This Dad Says Not To Enroll Your High Schooler In AP Classes, Instead Do This

A dad on TikTok swears that all those advanced placement (AP) courses your kid is taking in high school are a waste of your time, your kid’s time, and your money! He shares a brilliant hack that will actually do a world of good for your kid and your wallet when it comes time to start thinking about college.

“If you have a kid in high school, I'm going to tell you right now, do not put your kid in AP classes,” TikTok user @imperfectdad says in his now-viral video.

“It's going to be a complete waste of their time, and you're going to stress them out for no reason.”

Why does he feel this way? Well, he’s dropping his daughter off at college as a junior. Instead of taking AP classes her entire high school career, she enrolled in dual classes.

“Put them into college classes,” he advises. “That's it. More than likely, your high school is probably going to be pushing you toward putting them into AP classes. Don't do it. Just put them into dual enrollment. Your high school probably has a dual enrollment program with like your local community college, meaning your kid can take college-level classes, and they will actually take over for some of their high school classes.”

“In the last semester, my daughter had like one class she had actually attended. And now she's going into college with like 52 credits or something. It's crazy. Instead of giving her all the added pressure of taking on more difficult courses, just give her college classes. And then those transfer over because AP classes aren't transferring over for anything. Just trust me on this.”

He also says that taking this alternative route for your kid will save you so much money and time and pressure at home.

“The time and money you're going to save — immeasurable. This first semester, she has one class. It's like a 2000-level class. And then everything else is right toward her major. You're going to save yourself a lot of money. Do the dual enrollment classes. Skip AP completely. Don't even bother.”

Thousands of people commented on the OP’s video, sharing their own experiences with dual programs and how AP classes are overrated.

“As an AP teacher…..this is pretty much true,” one user wrote.

Another said, “AP= Added Pressure”

“I did this. Got into UCLA and now have a Doctorate in Pharmacy,” one user shared.

“100% agree. My daughter was a STEM major with no AP classes,” another TikTok user echoed.

“Lots of people that took AP 15+ years ago have their feelings hurt over this. The landscape has CHANGED. Many colleges are not taking AP classes as credit and nothing requires them to. Dual enrollment GUARANTEES the credits,” one person noted.

The one major caveat that some people noted was that not all high schools offer dual courses, and not all colleges accept dual programs as college credits, so, like everything, parents will need to do their research.