How do I get to take AP courses??

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I feel like my counselors are shooting me in the foot. because they won't let me into AP courses. My teacher of record has been very difficult because she thinks that I am not mature enough to handle these, but in reality I am a genious, I am almost finished reading the dictionary, and I also formed a similar idea to Microsoft's "Microsoft Live", I have been taking a college preparatory class "Botany and Zoology" all I need is to take AP classes if I am to goto college at the University of Western Michigan. My mom thinks that I am trying to be like my best friend who is in college and only 16 years old. The thing is that I really want to get more out of school and my counselors are being dingbats.

If anyone has had this situation please share because I need advise from people who have resolved it.

Go to your school's district office and talk to "Student Support Services" if you have Aspergers that could be why your counsleor is saying no. That is discrimination, they can't do that. But even if you don't, go to the district and explain to them that you really want to take the courses. Bring your report card to them also, that should help them side with you. But be warned, my daughter's AP classes gave her more homework then I got in my 4 years of college, she burned out. Where as my son's school didn't give him hardly any. So I suggest to take it slow.

Yeah, I would confront people on the issue and see why they won't let you do these things. The reason why I got into so many AP courses was because some teachers saw my SAT scores at a summer SAT class. It is theoretically possible to take AP tests without the classes though if you are dedicated and good enough at test taking, you would just have to be in at least one AP class to do it probably... at least at my school. I have taken 2 AP tests without taking the class and passed both. It is hard, it requires some serious effort to understand the material and it requires attempts to understand what you will be tested over but if you do pass any test on your own efforts then nobody will deny you the priveledge of being in an AP class because nobody will deny your intelligence. I would not advise taking AP tests without the class, I only gave it as an option. I did not do anywhere near as well on self-taught subjects as I did on class taught subjects.

Ok, I sort of see your problem. The university you want stresses solid course loads and your teachers think that you aren't ready. My question is what is your grade? You definitely need to get into AP courses junior year but not necessarily sophomore year. Also, make sure that you are good at getting your homework done, that is important too for passing AP classes and for making good impressions. Honestly though, I really doubt that most teachers really can recognize the full extent of the talent of some of the kids that they get. Heck, my Integrated Physics and Chemistry teacher was telling me recently that if she realized that I had all the talent that I possess that she would have put me in the Honors Chemistry class. What would be good is if you had some form of test scores that showed your intelligence.

There are many options for colleges, why did you pick Western Michigan? I am just curious.

I tried to get into four different AP classes because the regular classes were so boring, slow, and filled to the top with kids. The AP classes were jam-packed with information and actual LECTURES, and there weren't as many kids. I was only allowed to get into one--AP English because of my 36/36 on the ACT Reading/English sections, and my near perfect (790) SAT Verbal score.

The problem I had trying to get into honors and AP classes was that my GPA was a 1.8 because, hey, what can I say?--the classes were boring, loud, and taught by some very incompetent individuals, and I much preferred the corner of the library than the corner of a classroom.

My "counselor" said I wasn't cut out for those kinds of classes, that if I attempted them and failed, the total number of attempted/passed tests would go down and I would lower the school's percentage. She also "counseled" me to just not even try to go to college because I wasn't cut out for that either, since apparently a high school GPA is indicative of lifetime success...anyway.

And like Awesomelyglorious said, you don't have to take the class to take the test (it just helps sometimes.) I just circumvented the idiot counselor and talked to the actual teachers instead. While I was failing my regular history course, I was passing the homework assignments and tests of the AP World History class. While I was failing my math class, I was passing the tests in the AP Government class. While I was passing my AP English class, I was also studying for the AP Human Geography (pretty much a sociology class) and passing those tests. So it can be done. When the test results came in, I passed them all; the only 5 was AP English, and only one (World History) was a 3.

So it IS possible, and for me it was worth it. My GPA wasn't high enough for the scores to do much good as far as college was concerned, but man!--was it AWESOME to shove those scores in my "counselor's" face.

If you want to take those classes, then go as high up in the heirarchy as you have to. Maybe contact the collge board. My siblings are homeschooled, and one is taking an AP test in the spring WITHOUT the permission of a school counselor. Go for it!

I am wanting to be a business major

You can often take AP classes through a distance course. That is what I'm going to be doing this summer. I'm taking AP World History through the Centre For Talented Development's LearningLinks distance programme. My school doesn't offer AP courses, so this is the only way for me to take them. There are several universities that have distance programmes like this, so you just need to do a bit of searching.

Oh ok, yeah, I know of 2 really good business schools in Michigan. Like Michigan State University and University of Michigan Ann-Arbor are both pretty good business schools but they are also both sort of hard to get into, especially University of Michigan Ann-Arbor. However, University of Western Michigan is also a pretty good school too and I have heard that it has many interesting majors there. Western Michigan is the cheaper school and it is easier to get into which is better if you always hated your high school classes and did poorly in them, or if you are a bad test taker or and it even has some benefits for the really good students among us plus there may be locational benefits based on where you live. Meh, just wanted to throw in some stuff. Really though what really matters is what you put into your education.

This may be a really odd suggestion, but what about talking to the teacher who teaches the course. See if you can arrange an appointment with them after school or something like that, explain to them exactly why you want to take their class and see if it's okay if you sit in on a lecture or take a quiz or test from that class. Maybe if you do really well, then the teacher can help talk to the counselor and get you into that particular class.

One thing that I have noticed about AS over the years is that if it's not exciting and new information, most people with AS don't want to learn it or pay attention. Another option would be to look into taking classes at a community college during the summer or in the evenings. Some states allow high school students to do this and take classes they need for college credit in high school, though it's mostly public school students and some homeschool students who do this.

I would think that you don't live in a dream land, Out of curiosity what state and/or country do you live at??? just so I know because Indiana may be different.

I would but my teacher of record is dagum Praetor, she does not want AS people to be happy

Not to sound like a broken record, but take it easy with AP courses. I'm in one this year (World History), and the work is very challenging. It's not just memorizing dates, people, and events, it's discovering trends, cause & effect, etc. Next year, I'll be in two (American History and English Language).

You go talk to whoever is in charge of disability services (that's what they call it where I go to school) and explain the situation to them. Then, use the Internet to find a verbatim copy of the Americans With Disabilities Act and take that to your counselors. Explain to them (politely) that it is a violation of federal law for them to not allow you to take AP classes if you show that you are intelligent enough to be enrolled in them. If they still refuse, explain to them that if they continue to refuse, your state's Department of Education will be notified, and that they in turn may be obligated to report this violation of ADA to the federal Department of Education, which can cause for them to lose federal funding. In short, threaten to make their lives miserable, but in a polite way.

Good luck man!

The difficulty of an AP class depends on the teacher and the student. If you are frighteningly intelligent with a good work ethic you might not find the AP class difficult. I took 5 AP classes my junior year, my first year to ever take AP classes and I made A's and B's without any difficulty and passed every single class that I took a class for with a 4 or a 5. This year though I have 5 classes and now teachers are giving me C's and problems because they are stupid and yet I will still likely pass those tests with 4's and 5's. Heck, my US History teacher is the worst, he is a horrible teacher(last year out of 3 classes full of students he only got 2 scores of 3 and the rest were lower) and he is giving me B's and C's. I am predicted to make a 5 on the test by the AP practice exam(and I am one of the few kids predicted to do so) and yet I am making a low grade because he gives coloring assignments and uncurved crappily made tests.

Meh, whatever, AP is what you put into it. I took an AP practice test for Chemistry and I made the highest grade on it out of all the kids in our school taking it and I was not even in the class so really, it depends on if you are willing to work hard to learn it and if you are intelligent enough to get it. If you are disciplined enough and smart enough you could self-study for the test.

I just got permission to goto a community college (which will be in my senior year), all I had to do was ask my school counselor, and she said "yes", at least I don't have to suffer through an entire study hall until the bell rings; LOL just kidding!