So, I am currently enrolled in AP English 4. At my school, for some stupid reason, the first semester is not weighted and the second semester is double weighted (in other words, you could just take one honors class each semester and get the same amount of credit...they have been trying to change this system for years so that first semester has one weight but, knowing my luck, it will happen next year after I graduate). My teacher said on the first day of school that, since it was being weighted regularly, she would treat the first semester like a regular class. What that means is very little homework, only a few essays, and easy tests.

Except, of course, (we all saw it coming) that didn't happen. Since I have been in that class (2 months and 25 days), I have had several, very difficult readings to do (usually at least one every night), about 12 essays to write (all in my "free" time), quite a few projects (many of them group and with a short time restraint - as in two days - no I am not kidding), and some very difficult tests. No matter what is going on in my other classes (one of which is AP Calculus and the other being Spanish 2), I am always always always swamped with things to do with English. Lately, we have been giving poetry presentations - each person was given one or two poems and told to do countless things with it to present in an oral presentation to the class with a question session by both the teacher and the student. These presentations are horrendous - you are basically standing up there and being publicly raped. It is awful. I am currently working on mine to be given the week after Thanksgiving and I am petrified.

And here's the doozy: Our senior project that is now required by the state is to pick a banned or censored book, read it, and write a very detailed research paper on it with notecards and everything. My teacher wants this turned in by January 10th (before the 1st semester is even over!!!) while still doing all of this other work for her.

Now, don't get me wrong, I was prepared for an AP class. After all, I took AP English 3 last year and came out with As. But this workload is about twice as large and it's just a ridiculous amount to do.

Because this is suppose to be college-level, this is my question to you folks that are in college or have even graduated from college: Is it really this difficult? Do you often have a paper, a project, reading, and a test to study for all from the same class?

If the answer is yes, then I will attempt to cease my complaints about my English class. Even so, although a senior high-school student needs to be prepared for college, he/she cannot be expected to do total college-level work quite yet...only about 75% if it really is this much or more.

oh but it sounds more exotic and cool that way! lol

They could have just spelled it Boden, but that wouldn't nearly have filled their East-Coast-elitist-pretentiousness quotient.

lol ok, why pff?

Blue goes to Bowdoin, which I'm told is pronounced "Bo-den."

Pff.

what college do you go to blue?

So far, first semester has been a breeze. The biggest difference is that I have so much free time. On my "busy" days, I have 3 hours of class. Maybe I have more work, but there is more than enough time to complete it..

yeah true enough Doc the year long class I'm in using the book I have is a semester course in college (of course they don't model every... single... fiscking muscle in the human body but still)

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Originally posted by ampmaster:

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Actually, there is no such thing as "AP Anatomy and Physiology"...the AP board doesn't have an anatomy class.

I use a $200 doller college text book that half my high school couldn't even read much less understand. It is a college course regardless of what any one says (though I meant Honors not AP pardon us)

In my experiance, any "college" course in high school is not college. Even AP courses. At least at my school, classes are far more intense and information packed than high school.

For example, I took College Chemistry in high school. It was a year long course that was supposed to be equivilant to Chem I. When I got to college, we covered everything we had covered in a year of highschool "college" chem in the first three weeks.

I mean, I go to an intense school, but still.

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Actually, there is no such thing as "AP Anatomy and Physiology"...the AP board doesn't have an anatomy class.

I use a $200 doller college text book that half my high school couldn't even read much less understand. It is a college course regardless of what any one says (though I meant Honors not AP pardon us)

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I could never bring myself to dissect a cat

Ooooohhh super kitties *grin* I actually can't wait to do that, they gyped us out disecting well...anything in biology and cats are only one muscle different of human musculature (they have muscke in the front shoulder that keeps them from raising it above a certain angle

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Originally posted by ampmaster:
My Anatomy and Physiology course (which is AP rateable but the teacher is to damn lazy to the paper work) is pretty damn hard.

Actually, there is no such thing as "AP Anatomy and Physiology"...the AP board doesn't have an anatomy class.

But I've always heard that those classes were hard. The class at my school is supposedly difficult. But because it doesn't hold any weight and I could never bring myself to dissect a cat, I opted not to take it.

I'm in University and It is pretty hard, but not impossible. Mostly it's hard because its a different enviroment. Basically, atleast here in Canada, you have a lot you have to learn really quick on how properly write essays and such but they usually understand that you're new meat and are pretty understanding and weight your first essays less than your last.

My Anatomy and Physiology course (which is AP rateable but the teacher is to damn lazy to the paper work) is pretty damn hard. Memorize 20 muscles a week, build those muscle out of clay all while memorizing chapters on various subjects ranging from advanced chemistry to basic organ function statistics and of course reading up on various other medical things so to be ready for any possible curve ball of an essay question Mr. W tosses on the chapter tests (we've had some really weird ones)

The other name for the course is FDA or Future Doctors of America

I have to write two essays a week on various topics, and thats about the long and short of college for me right now. The worst thing I have this semester is two 15-page research papers... due at the end of next week *eep*

Our English classes are a bit strange.

AP English 3 is two semesters, first being "Intro to American Lit" and second being the actual "AP English 3" part of it...the test is the AP Language one.

AP English 4 works the same way except first semester (the one I am currently "enjoying") is "Intro to British Lit" and you take the AP Lit test in May.

I was confused about all the hype and warnings about college. I'm nearing the end of my first quarter at the University of Washington in Seattle (the toughest public university in Washington State), and it's actually easier than my senior year of high school. I expect next quarter to be harder, but I still don't think it will be as hard as everyone was telling me.

Anyways, high school AP classes tend to be a little tougher than actual college courses, since they jam in so much. But then, I've never heard of AP English 4. All the AP classes I took used the same subject matter and teaching styles as freshman or introductory college classes (i.e. freshman physics or freshman English), so they were pretty easy. I suppose more advanced AP classes (talk about redundant) would imitate higher level college courses (300 and 400 levels, perhaps).

Well, I don't really have a definate answer for you. It really all depends.

My first semester of college was a living hell. I had tons of homework every night, at least two papers due every week. I got so frustrated by it that I was in tears pretty much every night. However, I was taking two honors classes, one of which was a writing class.

Now however, I have a much more balanced schedule...I don't have a whole lot of homework...life is good.

The nice thing about college is that in most of your classes you get a syllabus on the first day of class where it says exactly what will be due and when. Therefore, you are able to much better manage your time based on what else you know you have to do. Really, there are just fewer surprises...you are able to look at all of your class schedules and figure out what would be the best use of your time.

Your English class right now reminds me of my Honors Introduction to Academic Writing course. Unless you are planning to be an English major (or a science major...) I am willing to bet that you will not have this heavy of a work load in college. Good luck with it...it does really seem like a class that you will get a lot out of in the long run (much as you hate it at the moment).