AP Tests this week, how are we feeling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how was gov today?

My son thought it was not bad. He said as soon as he opened it and saw Shay's Rebellion, he felt good. The teacher spent a lot of time on that & the Commerce Clause, and both were on the test. He is more of a "4" student than a "5" student, but for his college all he needs is a 4 to get credit for this one.

Four more to go!

The teachers teach what’s going to be on the test so that makes sense.

This is a fairly simplistic view of AP courses - AP teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid took APES today. Thought it was EAZY-AS-PIE. Taking 2 tomorrow and seems stressed. Sending love and prayers in the shape of chocolate chip cookies.

The teachers all say that when kids think the test is "easy," it may not bode well. Just left the APES Teacher Facebook group a few minutes ago...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:kids stress out as colleges look at scores for admissions

not for senior year though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a fair number of seniors at my DD's school aren't worried about the exams because they aren't planning to use the credits. In Tik Tok videos (where far too many kids get their info), many upperclass students are suggesting seniors skip AP exams and enroll in the course so they can get the credit & GPA bump.

So tempted to have my kid do this when he's a senior. I completely understand now why people think AP is a scam.

My kid is a first-time test taker and his school clearly says on their website that if you are enrolled in the AP class you are automatically signed up for the exam. And, you can only get the GPA bump if you take the exam.

My kid was apparently absent the day the teacher for his ap class gave students some code to sign up for the exam? Teacher didn't mention it to him when he returned the next day - and he didn't know this was something to be on the lookout for - and only found out 2 weeks ago that he wasn't on the list to take it. He then took necessary steps to sign up. We are now being billed for $45 because he signed up late. Ridiculous! After we already paid $98 for this exam. And he wasn't the only kid this happened to - another kid was absent that day and same thing happened to him.

Also, was just doing some reading and didn't realize you have to pay an additional fee to send your test scores to colleges.

Third, I looked at a college he wants to attend and for most of the exams you only get credit if you get a 5. I don't want my kid stressing over getting a 5 on multiple tests when it's likely he may want to take some of these classes again anyway in college. He'll be a STEM kid and it may be advantageous to re-take math/science etc to make sure he has a great foundation before moving on to more difficult material.

First, colleges that only allow 5s are those that are very difficult to get into. Talk to us once he is admitted. Next, your child doesn't know what their major is, and still won't know when they arrive in college, because... they can change their mind! Having AP scores that exempt classes gives you maximum flexibility. Finally, you never know how bad the grade inflation is at your school unless kids take national exams.

Technically, it is your school's AP Coordinator who should have checked the rosters last November. Address your complaint to her/him rather than the teacher, who is not responsible for registration.

Finally, you are given several free score submissions, but only if you send them at the time you take the exam. If you want to look at scores first, you will pay. But the price is low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a fair number of seniors at my DD's school aren't worried about the exams because they aren't planning to use the credits. In Tik Tok videos (where far too many kids get their info), many upperclass students are suggesting seniors skip AP exams and enroll in the course so they can get the credit & GPA bump.

So tempted to have my kid do this when he's a senior. I completely understand now why people think AP is a scam.

My kid is a first-time test taker and his school clearly says on their website that if you are enrolled in the AP class you are automatically signed up for the exam. And, you can only get the GPA bump if you take the exam.

My kid was apparently absent the day the teacher for his ap class gave students some code to sign up for the exam? Teacher didn't mention it to him when he returned the next day - and he didn't know this was something to be on the lookout for - and only found out 2 weeks ago that he wasn't on the list to take it. He then took necessary steps to sign up. We are now being billed for $45 because he signed up late. Ridiculous! After we already paid $98 for this exam. And he wasn't the only kid this happened to - another kid was absent that day and same thing happened to him.

Also, was just doing some reading and didn't realize you have to pay an additional fee to send your test scores to colleges.

Third, I looked at a college he wants to attend and for most of the exams you only get credit if you get a 5. I don't want my kid stressing over getting a 5 on multiple tests when it's likely he may want to take some of these classes again anyway in college. He'll be a STEM kid and it may be advantageous to re-take math/science etc to make sure he has a great foundation before moving on to more difficult material.

First, colleges that only allow 5s are those that are very difficult to get into. Talk to us once he is admitted. Next, your child doesn't know what their major is, and still won't know when they arrive in college, because... they can change their mind! Having AP scores that exempt classes gives you maximum flexibility. Finally, you never know how bad the grade inflation is at your school unless kids take national exams.

Technically, it is your school's AP Coordinator who should have checked the rosters last November. Address your complaint to her/him rather than the teacher, who is not responsible for registration.

Finally, you are given several free score submissions, but only if you send them at the time you take the exam. If you want to look at scores first, you will pay. But the price is low.

I was not at all planning to address this with his teacher but was going to ask his GC who should be contacted to get the fee waived, if at all possible.

As for college admissions, I am not worried about those schools requiring a 5 to get credit. He will either get in or not based on his junior year profile. And obviously will need to keep grades up at least through first semester senior year. He will apply EA to several publics that he would be happy to attend and if admitted, I see no reason for him to take multiple AP exams senior year. At this point he needs neither the gpa bump nor the test score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid took APES today. Thought it was EAZY-AS-PIE. Taking 2 tomorrow and seems stressed. Sending love and prayers in the shape of chocolate chip cookies.

The teachers all say that when kids think the test is "easy," it may not bode well. Just left the APES Teacher Facebook group a few minutes ago...

same said of ap gov this year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid took APES today. Thought it was EAZY-AS-PIE. Taking 2 tomorrow and seems stressed. Sending love and prayers in the shape of chocolate chip cookies.

The teachers all say that when kids think the test is "easy," it may not bode well. Just left the APES Teacher Facebook group a few minutes ago...

Mine would not say "easy," but felt really good about all the material. Was very good about reviewing with Princeton Review. Fingers crossed

Now, nothing til Physics makeup because of our primary elections.

[Anonymous]

My kid took Psych today. She is one of the kids v. worried about AP Bio, and said Psych was surprisingly straight-forward (I believe its also a shorter exam).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid took Psych today. She is one of the kids v. worried about AP Bio, and said Psych was surprisingly straight-forward (I believe its also a shorter exam).

Bio has a higher pass rate than psych. I'm not sure if that's b/c the test for bio is easier or the population of kids who take it is more uniform.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid took Psych today. She is one of the kids v. worried about AP Bio, and said Psych was surprisingly straight-forward (I believe its also a shorter exam).

Bio has a higher pass rate than psych. I'm not sure if that's b/c the test for bio is easier or the population of kids who take it is more uniform.

I think AP is seen as an “easy” AP class so it probably has students who aren’t as academically strong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid took Psych today. She is one of the kids v. worried about AP Bio, and said Psych was surprisingly straight-forward (I believe its also a shorter exam).

Bio has a higher pass rate than psych. I'm not sure if that's b/c the test for bio is easier or the population of kids who take it is more uniform.

I think AP is seen as an “easy” AP class so it probably has students who aren’t as academically strong.

Do you mean AP psych? I think that's true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid took Psych today. She is one of the kids v. worried about AP Bio, and said Psych was surprisingly straight-forward (I believe its also a shorter exam).

Bio has a higher pass rate than psych. I'm not sure if that's b/c the test for bio is easier or the population of kids who take it is more uniform.

True overall in 2023 but the distribution was different. More kids got a 5 on Psych, the number of 4s was about equal, and more kids got a 3 on Bio. So while more students pass Bio v. Psych, they do so with slightly lower scores.

DD said Psych wasn’t bad. The MCQs were a bit more wordy and took longer than what the teacher had been giving them all year and several of DDs classmates did not finish that section but the rest was straightforward. DD isn’t great with memorization which was a disadvantage in this class but she did learn a lot. APUSH, Lang and Bio to go.

Honestly, 5s would be nice but I’m not stressed about potential college credit and DD can simply not include scores when submitting apps. If she gets a 2 or better on Lang so she gets her last verified credit (writing) then I consider AP testing a success.

[Anonymous]

My kids need 5's all round for UK universities.

[Anonymous]

Are there any good AP Comp A teachers?
My kid told me 3/4 of their class left the FRQ papers totally empty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids need 5's all round for UK universities.

There are some AP teachers that don’t do any prep so it’s not fair for the kids.