Thanks for the congrats. I was recruited for baseball. Really can't wait to get their.
Americas Finest question. What do you think about taking AP national test. For a regular college it does some good but at WP even if you get a 5 and still test out all you do is get the more difficult course. When I made my official visit I was told by a senior and a couple of other students that unless you wanted to skip a course and take a harder one it was not worth it. I have four AP courses and thats over 300.00 for what. Your opinion. Thanks
Just remember, the term "easier" is relative and some people find the basic classes harder since some have nothing to do with their major so they find them boring and harder to study and prepare for.
Yeah, btw, what is the grading system at West Point?
Finest and Marciemi. Thanks for the great answers. This helps get a perspective on things. One more question? Even if you take the AP national exams do you still have to test out or validate out of the class to take the next higher one no matter what you get on the AP exam.
Thanks
Thanks for the congrats. I was recruited for baseball. Really can't wait to get their.
Americas Finest question. What do you think about taking AP national test. For a regular college it does some good but at WP even if you get a 5 and still test out all you do is get the more difficult course. When I made my official visit I was told by a senior and a couple of other students that unless you wanted to skip a course and take a harder one it was not worth it. I have four AP courses and thats over 300.00 for what. Your opinion. Thanks
Hey Racer1,
When I was at SLS last summer I talked with a Major in the History Department about this subject for a while. He said that history DOES accept AP classes on some tests if you get a 5 or sometimes a 4. Previously I had heard that West Point does not accept them at all. If you took AP US and got a 5 - which many of the folks that end up at USMA to have done (gee, wonder why) - you can validate your plebe year history course. BUT you have to take something in place of it. After speaking with the Major I decided that I would try to take a language in place of history plebe year (most people only start languages as a yuk). Also, if you can test out of the entry level language class (in my case hopefully they'll give me Spanish, which I'm pretty good at) then the advice I got from my squad leader was is DO IT. The 2nd year level foreign language classes only meet twice a week! How sweet is that!? You'll get two extra naps every week plebe year.
Cadets - if you're on here - opinions? feedback?
BTW - I report at 9:00 - see you at beast!!! It should be a good time...
After speaking with the Major I decided that I would try to take a language in place of history plebe year (most people only start languages as a yuk). Also, if you can test out of the entry level language class (in my case hopefully they'll give me Spanish, which I'm pretty good at) then the advice I got from my squad leader was is DO IT. The 2nd year level foreign language classes only meet twice a week! How sweet is that!? You'll get two extra naps every week plebe year.
I will give you a warning about this though. I validated Chemistry, so opted to start my Foreign Languge sequence as a plebe too. However, I also validated the entry level language year as well, which meant I placed into a cow level course. Along with one other yearling, and all the rest cows - including my squad leader!! As you can imagine, this was not the best situation for group projects or even having anyone to study with or ask for a homework assignment. Second semester I opted to switch (these were semester language electives) into Econ. instead (which was mostly yearlings but a few plebes). Waited and took my last language requirement cow year.
Now on the other hand, I validated as much calculus as I could and was placed into the one top section of plebes (who basically skipped into Diff Eq's). It was only plebes during that course, but then yearling year I was in 400 level (firstie) courses. Being a yearling in a class full of firsties was fine - and maybe even fun. Being a plebe in a class of cows was not.
I will add though that in general placing out of the language was a good deal as I didn't have to deal with the labs or Saturday classes that my classmates who started with the basic language did!