AP tests—why??

[Anonymous]

Ok, anonymous forum. For those in private that no longer have AP classes, why are you having your kids take a bunch of AP tests? What does it get you?

[Anonymous]

College credit.

—parent with a college student who is getting a BA and masters in 4 years.

[Anonymous]

I think it is because parents are anxious with how hard it is to get their kids into the colleges they dream of their kid going and they have been trained by the college board to think every drop of AP counts... AOs think differently.

[Anonymous]

Post-COVID an A has less meaning than before, but a 4 or 5 earned on a related subject level exam displays seriousness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Post-COVID an A has less meaning than before, but a 4 or 5 earned on a related subject level exam displays seriousness.

+1 These are nationally comparable independently graded tests. Maybe your private school is very well regarded for rigor, but most are not.

[Anonymous]

It's an arms race, OP.

At my friend's public school magnet, which has its own rigorous curriculum, distinct from and more advanced than the rest of the public school district, the kids are self-studying APs and taking the exams on their own... because they are competing with their classmates for Ivy spots and any third-party-verified achievement can act as a differentiator.

Please understand that colleges have soft quotas from each school, which means that for schools without external exams, taking an AP is a distinguishing mark compared to your classmate who did not. Same goes for any other award/competition organized by a reputable third party.

[Anonymous]

Only for the college credit. I really don’t think AP test scores matter for admission. The senior year ones arrive too late so it would only be the ones before that in an application. The class grade matters obviously but 4/5s are not going to impress anyone.

[Anonymous]

I think it is a combo of college credit and showing initiative to study a topic on your own (like music theory) that your high school may not teach.

[Anonymous]

Mine did not. Her school discouraged sitting for the exams. Missing school for the exam was not excused and teachers continued to teach new content during the AP exam week that students were responsible for during finals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine did not. Her school discouraged sitting for the exams. Missing school for the exam was not excused and teachers continued to teach new content during the AP exam week that students were responsible for during finals.

Which is pretty awesome for those kids for whom getting that college credit means saving some money. You know, the kids on a budget for college.

Oh well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's an arms race, OP.

At my friend's public school magnet, which has its own rigorous curriculum, distinct from and more advanced than the rest of the public school district, the kids are self-studying APs and taking the exams on their own... because they are competing with their classmates for Ivy spots and any third-party-verified achievement can act as a differentiator.

Please understand that colleges have soft quotas from each school, which means that for schools without external exams, taking an AP is a distinguishing mark compared to your classmate who did not. Same goes for any other award/competition organized by a reputable third party.

Math isn't more advanced when kids in public go up to MVC or linear algbera.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only for the college credit. I really don’t think AP test scores matter for admission. The senior year ones arrive too late so it would only be the ones before that in an application. The class grade matters obviously but 4/5s are not going to impress anyone.

Not true at all in the abstract, but in certain situations it might not matter, specifically, when the kid already demonstrates sufficient achievement in that area. Sometimes that's fulfilled by competing in science competitions, or by being a yearbook editor and winning writing competitions, or for foreign language, taking that country's proficiency test. The problem is, OP, if someone at your non-AP school starts submitting AP scores, then it becomes a tool to stand out compared to classmates.

And of course AP exams are taken before senior year. Kids take them at any and all points in their high school career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's an arms race, OP.

At my friend's public school magnet, which has its own rigorous curriculum, distinct from and more advanced than the rest of the public school district, the kids are self-studying APs and taking the exams on their own... because they are competing with their classmates for Ivy spots and any third-party-verified achievement can act as a differentiator.

Please understand that colleges have soft quotas from each school, which means that for schools without external exams, taking an AP is a distinguishing mark compared to your classmate who did not. Same goes for any other award/competition organized by a reputable third party.

Math isn't more advanced when kids in public go up to MVC or linear algbera.

PP you replied to. Actually my own kid is in a non-magnet public and will take MVC in 11th grade. But she's part of a *minuscule cohort*. The magnet curriculum goes more in-depth, it's not just merely advanced. She did not have access to that. Colleges are aware of the differences. And AP scores or math competitions or science internships help make these kids stand out even more.

As I said. It's an arms race. Private school kids are certainly part of the arms race as well.

[Anonymous]

Private school scholarship student, who earned their bachelors degreee in 3 years instead of four, which saved an enormous amount of money. Those AP exams were worth every penny

[Anonymous]

Is it better to skip those classes in college (save $$, graduate faster) or (re)take them for the college GPA boost?