# What are AP Courses?



## kool_goose2 (Oct 20, 2007)

Ok so guys we have been all talking about AP courses...i m consfuesed what are they.,., i mean that i have a little bit of idea of what they might be but just want to make sure....AP = advanced placement or enriched coursed....and do pakistan medical colleges really look at them....caus rite now i m in gr.12 and will graduate in 2008 in Canada...all the courses that i m taking rite now are acedemic so would that matter....and plus just being of topic...if you do get accepted to pk medical colleges...if you take your cellphone....and laptop from Canada to Pk would they work...? hehe..#wink


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## Smeer (Jan 29, 2006)

Salam,

*kool_goose2*, I don't blame you for being a little confused -- there are so many different types of courses in American high schools that unless you study here yourself, it's unlikely that you'd know exactly how the system works!

AP stands for Advanced Placement. It's a program administered by the College Board -- the same company that runs SATs and SAT IIs as well as a variety of other standardized tests. The College Board has set up Advanced Placement tests for a plethora of subjects ranging from Biology, Chemistry, Physics B, Physics C to Psychology and Computer Science to Chinese, French, and Spanish. The list of AP tests is huge.

In American high schools, there are essentially two kinds of classes. There are regular classes which are also known as *college prep.* classes, that the typical/average high school student is expected to take during his/her high school career. They tend to be not too difficult by American standards -- just the right level for a high school student.

The next level of classes are honors or *AP classes*. I won't get into honors classes because when it comes to medical school admissions in Pakistan, they're no different than college prep. classes. AP classes, however, are theoretically designed to be at the level of an introductory college course. In essence, you don't just cover the basics in an AP class as you would in a college prep. class -- you go into greater detail as teachers and professors do in college. The cirriculum is usually tougher and covered at a faster pace. In May, the College Board administers *AP tests* for all of the AP subjects. Around April or so, kids in American high schools around the U.S. have the option of signing up to take AP tests in May to potentially receive college credit by certain universities (although usually it's more of a help getting into a college rather than actually receiving credit).

AP tests typically consist of two portions -- multiple choice and free response. Both carry different weights to your total score, and the weight each carries varies from test to test -- but your final score will reflect how you did cumulatively on both parts.

After you take your AP test(s) (you can take as many AP tests as the number of AP classes you've signed up for), you wait around until July of that same year, whereupon you receive your *AP Student Score Report*, which indicates what score you received on your AP test. The AP grading scale ranges from 1-5. Scores of 1 and 2 are considered "not passing" or "failing." A score of 3 is considered passing. 4's and 5's are considered really good. AP Central (the branch of the College Board that runs AP testing) defines them as follows:

*Grade* *Meaning* 5 Extremely well qualified 4 Well qualified 3 Qualified 2 Possibly qualified 1 No recommendation
The reason the IBCC deducts fewer marks (10% as opposed to 20%) for *AP tests* is because AP testing is viewed as a type of External Examination system, whereby (theoretically) your score is in no way subject to your own teacher who you've had all year, like typical honors and college prep. courses, but by a totally unknown grader somewhere in San Antonio, Texas who has no way of giving you extra marks because of who you are. The benefit of receiving extra marks through the IBCC for AP classes is only if you take the AP test in the respective courses and score well. Simply taking the class or not scoring well on the exam will not help because of the way the IBCC scoring works.

I think your laptop would work -- just make sure you have the right kind of adapter on your charger to adjust to the different voltage in Pakistan. As for the cell phone, I think you'd have to get a new one when you go there, although I'm not 100% sure so hopefully someone can verify that for me.

Hope that helps, if you have any other questions feel free to post again #laugh


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## kool_goose2 (Oct 20, 2007)

_*THanks for the reply...but im from Canada...do i still have to write the AP tests? I heard that if you apply from Canada they only take off 10% from your final grade...so then i guess you dont need AP courses or do you? *_


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## Smeer (Jan 29, 2006)

kool_goose2 said:


> _*THanks for the reply...but im from Canada...do i still have to write the AP tests? I heard that if you apply from Canada they only take off 10% from your final grade...so then i guess you dont need AP courses or do you? *_


Yep, that's correct. AP really only helps out kids from the U.S. because otherwise they get a 20% deduction. You don't need to worry about it if you're from Canada because they're only gonna deduct 10% from your marks anyway.


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## kool_goose2 (Oct 20, 2007)

ok thanks....i got a little bit worried there about 20% deduction...so they look at your marks from .gr. 9 to 12 or is it just grade 12?


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## MastahRiz (Jan 26, 2006)

grades 9 - 12


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## kool_goose2 (Oct 20, 2007)

ok thank you soo much...so they take off 10% from your final average or is it every individual course...are there any courses which they would look strongly to determine the avg...or every subject counts no matter what.? suppose that i have a 70 mark in physics...would that effect the rest of my marks of bio chem...which are above 80...so would they calculate the avg..of these to determine the final pakistan equivlanve avg..?


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## MastahRiz (Jan 26, 2006)

Mathematically it doesn't make a difference whether you reduce by ten percent from the final score or from each class individually... the score comes out the same.

10%(2 + 5) is the same as 10%(2) + 10%(5).

Most subjects count. I'm sure things like drivers-ed have zero weightage, but as far as normal academic courses go, they most likely carry equal weight. All the information you need regarding IBCC and how they score can be found here

http://medstudentz.com/pakistan-medical-schools/29-ibcc-equivalence-pakistan-medical-colleges.html


We'll keep this thread specifically about Advanced Placement (AP) classes.


Thanks.


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## kool_goose2 (Oct 20, 2007)

iitee thanks i was jus curious about that thanks for letting me know....in the end itzzz math...lol


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## anumraja (May 6, 2008)

kool_goose2, 
let me know if you get accepted cause im planning to apply this year too and im from canada as well


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## kool_goose2 (Oct 20, 2007)

ok kool, hehe i will let u knw even though its a looong process but i guess it will be worth it...! where u gonna apply to?


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## anumraja (May 6, 2008)

yep, i am planning to apply in RMC, KE, fatima jinnah...how abt you?
what's your average?


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## Rehan (Jan 26, 2006)

Smeer and MastahRiz,

Thank you for all the invaluable information! It's great to see users helping each other out like this!


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