

For example:
UMD will accept an AP score of 4 or 5 in Statistics as 3 college credits.
Penn State will accept an AP score of 3 or better as 3 college credits.



AP German score of 3 = 12 credits at Penn State.
AP German score of 4or 5= 16 credits at Penn State.

IB exam score of 5 in History of the Americas = 3 credits. (UMD)
IB exam score of 6 or 7 in History of the Americas= 6 credits. (UMD)
IB exam score of 5 or above in History of the Americas=6 credits. (Penn State)

How you can use these credits varies: likely a college will not accept AP course credit for a course within your major AS a major requirement, but will give you credit for it as other requirement or elective, but, if you have more credits going into college, you are a higher credit freshman so may get to register earlier, etc. There is a long list of pros and cons, to working and getting credit for the APs, but, it usually comes out to being positive, in some way, if only to save money.

I hope this is helpful,
LBS


PS UMD offers 6 credits for a 4 or better for AP US History.

I'm just using some notes I happened to jot down on two college choices my son has applied to, since they were close at hand.

[Mostlyamom]

An interesting tidbit about this question is available here:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/exgrd_sum/2009.html

Download the National Report and then look at the spreadsheet tab labeled, "program summary report." It shows the number of AP exams taken, by grade level. So, you can see that of the 101,000 exams taken last year for European History, over half of them were taken by 10th graders.

Nearly 300,000 of the 360,000 US History exams were taken by 11th graders.

This shouldn't determine when YOUR student is ready for this exam, but does give you an idea when other students have taken the exam.

Pat