How is the elimination of APs going for your DC

[Anonymous]

There are only 2-3 in DC that can actually get away with it due to the name recognition of the schools and who has attended. The rest are kidding themselves and doing their kids a disservice. We plan to go back to the UK for university and APs are a must for those applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP's results let a a college know where you stand relative to hundreds of thousands of other students applying to colleges.

If you can get a 5 in a subject like APUSH (12.8% of students get a 5); AP English (9.8% of students get a 5); Ap Biology (16.8% get a 5) or AP Chem (17.9% get a 5).

Or even a 4 in AP English (your are in the top 30% of students) or a 3 (you are in the top 54 % of students.

Not having those results makes it harder for colleges to know how you rank academically.

If you’re at a top private school, the colleges you are likely applying to already know your school, and will know how you are relative to your class even if there is no official ranking. You don’t need to take APs to be distinguishing yourself amongst a cast of thousands.

Admission’s isn’t the whole story.

Is there no student at a top private school interested in getting credit for APs that will allow them to test out of introductory courses, fulfill general requirements or graduate early? None of them are on a budget for college?

Of course there are. Those families either prioritized the availability of AP classes when choosing their HS, or the student is taking AP exams on their own.

Not acc to the PP who says you don’t need to take APs.

Why don’t these schools support kids who are on a budget for college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-3 in DC that can actually get away with it due to the name recognition of the schools and who has attended. The rest are kidding themselves and doing their kids a disservice. We plan to go back to the UK for university and APs are a must for those applications.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-3 in DC that can actually get away with it due to the name recognition of the schools and who has attended. The rest are kidding themselves and doing their kids a disservice. We plan to go back to the UK for university and APs are a must for those applications.

Many posts in this thread are not differentiating between a school having a class labeled as AP and a school routinely offering/supporting students sitting AP exams.

All the local metro DC privates we have looked at, about 5 so far, offer few or zero classes labeled AP. Except for GDS, all of those schools support their students sitting the AP exams at their own school during school hours - and most have said they offer some (optional) AP exam prep for those test subjects.

I graduated from KCL. For UK admissions, the *AP test score* totally matters at most UK unis, but having the class *labeled as AP* does not matter one whit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-3 in DC that can actually get away with it due to the name recognition of the schools and who has attended. The rest are kidding themselves and doing their kids a disservice. We plan to go back to the UK for university and APs are a must for those applications.

Many posts in this thread are not differentiating between a school having a class labeled as AP and a school routinely offering/supporting students sitting AP exams.

All the local metro DC privates we have looked at, about 5 so far, offer few or zero classes labeled AP. Except for GDS, all of those schools support their students sitting the AP exams at their own school during school hours - and most have said they offer some (optional) AP exam prep for those test subjects.

I graduated from KCL. For UK admissions, the *AP test score* totally matters at most UK unis, but having the class *labeled as AP* does not matter one whit.

Correct. The point is that the schools that dropped APs have dropped formal support. Those that dropped them because they believed the rigor of their schools and the reputations would be sufficient are being disingenuous or even hypocritical if they then turn around and quietly encourage kids to prep on their own and take the class during the school day. Moreover, less informed parents that think those schools that don’t offer the classes are somehow better emotionally or academically because they don’t offer AP are likewise unsettled to then find most kids prepping and testing anyway.

[Anonymous]

My kids attended top privates here in DC. Both self studied and took 3 APs and scored 5s. One at a HYPSM and the other a top 10.

Based on their schools’ college acceptance lists, it does not matter really if one took APs or not. The grades at school and yes, unofficial rankings count more than AP scores.

Outcomes might depend on your private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-3 in DC that can actually get away with it due to the name recognition of the schools and who has attended. The rest are kidding themselves and doing their kids a disservice. We plan to go back to the UK for university and APs are a must for those applications.

Many posts in this thread are not differentiating between a school having a class labeled as AP and a school routinely offering/supporting students sitting AP exams.

All the local metro DC privates we have looked at, about 5 so far, offer few or zero classes labeled AP. Except for GDS, all of those schools support their students sitting the AP exams at their own school during school hours - and most have said they offer some (optional) AP exam prep for those test subjects.

I graduated from KCL. For UK admissions, the *AP test score* totally matters at most UK unis, but having the class *labeled as AP* does not matter one whit.

Correct. The point is that the schools that dropped APs have dropped formal support. Those that dropped them because they believed the rigor of their schools and the reputations would be sufficient are being disingenuous or even hypocritical if they then turn around and quietly encourage kids to prep on their own and take the class during the school day. Moreover, less informed parents that think those schools that don’t offer the classes are somehow better emotionally or academically because they don’t offer AP are likewise unsettled to then find most kids prepping and testing anyway.

I am the above PP. My kids found the AP exams fairly easy and no real prepping was necessary. Very little stress. Found some exams, like US history, extremely easy. No pressure to get 5s, but they got them anyway.

No AP classes seem to work for these private schools.

[Anonymous]

Beyond admissions, do any students find having AP exam scores helps them get into more advanced courses sooner, makes it possible to double major or graduate early?

Is this only about admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beyond admissions, do any students find having AP exam scores helps them get into more advanced courses sooner, makes it possible to double major or graduate early?

Is this only about admissions?

Most of the schools my kids have looked at have their own placement exams for math, so they can still place out of calculus as appropriate. I don't know about other subjects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP's results let a a college know where you stand relative to hundreds of thousands of other students applying to colleges.

If you can get a 5 in a subject like APUSH (12.8% of students get a 5); AP English (9.8% of students get a 5); Ap Biology (16.8% get a 5) or AP Chem (17.9% get a 5).

Or even a 4 in AP English (your are in the top 30% of students) or a 3 (you are in the top 54 % of students.

Not having those results makes it harder for colleges to know how you rank academically.

If you’re at a top private school, the colleges you are likely applying to already know your school, and will know how you are relative to your class even if there is no official ranking. You don’t need to take APs to be distinguishing yourself amongst a cast of thousands.

Admission’s isn’t the whole story.

Is there no student at a top private school interested in getting credit for APs that will allow them to test out of introductory courses, fulfill general requirements or graduate early? None of them are on a budget for college?

Of course there are. Those families either prioritized the availability of AP classes when choosing their HS, or the student is taking AP exams on their own.

Not acc to the PP who says you don’t need to take APs.

Why don’t these schools support kids who are on a budget for college?

The person saying you don’t need to take APs is extrapolating their own preferences and declaring they fit everyone. You should be able to realize that different students might have different priorities.

That goes for schools, too. If how schools offer APs doesn’t match how a student wants to take them, they will not choose that school. The worst time is the transition period when a school stops offering APs and students who are already there want them - and you can search here for the absolute uproar that those changes made among families a couple years ago when a number of school agreed to drop APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-3 in DC that can actually get away with it due to the name recognition of the schools and who has attended. The rest are kidding themselves and doing their kids a disservice. We plan to go back to the UK for university and APs are a must for those applications.

Many posts in this thread are not differentiating between a school having a class labeled as AP and a school routinely offering/supporting students sitting AP exams.

All the local metro DC privates we have looked at, about 5 so far, offer few or zero classes labeled AP. Except for GDS, all of those schools support their students sitting the AP exams at their own school during school hours - and most have said they offer some (optional) AP exam prep for those test subjects.

I graduated from KCL. For UK admissions, the *AP test score* totally matters at most UK unis, but having the class *labeled as AP* does not matter one whit.

Correct. The point is that the schools that dropped APs have dropped formal support. Those that dropped them because they believed the rigor of their schools and the reputations would be sufficient are being disingenuous or even hypocritical if they then turn around and quietly encourage kids to prep on their own and take the class during the school day. Moreover, less informed parents that think those schools that don’t offer the classes are somehow better emotionally or academically because they don’t offer AP are likewise unsettled to then find most kids prepping and testing anyway.

The point is that class time can be spent doing something other than teaching to a test. A quality private should be able to do better than the trudge through the AP memorization sequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beyond admissions, do any students find having AP exam scores helps them get into more advanced courses sooner, makes it possible to double major or graduate early?

Is this only about admissions?

If you have enough credit hours (around 30 is ideal, but even half that is a start), you can do 2 of those 3. Both double majoring and graduating early would be tough, but you can do one or the other.

Now this depends on the school. Some top universities don't really use APs for much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-3 in DC that can actually get away with it due to the name recognition of the schools and who has attended. The rest are kidding themselves and doing their kids a disservice. We plan to go back to the UK for university and APs are a must for those applications.

Many posts in this thread are not differentiating between a school having a class labeled as AP and a school routinely offering/supporting students sitting AP exams.

All the local metro DC privates we have looked at, about 5 so far, offer few or zero classes labeled AP. Except for GDS, all of those schools support their students sitting the AP exams at their own school during school hours - and most have said they offer some (optional) AP exam prep for those test subjects.

I graduated from KCL. For UK admissions, the *AP test score* totally matters at most UK unis, but having the class *labeled as AP* does not matter one whit.

Correct. The point is that the schools that dropped APs have dropped formal support. Those that dropped them because they believed the rigor of their schools and the reputations would be sufficient are being disingenuous or even hypocritical if they then turn around and quietly encourage kids to prep on their own and take the class during the school day. Moreover, less informed parents that think those schools that don’t offer the classes are somehow better emotionally or academically because they don’t offer AP are likewise unsettled to then find most kids prepping and testing anyway.

The point is that class time can be spent doing something other than teaching to a test. A quality private should be able to do better than the trudge through the AP memorization sequences.

A quality private should be able to make an AP class more than a memorization sequence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beyond admissions, do any students find having AP exam scores helps them get into more advanced courses sooner, makes it possible to double major or graduate early?

Is this only about admissions?

It definitely makes double majoring or graduating early possible, though whether a student chooses to take advantage of that is a different question (versus lighter course load, longer study abroad in a program less relevant to major, etc.). Getting into more advanced courses sooner is maybe a bit less common as you usually are just skipping intro courses. It helps but not a ton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-3 in DC that can actually get away with it due to the name recognition of the schools and who has attended. The rest are kidding themselves and doing their kids a disservice. We plan to go back to the UK for university and APs are a must for those applications.

Many posts in this thread are not differentiating between a school having a class labeled as AP and a school routinely offering/supporting students sitting AP exams.

All the local metro DC privates we have looked at, about 5 so far, offer few or zero classes labeled AP. Except for GDS, all of those schools support their students sitting the AP exams at their own school during school hours - and most have said they offer some (optional) AP exam prep for those test subjects.

I graduated from KCL. For UK admissions, the *AP test score* totally matters at most UK unis, but having the class *labeled as AP* does not matter one whit.

Correct. The point is that the schools that dropped APs have dropped formal support. Those that dropped them because they believed the rigor of their schools and the reputations would be sufficient are being disingenuous or even hypocritical if they then turn around and quietly encourage kids to prep on their own and take the class during the school day. Moreover, less informed parents that think those schools that don’t offer the classes are somehow better emotionally or academically because they don’t offer AP are likewise unsettled to then find most kids prepping and testing anyway.

The point is that class time can be spent doing something other than teaching to a test. A quality private should be able to do better than the trudge through the AP memorization sequences.

A quality private should be able to make an AP class more than a memorization sequence.

Never hard to tell who isn't a teacher on these boards (almost everyone). If someone tells you to drive from DC to Chicago in 11-12 hours (Google's estimate), how many interesting and in-depth stops do you plan to make a long the way?

It's the same thing, more or less.