By Alexis Ramsey
Round Table reporter
The rush for the highest GPA is on.
Weighted or un-weighted is the question because grade statistics change very quickly when honor and AP classes are counted extra.
An A in a merit class counts as a B in an honors class and an A in an honors class counts as a B in an AP class.
This is the main reason kids start taking AP classes. “Kids know how important AP classes are,” said Middletown High School councilor Susan Blair.
But most kids aren’t ready for or don’t understand the work load that they will be undertaking.
The most common reason for dropping, as stated by Blair, is that “it’s harder than [the student] thinks it will be.”
This year 21 students dropped AP classes. The most dropped class was AP Biology with nine students leaving the class.
The problem with students dropping classes is that the classes they take instead become overfilled and instead of a reasonable 25 students to one teacher ratio, the ratio becomes 29 students to one teacher.
Blair said that that inflation of the ratio is unfair to other students who did not drop those AP courses or whose classes take in the dropping students. That is one of the reasons why dropping classes is only allowed for the first two weeks of school.
The other reason is that it’s a state mandate that to get credit for a course students must have a certain number of hours in that class. The first 10 days are a buffer period for that minimum number of hours; if a student transfers after those 10 days then the student can’t get credit for the class he or she transfered into.
MHS junior Rosa Vaz said that dropping could be avoided by having more information on the class, such as a course outline and some sample problems that the student should be able to do going into the class.
Vaz’s problem was that in AP physics, calculus is used all the time and Vaz has yet to take calculus. Knowing what to expect from the class would have helped her decide to not take the class until next year.
Having more education on course materials may help kids know what to expect and help slim the number of kids dropping classes.
