New College Focus on AP Tests and GDS

[Anonymous]

A couple of related items are important to remember. An applicant is judged in context of the school's curriculum. If the school does not offer AP's then there is no expectation that AP tests will be taken. Two, the lack of AP's does not seem to be negatively affecting GDS's college acceptances. They are very strong this year.

More importantly, keep in mind how the schools use things like GPA, SAT/ACT, AP's, etc. It's to determine if the applicant can do the work. In a recent podcast, the Dean of Admissions from Dartmouth said of the 29k applicants last year, 22k met the minimum level of academic competence for admission. Then the focus was on the rest of the application, essays, EC's, recommendations.

Finally, as a GDS US parent, I'm glad that my DC does not have to stress about AP's. 11th and 12th grades are hard enough.

[Anonymous]

NP, don't have a kid at this high school, just an observation: a kid at such a high school should be expected to have a sufficient SAT or ACT if they want to attend a school at the level of Yale.

[Anonymous]

The privates not having AP classes definitely hurts their students in college admissions. Public school kids applying to top 20 colleges now routinely have 10+ AP test results to report. Sidwell and GDS kids have a lot less APs and this hurts admission chances at a lot of colleges. Colleges don't have time any more to "really know the rigor" of these small private DC schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP, don't have a kid at this high school, just an observation: a kid at such a high school should be expected to have a sufficient SAT or ACT if they want to attend a school at the level of Yale.

True...but if Yale will also consider AP scores for admission, it ups the arms race. Who is a better applicant...the kid with a 1520 and no AP results, or the kid with a 1450 and 10 5s on 10 AP tests?

[Anonymous]

AP scores are now important in college admissions. Most kids getting into Yale will need both near perfect SAT/ACT plus 10+ AP scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP scores are now important in college admissions. Most kids getting into Yale will need both near perfect SAT/ACT plus 10+ AP scores.

That’s my kid. We will find out next month…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, don't have a kid at this high school, just an observation: a kid at such a high school should be expected to have a sufficient SAT or ACT if they want to attend a school at the level of Yale.

True...but if Yale will also consider AP scores for admission, it ups the arms race. Who is a better applicant...the kid with a 1520 and no AP results, or the kid with a 1450 and 10 5s on 10 AP tests?

Colleges know the quality/rigor of academics at Sidwell/GDS. So the kid with a 1520 will come out ahead IMO. Not having APs does not harm the elite private HS kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP scores are now important in college admissions. Most kids getting into Yale will need both near perfect SAT/ACT plus 10+ AP scores.

The only place I think this sentiment is going to occur is in threads on DCUM, where plenty of posters incorrectly think that rigor is a race for the most APs rather than an academic threshold.

[Anonymous]

GDS sophomore and junior parents - please consider petitioning the CCO to make sure that they offer AP testing on campus. Hopefully it's not too late for this spring, but if not, for next year.
It is in the students' best interest to have opportunities to show off to college admissions how well prepared GDS students are for college. I never bought the BS that test optional was truly test optional (this was *never* the case universally), and it seems like the data and trend towards re-instating test required/flexible/preferred is validating this hunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP scores are now important in college admissions. Most kids getting into Yale will need both near perfect SAT/ACT plus 10+ AP scores.

The only place I think this sentiment is going to occur is in threads on DCUM, where plenty of posters incorrectly think that rigor is a race for the most APs rather than an academic threshold.

No one is saying that. All we are saying (and I'm a GDS parent BTW) is why is GDS not offering AP TESTING on campus any more? If there are motivated kids who want to take the test, why do they have to scramble and call a dozen schools in the area to see who will take an outside student on test day in May.

Just a simple question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a fan of the AP industrial complex generally, but having said that, isn't it the case that you would not be expected to take APs if your school does not offer AP classes? My kids went to a BIg 3 school with only one or two AP classes. They took several more exams but only reported the results if they did well. Seemed to work out fine.

My private, in a different metro, does not offer courses labeled “AP” - and never did that in the past. The school does now, and always has, provided optional-to-take on-campus AP exams in May across all the subjects it offers. Most students score a 3 or better, while many students score a 4 or better. Other, better known and more highly ranked, privates across the country also do roughly the same thing (i.e., no courses labeled AP, but on-campus AP Exam taking every May for students who choose). So this practice is pretty common (not universal) across the USA among the better private schools.

[Anonymous]

I am saying that racking up a lot of APs is important for admissions to many colleges. A lot of colleges don't really care that much that your kid went to Sidwell or GDS. Comparing different high schools is very subjective, but counting up the number of 5s on AP tests is quantitative and can be easily utilized in admissions algorithms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A couple of related items are important to remember. An applicant is judged in context of the school's curriculum. If the school does not offer AP's then there is no expectation that AP tests will be taken. Two, the lack of AP's does not seem to be negatively affecting GDS's college acceptances. They are very strong this year.

More importantly, keep in mind how the schools use things like GPA, SAT/ACT, AP's, etc. It's to determine if the applicant can do the work. In a recent podcast, the Dean of Admissions from Dartmouth said of the 29k applicants last year, 22k met the minimum level of academic competence for admission. Then the focus was on the rest of the application, essays, EC's, recommendations.

Finally, as a GDS US parent, I'm glad that my DC does not have to stress about AP's. 11th and 12th grades are hard enough.

Agree to disagree on this. Also a GDS HS parent - why should kids who want to study for and take the AP tests for subjects where they have done advanced GDS coursework have to call multiple schools around the area to see who can take non-students on testing day?

Bad policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, don't have a kid at this high school, just an observation: a kid at such a high school should be expected to have a sufficient SAT or ACT if they want to attend a school at the level of Yale.

True...but if Yale will also consider AP scores for admission, it ups the arms race. Who is a better applicant...the kid with a 1520 and no AP results, or the kid with a 1450 and 10 5s on 10 AP tests?

Colleges know the quality/rigor of academics at Sidwell/GDS. So the kid with a 1520 will come out ahead IMO. Not having APs does not harm the elite private HS kids

Except the Sidwell kid has a 1520 and has probably 5-7 5s on AP tests as well...and yes, Sidwell kids are taking the tests even though they don't offer an AP class. So, who is better now?

I think that is what you are missing...the Sidwell kid is still able to sit for AP tests and is taking the tests and doing well. The GDS kid can not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The privates not having AP classes definitely hurts their students in college admissions. Public school kids applying to top 20 colleges now routinely have 10+ AP test results to report. Sidwell and GDS kids have a lot less APs and this hurts admission chances at a lot of colleges. Colleges don't have time any more to "really know the rigor" of these small private DC schools.

What evidence do you have for this? Overall, the percentage of private school graduates at top colleges is disproportionate to their actual numbers.