How involved are you in prep for AP exams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach an AP course.

I’ve taught the entire curriculum, explained format and structure and test taking tips, and given kids oodles of practice tests. It would not cross my mind that parents had to do anything. Your kids have this! Buy them the prep book if they ask for it, feed them well and make sure they get enough sleep, and let them know that a test does not determine their worth and you love them with straight 5s or 1s.

This. My kids are in college and I never did anything for them other than discuss how to stand up to their high school coach to say they needed to leave practice to prepare for the exams. We never bought prep books. Both kids got 5 on most of the tests. Our biggest problem throughout high school was the coaches who never really cared about their kid's academics and never gave them a break around ap testing.

This is rich. Most coaches would say, feel free to miss practice and by the way don’t barher coming to the next game. There is no “standing up” to coaches - they have policies and you don’t follow, you accept the consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach an AP course.

I’ve taught the entire curriculum, explained format and structure and test taking tips, and given kids oodles of practice tests. It would not cross my mind that parents had to do anything. Your kids have this! Buy them the prep book if they ask for it, feed them well and make sure they get enough sleep, and let them know that a test does not determine their worth and you love them with straight 5s or 1s.

This. My kids are in college and I never did anything for them other than discuss how to stand up to their high school coach to say they needed to leave practice to prepare for the exams. We never bought prep books. Both kids got 5 on most of the tests. Our biggest problem throughout high school was the coaches who never really cared about their kid's academics and never gave them a break around ap testing.

This is rich. Most coaches would say, feel free to miss practice and by the way don’t barher coming to the next game. There is no “standing up” to coaches - they have policies and you don’t follow, you accept the consequences.

This is why they need to change how sports work in MCPS. They have their priorities all wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have to submit them to colleges, they care more about gpa.

what an ignorant and unhelpful comment

it is not ignorant at all. Two college counselors have said this to me. The college can not assume the kid took the test-they cost money- so the grade you get in the course matters more to them than if you submit an AP test score or not. Kids who do not submit scores are not penalized since they can assume they took the test. If hoping to get college credit this doesn’t apply. Why is that unhelpful info?

There are many colleges who require strong AP test grades. If you want to go to Montgomery college I'm sure it doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Last year my kid studied and got a 2. I think that had something to do with the truncated online school year... And also with their lack of interest in the subject, but from their perspective, they worked hard and didn't do we.

So this year I am hands off. I'm not even sure they're going to take the tests. Im more concerned that they learn something in the classes than pick the right circles...

The IB tests next year, however, they're another story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have to submit them to colleges, they care more about gpa.

what an ignorant and unhelpful comment

it is not ignorant at all. Two college counselors have said this to me. The college can not assume the kid took the test-they cost money- so the grade you get in the course matters more to them than if you submit an AP test score or not. Kids who do not submit scores are not penalized since they can assume they took the test. If hoping to get college credit this doesn’t apply. Why is that unhelpful info?

There are many colleges who require strong AP test grades. If you want to go to Montgomery college I'm sure it doesn't matter.

If you're the kind of parent who thinks this, more power to you. A lot of us don't want to send our kids to your "prestige" institutions for engineering anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year my kid studied and got a 2. I think that had something to do with the truncated online school year... And also with their lack of interest in the subject, but from their perspective, they worked hard and didn't do we.

So this year I am hands off. I'm not even sure they're going to take the tests. Im more concerned that they learn something in the classes than pick the right circles...

The IB tests next year, however, they're another story.

So the AP test is unimportant, but IB tests are important???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach an AP course.

I’ve taught the entire curriculum, explained format and structure and test taking tips, and given kids oodles of practice tests. It would not cross my mind that parents had to do anything. Your kids have this! Buy them the prep book if they ask for it, feed them well and make sure they get enough sleep, and let them know that a test does not determine their worth and you love them with straight 5s or 1s.

This. My kids are in college and I never did anything for them other than discuss how to stand up to their high school coach to say they needed to leave practice to prepare for the exams. We never bought prep books. Both kids got 5 on most of the tests. Our biggest problem throughout high school was the coaches who never really cared about their kid's academics and never gave them a break around ap testing.

This is rich. Most coaches would say, feel free to miss practice and by the way don’t barher coming to the next game. There is no “standing up” to coaches - they have policies and you don’t follow, you accept the consequences.

This is why they need to change how sports work in MCPS. They have their priorities all wrong.

This is how sports work. You don't have to opt in, but if you do, you give it your all. (And you make time the full year long to be prepared on the academic front.) One reason that universities reward students for intense extracurriculars is that they know that it's really challenging to do well in school while also dedicating yourself deeply to other things. They wouldn't give such a bump in admissions to someone doing intramural sports when they have a little free time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have to submit them to colleges, they care more about gpa.

what an ignorant and unhelpful comment

it is not ignorant at all. Two college counselors have said this to me. The college can not assume the kid took the test-they cost money- so the grade you get in the course matters more to them than if you submit an AP test score or not. Kids who do not submit scores are not penalized since they can assume they took the test. If hoping to get college credit this doesn’t apply. Why is that unhelpful info?

Colleges definitely look more at gpa. But at many high schools, all of the kids have the same tough schedule and have As (since this is MCPS) so AP scores differentiate you from the other applicants. I'm always confused when admissions officers say that something (submitting SAT scores, AP scores, whatever) can 'help' you but not 'hurt' you. It's a zero sum game-- if some kids are helped by submitting high scores then by definition, others are hurt by not doing it. It's not that they take points off on your application. But they put it in the stack below the others who are strong on all fronts.

My oldest went through the application process last year and I remember being torn about whether to submit the scores where she got a 3. Ultimately decided that if we were submitting the 5s, they would assume we took all of the tests for which she took AP and might assume she got even lower than 3 if we didn't submit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach an AP course.

I’ve taught the entire curriculum, explained format and structure and test taking tips, and given kids oodles of practice tests. It would not cross my mind that parents had to do anything. Your kids have this! Buy them the prep book if they ask for it, feed them well and make sure they get enough sleep, and let them know that a test does not determine their worth and you love them with straight 5s or 1s.

This. My kids are in college and I never did anything for them other than discuss how to stand up to their high school coach to say they needed to leave practice to prepare for the exams. We never bought prep books. Both kids got 5 on most of the tests. Our biggest problem throughout high school was the coaches who never really cared about their kid's academics and never gave them a break around ap testing.

This is rich. Most coaches would say, feel free to miss practice and by the way don’t barher coming to the next game. There is no “standing up” to coaches - they have policies and you don’t follow, you accept the consequences.

This is why they need to change how sports work in MCPS. They have their priorities all wrong.

This is how sports work. You don't have to opt in, but if you do, you give it your all. (And you make time the full year long to be prepared on the academic front.) One reason that universities reward students for intense extracurriculars is that they know that it's really challenging to do well in school while also dedicating yourself deeply to other things. They wouldn't give such a bump in admissions to someone doing intramural sports when they have a little free time.

This. My kid did a bunch of APs while running XC, indoor and outdoor track every year. All 5s but one 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing other than ask how it’s going.

What would you have done/said if they responded that it was not going well and they were extremely stressed?

Troubleshoot, see if they needed help in content vs. a study schedule, reassure outcome nbd.

And if they said "I'm just not getting it and I don't know if I have time to figure it all out?!"

I would have said that there's no way to learn/understand an entire AP course in a few weeks, so at this point of the year they should just relax, review what they're most confident in, and do their best.
After the test is over, I'd probably sit down with them and discuss more appropriate course selection for next year so they don't get themselves into this mess again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have to submit them to colleges, they care more about gpa.

what an ignorant and unhelpful comment

it is not ignorant at all. Two college counselors have said this to me. The college can not assume the kid took the test-they cost money- so the grade you get in the course matters more to them than if you submit an AP test score or not. Kids who do not submit scores are not penalized since they can assume they took the test. If hoping to get college credit this doesn’t apply. Why is that unhelpful info?

There are many colleges who require strong AP test grades. If you want to go to Montgomery college I'm sure it doesn't matter.

They *require* strong AP class GRADES, they do not require the AP test scores as part of admissions. The can not assume a student even took the test since the tests each cost about 100 dollars. The vast majority of applicants to elite colleges apply from public high schools, as you know. It is not a required part of the admissions process, and does not sway outcomes.
GRADES and rigor of courses taken matter for admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have to submit them to colleges, they care more about gpa.

what an ignorant and unhelpful comment

it is not ignorant at all. Two college counselors have said this to me. The college can not assume the kid took the test-they cost money- so the grade you get in the course matters more to them than if you submit an AP test score or not. Kids who do not submit scores are not penalized since they can assume they took the test. If hoping to get college credit this doesn’t apply. Why is that unhelpful info?

There are many colleges who require strong AP test grades. If you want to go to Montgomery college I'm sure it doesn't matter.

They *require* strong AP class GRADES, they do not require the AP test scores as part of admissions. The can not assume a student even took the test since the tests each cost about 100 dollars. The vast majority of applicants to elite colleges apply from public high schools, as you know. It is not a required part of the admissions process, and does not sway outcomes.
GRADES and rigor of courses taken matter for admissions.

First, PP, each college is different.

Grades at some high schools are meaningless because a quarter of the school has a 4.0 or higher. Submitting your scores is a good idea. Kids who are FARMS get free AP testing. Kids who are above FARMS are often eligible for some subsidy. Kids who are above that can babysit for a couple of nights to cover the cost. Do colleges require it, no. Is it a good idea to send your scores? Yes. I'm sorry, but in the back of their mind is the idea that your score was too low to share. There are plenty of kids who have high grades in an AP class, but a low score, which shows that the class was ineffective and the grades are not reflective of rigor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious how parents are approaching this.

Scenario: Your kid has their first AP exam next week. Freshman. This kid has lofty goals for themselves and you want to enable them to achieve those goals.

How as a parent do you approach this? How, if at all, do you engage?

Depends -
are you or your child really counting on the AP courses for getting credit in college or just using the AP courses to look good when they apply for college? If so, there should definitely be a plan of study in place unless your child is easily getting an A and can get a high enough score on a practice test.

Just taking the class isn't going to do much to help out come college application time. Getting a score that would get a student college credit is needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year my kid studied and got a 2. I think that had something to do with the truncated online school year... And also with their lack of interest in the subject, but from their perspective, they worked hard and didn't do we.

So this year I am hands off. I'm not even sure they're going to take the tests. Im more concerned that they learn something in the classes than pick the right circles...

The IB tests next year, however, they're another story.

Weird my kids were in online school too but managed to get a 5 so that excuse seems a bit thin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year my kid studied and got a 2. I think that had something to do with the truncated online school year... And also with their lack of interest in the subject, but from their perspective, they worked hard and didn't do we.

So this year I am hands off. I'm not even sure they're going to take the tests. Im more concerned that they learn something in the classes than pick the right circles...

The IB tests next year, however, they're another story.

Weird my kids were in online school too but managed to get a 5 so that excuse seems a bit thin.

It depends on the exam. Some are a lot tougher than others