AP Classes

[chris325]

What advanced placement classes would you recommend for someone who is interested in majoring in Theatre Design with an emphasis in Lighting Design? I already have plans to take AP Physics, and if my school does add an AP Theatre History course I will likely take that.

I am a Sophomore and am looking strongly at the theatre programs at Depaul University and also, Oakland University in Auburn Hills. MI (If anyone here has had experience with OU's theatre program any experiences/tips/etc. would be greatly appreciated.)

 

[MarshallPope]

Honestly, depending on what the college's graduation requirements are, I would recommend taking as many maths/sciences/histories etc. that you can that will apply to required classes, freeing up time in your college schedule for more practical classes.

 

[aelfric5578]

I second what Marshall said. The best decision I made in high school was taking AP Chem. It got me out of 8 credits in college. If you're not going to a science and engineering school like I did, humanities credits are also useful because you'll probably want to spend more time working on theater and less time dealing with general requirments.

 

[SHARYNF]

More and more high schools are starting cooperation programs with colleges where in the 4 years or sometimes 5 the graduating student gets the High school diploma and has completed 2 years of college, and sometimes an AA degree. For the better student, the last two years of High School typically are not very challenging and could be better utilized with actually taking college courses. AP classes are great, but see if your high school has any program with a close by College where you could substitute actual college classes.

AP classes typically let you waive a college class, and take a higher level class, but typically don't actually give you a college credit, but actual college classes that you take at an college can be transcriptional and can be actual transfed credits to the college of your choice.

I would talk to the college of your choice, and your high school and if the college of your choice is not local or does not offer distance classes, talk to a local college re the classes and which ones would transfer

As I said AP classes are great, but actual college classes are even better

Sharyn

 

[rwhealey]

I second what Marshall said. The best decision I made in high school was taking AP Chem. It got me out of 8 credits in college. If you're not going to a science and engineering school like I did, humanities credits are also useful because you'll probably want to spend more time working on theater and less time dealing with general requirments.

I did the same thing- saved me literally thousands of dollars and the pain of taking 8 hours of chem!

If you actually need to learn something, it may be better to retake the class in college. I don't really need chem (major is architectural engineering), so it was a good deal all around. I retook physics, even though I got a 4 on the AP test.

 

[SHARYNF]

I did the same thing- saved me literally thousands of dollars and the pain of taking 8 hours of chem!

If you actually need to learn something, it may be better to retake the class in college. I don't really need chem (major is architectural engineering), so it was a good deal all around. I retook physics, even though I got a 4 on the AP test.

You highlight just the point I am trying to make, said in a different way

There is a significant benefit to taking a real college class with a real college teacher, vs an AP class. Most colleges allow you to use an AP class as a prereq for another class, but don't count that as a class actually taken.

Note the description re Advanced Standing and what is accepted for credit

I am not saying that AP classes are not worth taking but make sure you really understand from the College of your choice how they handle them. I have seen a lot of students get to College graduation time and get very upset when they learn that the AP class did not count to graduation requirements but rather allowed them to take a higher level college course to MEET the graduation credits. University advising groups are busy these days so it is important to get in writing from your specific university.


Sharyn

 

[jonliles]

AP classes typically let you waive a college class, and take a higher level class, but typically don't actually give you a college credit, but actual college classes that you take at an college can be transcriptional and can be actual transfed credits to the college of your choice.

Whether a college elects to give you credit for AP Class work is highly dependent on the college. Though, typically, for students in a BA/BFA program, they tend more readily accept AP and CLEP credit for Gen Ed Classes. Hard to do that for a Math/ Science heavy class, unless your AP / CLEP is in Humanities and arts. Honestly, unless you want to be a Math/Science Major; AP Physics is Calculus based and extremely difficult to do well in.


Best of Luck.

 

[rwhealey]

You highlight just the point I am trying to make, said in a different way

There is a significant benefit to taking a real college class with a real college teacher, vs an AP class. Most colleges allow you to use an AP class as a prereq for another class, but don't count that as a class actually taken.

Note the description re Advanced Standing and what is accepted for credit

I am not saying that AP classes are not worth taking but make sure you really understand from the College of your choice how they handle them. I have seen a lot of students get to College graduation time and get very upset when they learn that the AP class did not count to graduation requirements but rather allowed them to take a higher level college course to MEET the graduation credits. University advising groups are busy these days so it is important to get in writing from your specific university.


Sharyn

A good point- but the credit shows up on my transcript as fulfilling the requirements. I did ask first, though.

 

[SHARYNF]

It really depends on the college. Some times it shows up on the transcript fulfilling the requirement for a class, but does not reduce the number total number of credits needed to graduate, it is really tricky, some schools put it on the transcrip to show the advancement credit.

Say for instance you need 8 credits of physical science a a GER, then the transcript shows that the GER requirement has been met BUT it still might show that you need a total of an additional 120 credits to graduate

I had a personal situation with my husband a little bit different than this,
where for a PhD there was a requirement of some core credits. He had a Masters degree and had all the core classes taken but at another institution. He got all the way thru dissertation orals etc, and the Uni said Wait... you are still 18 credits short and since these classes were used for another degree you still need an additional 18 credits. Sadly it really came down to university wanting revenue. What they really wanted was the bucks for 18 additional credits.


So it differs per school, always good to GET IT IN WRITING, MAKE SURE YOU get and keep a copy of the rules and requirements that are in effect when you START THE PROGRAM. Requirements can come and go, and get changed but the rules when you start typically apply for your degree. BUT you might need to be able to document it.


it can be more of a minefield than folks might think

Sharyn

 

[MarshallPope]

The way I see it, sure, you may still need to take those 15 hours that would have been taken up by the classes that you AP tested out of, but now you are free to fill those hours with classes that actually interest you rather than a huge class learning calculus that you will never use again in your life. (Please excuse my exaggeration) But I secong waht Sharyn said - Talk to the dean of the school of fine arts (or whatever the division there is called) and get it in writing. Each school will be a little (or a lot) different, and you need to make sure that you know exactly what you are getting into regarding graduation requirements. There are a lot of little technicalities that can come back to bite you if you aren't careful.

That being said, it's really not as scary as it seems. The admissions counselors are there to help you. Take advantage of it.

 

[chris325]

Thanks for your responses!

I'll be signing up for junior year classes sometime this week, and really the one AP class I will most likely be taking is APUSH, because it isn't an elective and I don't have any space left for electives.

As for taking actual college classes, the only program I know of is through a local community college that allows for seniors to go to the college for the first two class periods to take automotive, paramedic, and other types of specialty classes not offered at the high school.

 

[jonliles]

Can you do joint enrollment? Here, our HS students there Jr and Sr year can do joint enrollment for the English and Math credits get both collegiate and HS credits. Most of our HS's have partnered with Jr college or other regional college.

 

[themuzicman]

In my experience, any AP course that gets you credits toward your general education requirement is a course you should take. I can in a semester ahead because I didn't have to take any English (AP Language covered 8 credits), History (AP Gov, AP US, AP World) covered 6 credits, and AP World covered a humanities requirement. When I got to college, I only had to take 12 credits of general education classes, instead of the usual 32 credits, it's been pretty awesome.

That being said, try to take a math or science. Physics could be helpful, same with Calc. AB or BC. Calc would have been awesome before I decided to take a class on Statics!

Also, there is no Theatre History AP class. - AP Courses - Advanced Placement Course Descriptions

 

[SHARYNF]

Make sure that you not only take the AP class but also take the AP exam, different schools look at the exam as being key to any credit

If you take the AP classes in your senior year remember that many times the AP EXAM scores will come after you are accepted and sometimes registered for your freshman college classes.

Sharyn

 

[chris325]

I know for a fact that the AP exams are a part of all AP courses at my high school.

Actually, I've made the decision for my junior year to stick with AP U.S. History, as it doesn't require taking regular U.S. History before hand, giving me needed elective spots.

By the way, there are no technical theatre courses offered at my high school, and I've already taken the general theatre ones.

 

[SHARYNF]

Here is a link to the NYTimes article re high school students in tenth grade finishing early and then taking college classes. There is a proposal in Utah to eliminate 12 grade completely.


New Plan Would Let High Schoolers Graduate Early - NYTimes.com

Sharyn