If your kids had does not offer AP classes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is at a school that offers few APs. This year, as a senior, he got permission from his school to take AP BC Calc and AP Chem online. The classes were fairly useless, he says, but I do believe this contributed to his receiving full Banneker Key at UMd. Looks good that he sought out more rigor than was available.

AP exams are pretty low level. Nobody cares anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is at a top private school with no APs, admissions will be aware of this.

If your kid is at a crappy public school in West Virginia they should take any and all APs offered and if none or very few, they need to dual enroll or seek out online learning opportunities for AP credit.

It’s one of the many reasons being wealthy is the biggest hook of all in college admissions.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I think the science and math APs are good to take and while both my kids attended top NYC privates, their school allowed them to sign up for AP exams at the school but did not teach for the AP exam so they brushed up on any topics that school did not cover.

Is this true of DC area schools? Will they proctor?

Students at privates without APs can sign up to take the tests at several MoCo publics or Basis in VA and pay for them.

This approach seems like a waste of time TBH. There seem to be two threads on this now, but AP count doesn’t directly correlate with admissions success. This is especially true when coming from a school that doesn’t offer AP courses.

So, if your child is a private that does not teach an official AP class, but your child takes them outside of class anyway, wouldn't they be compared to other students at their school? And wouldn't some of the other students in their grade take multiple AP tests also? To me, it seems more fraught because even if your child does not have to take any AP exams (in theory), a fair number do - they're just not public with how many/which ones, unlike the public school kids.

This is correct, many students at DCs private took multiple AP exams, even though the school didn’t offer AP classes. DC took 3 AP exams, and it did require quite a bit of studying outside of school, as the school went deeper on coursework, but the AP exams are broader, with a wider range material.

Yes. I think there is a bit of a method to the AP exams (like what they cover and what you need to do) that AP courses instill so private school kids need to figure out. It’s not rocket science and a good prep book will help, but I think most private school kids will have the knowledge base. They just need to know how to take the test and make sure they have covered all of the topics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is at a school that offers few APs. This year, as a senior, he got permission from his school to take AP BC Calc and AP Chem online. The classes were fairly useless, he says, but I do believe this contributed to his receiving full Banneker Key at UMd. Looks good that he sought out more rigor than was available.

AP exams are pretty low level. Nobody cares anymore.

This is depressingly accurate. College Board has *really* ramped up the pass rates for AP exams. Combo of them getting legislatures to codify requirements that state universities accept scores of 3+, and because of competition with DE, which was traditionally seen as an easier route.

On the other hand, it's probably worth sitting a few of them -- whether formally taught or not -- to help build the case that you didn't just ChatGPT your way through school.

My kids' school has very few APs offered, but they do have students occasionally sitting the exam in non-AP subjects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell Friends phased out AP courses in 2023. They are moving to the Andover model of making their own version of college-level courses.

No one will penalize the Sidwell kids I'm sure for not having APs. As long as they take the hardest classes available to them.

I hope schools doing this still consider teaching AP content to make way for students to sit for AP tests anyway. That's the most equitable path for the (few) students at these schools who are receiving financial aid: when they go to college, if they go to a state school that accepts AP credit, they can come in as a Sophomore and end up spending less at the end of the day. APs are a financial boost for bright, under-resourced kids, and private schools that claim to serve these kids should keep this in mind as a holistic approach to launching them.

The privates stopped offering APs so they could modify the curriculum, set their own pace and give their own tests which makes sense. However, you are so right that for public universities in particular, AP credits can be a great way to shave off a little time in college thus potentially reducing the price, getting better course sign up times, being able to take courses earlier, etc.. I have kids at two different DMV privates without APs and one school is much more AP friendly than the other.

One school offers AP testing on site at school and covers most of the cost (even though they don't offer the classes) and teachers specifically ask if anyone is taking APs so they can suggest areas students can self-study for the tests. The Honors Spanish teacher even says the course already prepares students for the AP. Many of the text books were AP texts as well. Since the tests are at school, many students take them and teachers seem to schedule their curriculum around kids missing classes for the tests.

The other school doesn't offer AP tests at school so families have to pay ~$100/test to take them at a public or Basis. Which is expensive and a hassle (although I will note, the local MoCo publics are very well set up to host the tests and are helpful to the private school kids taking tests there. They even provide chromebooks for the tests as students can't use a Macbook, etc). The individual teachers at this school are supportive of kids taking tests and if asked will suggest content students can additionally study for the test. Since tests aren't offered at school, the number of students taking them is low. so if students take them, they miss class/tests, etc. This school is normally so supportive/sensitive to people's finances so it seems so out of character that they don't at least offer the most common AP tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our private in NYC did away with APs a few years ago. There was no andverse effect whatsoever and in fact, both teachers and students were happier.

Yes but were the kids who did well in admissions self-studying for the AP exams anyway? This is the worst of both worlds tbh.

[Anonymous]

AP Calc BC is not a rigorous class so you miss out on nothing. Public school students try to puff their chests by saying they have taken it but admissions officer at top colleges know it is watered down and look for more demonstration of actually being proficient in maths.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP Calc BC is not a rigorous class so you miss out on nothing. Public school students try to puff their chests by saying they have taken it but admissions officer at top colleges know it is watered down and look for more demonstration of actually being proficient in maths.

What’s the British equivalent of the southern “bless your heart”?