AP Tests this week, how are we feeling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have quick resources (similar to Khan Academy) for AP French? My kid has been blowing off studying because their college doesn't have a language requirement (and because they had four other APs) but has not decided to try to go for it so they can get general credit. The Reading section is their biggest challenge, but any suggestions (now that there's <48 hours to go) would be helpful. Wherever you think the low-hanging fruit might be. Thanks!

Désolé. C’est trop tard.

Je suis d'accord, mais il a reçu deux medailles d'or dans le Grand Concours. Donc, j'espère qu'il pourra le faire. Il ne doit marquer qu'un 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have quick resources (similar to Khan Academy) for AP French? My kid has been blowing off studying because their college doesn't have a language requirement (and because they had four other APs) but has not decided to try to go for it so they can get general credit. The Reading section is their biggest challenge, but any suggestions (now that there's <48 hours to go) would be helpful. Wherever you think the low-hanging fruit might be. Thanks!

You might phone Princeton Review and see if they have a tutor who can give you 2 hours. its unlikely as they tend to start with 10 hour minimums but you can ask.

Its a very difficult AP.

Great idea - thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have quick resources (similar to Khan Academy) for AP French? My kid has been blowing off studying because their college doesn't have a language requirement (and because they had four other APs) but has not decided to try to go for it so they can get general credit. The Reading section is their biggest challenge, but any suggestions (now that there's <48 hours to go) would be helpful. Wherever you think the low-hanging fruit might be. Thanks!

You might phone Princeton Review and see if they have a tutor who can give you 2 hours. its unlikely as they tend to start with 10 hour minimums but you can ask.

Its a very difficult AP.

Great idea - thank you!

Or try Wyzant. They're all independent contractors so they charge by the hour. You can find someone who has time over the next 48 hours. We've had great luck with finding tutors on there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child has her first AP tomorrow as a sophomore: AP Pre-Calc. This is the first year this AP has been offered so old tests were not available. She has been prepping outside of class with a tutor I found. We’ll see?

(And, if I am understanding correctly from the discussion, I need to make sure she a) does not select the “free report” sent to colleges she will eventually designate? And b) check to see if school reports AP scores on the transcript sent to colleges?)

My kid is also doing Pre Calc test tomorrow. We SUPER regret signing up for it. It’s pointless, and no one has done it before so there’s very little information on it.

Don't regret it. The experience of taking the exam will help your child on future exams.

Students have a lot of practice with exams already. Adding on another AP test just adds to stress and reduces the time that students can spend preparing for other APs that do matter. If the AP Precalc credit was useful, that would be one thing. But for kids that intend to take calculus in high school, the AP Precalc credit is not useful.

Yes, this is where I’m finding myself. It added unnecessary stress. Oh well, lesson learned. But it’s definitely something to be aware of for next year’s students. Skip it.

[Anonymous]

Our private HS REQUIRES everyone to take the AP exam for the AP class. If you don't, you will not pass/get credit for the AP course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have quick resources (similar to Khan Academy) for AP French? My kid has been blowing off studying because their college doesn't have a language requirement (and because they had four other APs) but has not decided to try to go for it so they can get general credit. The Reading section is their biggest challenge, but any suggestions (now that there's <48 hours to go) would be helpful. Wherever you think the low-hanging fruit might be. Thanks!

You might phone Princeton Review and see if they have a tutor who can give you 2 hours. its unlikely as they tend to start with 10 hour minimums but you can ask.

Its a very difficult AP.

Great idea - thank you!

Or try Wyzant. They're all independent contractors so they charge by the hour. You can find someone who has time over the next 48 hours. We've had great luck with finding tutors on there.

Wyzant Is the clearest example why an open market and supporting small businesses and independent contractors provides the best services for residents of a particular country. The tutoring that my kids were able to get through school sponsored tutoring websites was very poor, this would be an example of socialism at its best-which of course is always worst. An example of big business taking over was when I stupidly paid a bunch of money to a local company to provide sat tutoring for my a kid, I gave this company so much money and now I'm stuck with mediocre (at best) tutoring. The absolutely best tutors we have found was Wyzant because they get to decide how much they charge to get to keep everything except for small fee for the website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Our private HS REQUIRES everyone to take the AP exam for the AP class. If you don't, you will not pass/get credit for the AP course.

Why do schools do this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Our private HS REQUIRES everyone to take the AP exam for the AP class. If you don't, you will not pass/get credit for the AP course.

Why do schools do this?

It provides them a measure of how they are doing teaching the material; it is a lesson in follow through for the students; it allows them to market the results; its the kid of test student will face in college so it is a part of the college prep process; etc.

Personally, I don't understand why any school would allow the exam to be optional. That makes zero sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Our private HS REQUIRES everyone to take the AP exam for the AP class. If you don't, you will not pass/get credit for the AP course.

Why do schools do this?

It provides them a measure of how they are doing teaching the material; it is a lesson in follow through for the students; it allows them to market the results; its the kid of test student will face in college so it is a part of the college prep process; etc.

Personally, I don't understand why any school would allow the exam to be optional. That makes zero sense.

Some students don't want to take the exam and doodle on their exam book instead of filling it out. What is gained there? The school adds a one to their class average and the student is frustrated sitting there. Plus, some districts pay for the exam which is an even bigger waste.

From a student perspective, it makes even more sense for schools not to require it. There is a wide range of AP teachers. Some are superb. Others don't follow the AP syllabus and may teach very little of the required material. Students may not recognize the latter situation until near the end of the course and then they're stuck. There may not be time to cover everything on their own but they're required to take an exam they're not prepared for. If students are in that situation, they should be given the option not to take the exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child has her first AP tomorrow as a sophomore: AP Pre-Calc. This is the first year this AP has been offered so old tests were not available. She has been prepping outside of class with a tutor I found. We’ll see?

(And, if I am understanding correctly from the discussion, I need to make sure she a) does not select the “free report” sent to colleges she will eventually designate? And b) check to see if school reports AP scores on the transcript sent to colleges?)

My kid is also doing Pre Calc test tomorrow. We SUPER regret signing up for it. It’s pointless, and no one has done it before so there’s very little information on it.

Don't regret it. The experience of taking the exam will help your child on future exams.

Just dropped my kid off for Pre-calc and no regrets here either.

Kid has zero angst over this one. He will be STEM major.
Also in a HS that doesn't give gpa boost unless student takes the exam.
Sees it as practice on a math AP since he'll take BC Calc exam next year.

[Anonymous]

Calc BC went well for my 11th grade son today. I was shocked to see that last year, 43% of kids got 5s. I assume it’s because if you’re in the class and doing well, it’s straightforward?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Calc BC went well for my 11th grade son today. I was shocked to see that last year, 43% of kids got 5s. I assume it’s because if you’re in the class and doing well, it’s straightforward?

With classes like BC Calc or Physics C, you have to remember that there are fewer kids taking the test and they are a self-selected group who are particularly interested in/good at the subject, likely are students with good study habits and discipline too, and that adds up to a higher percentage doing well on the AP vs an AP class that many more students across the country take because it’s offered more, easier, or whatever, but then many of those students don’t do well in the class or don’t study effectively and therefore do poorly on the AP exam. Those percentages of 5s on the tests aren’t directly comparable among the exams and should not be taken as an indicator of how easy or hard the test is. An easier test may have a very low percentage of 5s because many more lower-performing students take it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have quick resources (similar to Khan Academy) for AP French? My kid has been blowing off studying because their college doesn't have a language requirement (and because they had four other APs) but has not decided to try to go for it so they can get general credit. The Reading section is their biggest challenge, but any suggestions (now that there's <48 hours to go) would be helpful. Wherever you think the low-hanging fruit might be. Thanks!

You might phone Princeton Review and see if they have a tutor who can give you 2 hours. its unlikely as they tend to start with 10 hour minimums but you can ask.

Its a very difficult AP.

Great idea - thank you!

Or try Wyzant. They're all independent contractors so they charge by the hour. You can find someone who has time over the next 48 hours. We've had great luck with finding tutors on there.

NO. I strongly advise against Wyzant. We tried about 5 math tutors, none of whom knew the curriculum, several of whom made mutiple mistakes. The tutors on Wyzant are not vetted for their skills, they're unemployed randos looking to make some cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Calc BC went well for my 11th grade son today. I was shocked to see that last year, 43% of kids got 5s. I assume it’s because if you’re in the class and doing well, it’s straightforward?

With classes like BC Calc or Physics C, you have to remember that there are fewer kids taking the test and they are a self-selected group who are particularly interested in/good at the subject, likely are students with good study habits and discipline too, and that adds up to a higher percentage doing well on the AP vs an AP class that many more students across the country take because it’s offered more, easier, or whatever, but then many of those students don’t do well in the class or don’t study effectively and therefore do poorly on the AP exam. Those percentages of 5s on the tests aren’t directly comparable among the exams and should not be taken as an indicator of how easy or hard the test is. An easier test may have a very low percentage of 5s because many more lower-performing students take it.

Good point makes total sense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have quick resources (similar to Khan Academy) for AP French? My kid has been blowing off studying because their college doesn't have a language requirement (and because they had four other APs) but has not decided to try to go for it so they can get general credit. The Reading section is their biggest challenge, but any suggestions (now that there's <48 hours to go) would be helpful. Wherever you think the low-hanging fruit might be. Thanks!

You might phone Princeton Review and see if they have a tutor who can give you 2 hours. its unlikely as they tend to start with 10 hour minimums but you can ask.

Its a very difficult AP.

Great idea - thank you!

Or try Wyzant. They're all independent contractors so they charge by the hour. You can find someone who has time over the next 48 hours. We've had great luck with finding tutors on there.

NO. I strongly advise against Wyzant. We tried about 5 math tutors, none of whom knew the curriculum, several of whom made mutiple mistakes. The tutors on Wyzant are not vetted for their skills, they're unemployed randos looking to make some cash.

You need to improve your data analysis skills. We have had amazing success with every tutor we worked with--way better than DMV teachers or tutoring centers.