AP tests—why??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It is true that if you are aiming for a top college, with a stellar GPA, getting 5s on AP exams is so basic nobody would care. However if you are aiming much lower it is possible it would help.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised no one has thrown out "Yale wants to see AP scores" yet.

You can tell DCUM until you're blue on the face that AP exam scores barely count for admissions at the overwhelming majority of schools. You can remind it that most students won't even have taken half or more of their AP exams before getting college application results because for most students senior year is the most AP heavy.

Etc.

They will still insist that they matter.

They're wrong.

[Anonymous]

My kids took AP tests even though their privates didn’t offer APs to place out of foreign language, writing 1 and calc 1 and 2 in college. College Calc 2 is harder than high school AP BC and if they aren’t pursuing further math or conversely have very high math mastery, why would they want to take it again? Same for foreign language.

For my kids colleges, AP credits in general will also count toward the year they are in school. This comes in handy to be able to take upper division courses normally reserved for juniors and seniors early—makes it easier to fit in a minor.

My kids barely studied for the APs exams and got all 4s/5s—their DMV private courses sufficiently prepared them. Their math teachers even hosted mini-review sessions.

So for $500-600 for their AP exams taken at MOCO publics, my kids got credit for 5-6 college courses which was totally worth it.

[Anonymous]

Also keep public school kids will be coming into college with 10+ APs and possibly some dual enrollment credits so depending on the college, kids without any AP credits will be starting behind many peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised no one has thrown out "Yale wants to see AP scores" yet.

You can tell DCUM until you're blue on the face that AP exam scores barely count for admissions at the overwhelming majority of schools. You can remind it that most students won't even have taken half or more of their AP exams before getting college application results because for most students senior year is the most AP heavy.

Etc.

They will still insist that they matter.

They're wrong.

Perhaps not for admissions but they do matter if you are on a college budget. But it seems you wouldn’t know anything about that.

[Anonymous]

Just don’t pretend that the three year HYP experience is equivalent to or better than the four year one. You’re choosing to see undergrad as transactional but many if not most of us don’t.

[Anonymous]

Why private schools eliminated AP courses but kept the exams? Doesn’t make much sense. It looks like a downgrade of the product.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why private schools eliminated AP courses but kept the exams? Doesn’t make much sense. It looks like a downgrade of the product.

Ours didn’t keep the exams. We have to go to MOCO publics or Basis McLean and pay to take them. Works out fine though. They are super organized, provide the chrome books, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just don’t pretend that the three year HYP experience is equivalent to or better than the four year one. You’re choosing to see undergrad as transactional but many if not most of us don’t.

No one is gunning for a 3 year HYP experience. Many kids are going on to publics where kids without APs will be behind their peers coming in with tons of credit. It allows flexibility of taking more different courses versus retaking a language or math they’ve already taken.

[Anonymous]

Another reason could be if a kid is taking a subject at a high rigor school that doesn't give out a lot of As, if you get a 5 by self studying and taking an AP in that subject it may mitigate the high school grade- i.e., demonstrates that they are capable of doing college level work in that subject even if their grades don't reflect that.

However, who knows? It's not a substitute for getting an A.

At the end of the day, my child decided to take a few of them because he's not required to report the scores so he studied but didn't prioritize APs over his coursework and if he does well he will submit otherwise it he won't. Obviously there is lost time in studying and the few hours of taking the exam (and the cost!) but it seemed to him like there wasn't a lot of risk in at least trying to take the exam. Also, even if his school doesn't list his courses as APs, they cover roughly 80% of the AP material (more in some cases like literature) so self studying wasn't as hard as he expected. I think the trickiest part is figuring out the rubrics and the specifics of AP test taking like the DBQ for APUSH, not the substance.

[Anonymous]

I have admissions experience, and AP scores absolutely are a valuable addition to an application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just don’t pretend that the three year HYP experience is equivalent to or better than the four year one. You’re choosing to see undergrad as transactional but many if not most of us don’t.

No one is gunning for a 3 year HYP experience. Many kids are going on to publics where kids without APs will be behind their peers coming in with tons of credit. It allows flexibility of taking more different courses versus retaking a language or math they’ve already taken.

Most colleges also offer placement tests for math and language. If you don’t have an AP score to use, take the placement test. There’s no reason to retake material you’ve already learned unless you actually want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

If taken junior year or earlier, and the score is favorable (4 or 5), it can help with admissions chances at some colleges. Exceptions will exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why private schools eliminated AP courses but kept the exams? Doesn’t make much sense. It looks like a downgrade of the product.

My private never had any courses labeled AP. They have offered AP tests on campus for 50+ years however.

[Anonymous]

DS is halfway through his college minor after freshman year thanks to AP scores and high ACT scores.

DD may finish in 3 years due to AP credit. Will start graduate degree in year 4.