Is taking AP U.S. Government and Politics helpful?

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bosoxnation33

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Scheduling classes has become a struggle due to unforeseen circumstances - do a lot of people take AP U.S. Government and Politics?

EDIT: If I take the course in high school and pass the AP exam, can I validate it and lighten my course load in the future?
 
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I do believe it is a requirement of all students to take a semester of government... be it AP , honors or regular. At least that is the requirement in CT and it was for me .. way back when I was in high school in TX.
 
Any AP class is helpful, but AP Gov is by no means necessary. Some students don't have the option of taking it, some can't because of scheduling conflicts, etc. Pretty much any college wants applicants to take at least a semester or government though. To graduate from my high school, every student has to take a semester of either regular or dual-enrollment government.
 
bosoxnation33 said:
Scheduling classes has become a struggle due to unforeseen circumstances - do a lot of people take AP U.S. Government and Politics?

EDIT: If I take the course in high school and pass the AP exam, can I validate it and lighten my course load in the future?
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My DS (who is a Plebe this year) took AP Government & Economics his senior year. He was able to validate Government at USNA by making a 5. I encourage you to take AP Government if you can...could be one less class to take...
 
banmom said:
My DS (who is a Plebe this year) took AP Government & Economics his senior year. He was able to validate Government at USNA by making a 5. I encourage you to take AP Government if you can...could be one less class to take...
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My school doesn't offer AP classes, but I did take a dual-credit Government class and got an A in it. Would I be able to validate it?
 
It's the same with all AP courses: If you pass the AP test, you get the credits. The course (or lack thereof) doesn't factor into validation.

The AP U.S. Government test was the second easiest AP test I took back the high school (the easiest being AP Psychology, which also validates NL200). Buy some AP prep books, take a couple of practice tests, and you'll get a 5.

AP Government validation is automatic. If you get a 5, you validate. No tests are administered during plebe summer.
 
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CannotBeDisplayed said:
I see. So the answer is no, according to that link. It seems the only point of me taking dual-credit/online college classes is for an added challenge, but the Academy only cares about AP and IB (neither of which is offered by my school) scores. Thanks for the link. :)

Sent using the Service Academy Forums® mobile app
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No, the answer is yes. You can take an AP test without taking the course. It may involve arranging to take the test at another school that has an AP program, but it can be done. Plenty of folks back in my high school took tests like AP World History and AP Macro/Microeconomics without the class being offered at school.

#2:
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/exploreap/get-started

AP US Gov't course description and sample questions:
https://secure-media.collegeboard.o...ovt-politics-2010-course-exam-description.pdf


Also, note the far right column. Each academic department may be willing to discuss validation for a class based on college coursework. So while there is no transferring of credits, it is possible to claim some validation for college-level coursework aside from AP/IB.
 
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Definitely take the class and try to validate. US Constitution is one of those USNA classes in which it is unnecessarily demanding to secure an A. I was fortunate enough to validate (5 on AP Gov) but I watched my company-mates suffer.
 
One thing to understand is part of the selection process will include not only your cgpa, but your school profile, at least that is true for the AFA. The profile in part tells them the classes offered, I.e. how many APs offered, the requisites needed to take them, percentage of students that take these classes. This gives them an idea of how to compare the rigor of your course load compared to your peers.

Thus, if it can fit it into your schedule, it is to your advantage to take it from that perspective alone.
 
CSGuy said:
Definitely take the class and try to validate. US Constitution is one of those USNA classes in which it is unnecessarily demanding to secure an A. I was fortunate enough to validate (5 on AP Gov) but I watched my company-mates suffer.
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Wondering what class you were able to take after validating US Government? Plebe DS said that's what he did, but I'm not sure what he'll be able to take in its place.
 
Our DS is 2024 Candidate, he took and passed with 4.0 19 dual credits last school year. He didn't take them thinking they might all/some transfer but to be able to show that he could handle the rigor of the schedule. His school doesn't offer any IB or AP courses, dual credits are the most he can do. He has several on his senior schedule as well. If his Plan A doesn't work, Plan B and C will likely accept majority of credits and it will make his time paying for college shorter. He spoke to mids at STEM several years ago, and several mentioned that validating in some courses was helpful, but in others, STEM related courses, they were better off taking them and having a firm foundation before moving on to upper level coursework. Again, appreciate all the info in these threads.
 
KirkcudbrightBorn said:
Wondering what class you were able to take after validating US Government?
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You’re asking this question of someone who last posted on this thread in 2014. I’ll try to help. Validating any class at USNA opens up the schedule down the road. That flexibility allows for a mid to take any variety of classes. They don’t have to be in the department thay was validated. For instance: DD validated Chem 1, among others. She’s replacing those credits with a foreign language.
 
MidCakePa said:
KirkcudbrightBorn said:
Wondering what class you were able to take after validating US Government?
Click to expand...

You’re asking this question of someone who last posted on this thread in 2014. I’ll try to help. Validating any class at USNA opens up the schedule down the road. That flexibility allows for a mid to take any variety of classes. They don’t have to be in the department thay was validated. For instance: DD validated Chem 1, among others. She’s replacing those credits with a foreign language.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the reply. I was hoping someone current would respond. I'm new to the forum and wasn't sure about starting a new thread to request info on a subject area that had been discussed earlier. Is there a rule of thumb for this? One year dormant? Three?
 
We found Gov validation a bit confusing. DS is a current plebe. There was a statement (like on the online system) about it being not really recommended to validate it because there is a big public service component, and that to validate it you have to write something and go talk to the Dept. Chair. My son who had both AP AND a college course sweated over whether it was a good idea to request to validate; it really sounded like they were trying to discourage it. But now that he's there, everyone with a 5 on the AP exam is just getting the course validated automatically it seems. Huh?
 
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