AP 3 in a sea of 4/5s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oops bad quote

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great news, OP! With the passing of HB 966, AP scores of 3 and higher must be accepted at all Maryland public universities! Your daughter earned herself college credit.

If it makes you feel better, my daughter scored a 2 in AP gov in 10th grade.

At UMDCP, it only gets you a credit for an elective in that area. If you get a 3, you still have to take the class. My DC was upset about that. DC doesn't want to have to take the class in college. Also doesn't help that older DC got all 5s on their APs all throughout HS. This DC is a tough act to follow - academically gifted, if not really lazy.

Any references on this?

https://www.transfercredit.umd.edu/plc/APGenEd.pdf

Is still 2021 version and no mention of any "3"

From UMD’s transfer credit page once you click on AP Credit 2023 (they only accept 3 starting with May 2023 testing):

https://www.transfercredit.umd.edu/plc/APGenEd2023.pdf

[Anonymous]

OP, tell her to take this as a moment time and lessons learned for if she desires to do better in the future. Standardized test are not the same as class. They require memorization of minutia and strategy. She did well, and now needs to refine.

[Anonymous]

Did your kid submit a score of 3 to colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. Some of my strongest students in my AP classes are terrible test takers. I’ve never considered a score to be a solid indicator of college readiness. I have 20 years of experience watching average test takers (but great students) move on to strong colleges and advanced degrees. I have a relative with two masters and a PhD (all from great colleges) and he bombed the SAT and the GRE.

My own child just scored a 2 on one of his exams. I’m not that upset, and neither is he. He’ll be prepared for college and that score isn’t going to keep him out.

Genuine Question: How can someone be a strong student and a "terrible test taker"? Part of being a strong student involves demonstrating mastery of the subject matter. If you bomb all the tests and quizzes, then how are they demonstrating mastery?

That's like saying, "I'm an incredible actor. I just have terrible stage fright and freeze up on stage." You can't be a great actor if you can't perform when the spotlight is on....

And if you're not good at taking tests due to emotional/mental needs, a strong student should be self-aware and ensure they have the appropriate accommodations to compensate for that?

I’m the teacher PP.



People take test prep sessions to learn the skills associated with taking a test… the strategy. I have also had mediocre students who are good at test strategy.

[b]I don’t see a clear correlation between high test scores and high performance.

Another teacher here- there is definitely a
correlation between high test scores and high performance! It would be silly to deny that but there are some students who have the knowledge but don't perform well on tests for whatever reason (anxiety). Those students need to earn as many cushion points as they can to make up for average test scores.

[Anonymous]

Nah. I'm 54 and I had MTV. Totally the same.

It is not the same at all. You didn't carry MTV around with you everywhere you went, and even music videos typically lasted 3-4 minutes. If you were disinterested, you could not find a new video with in two seconds, you needed to wait for the next one to come on. It is very different and attention spans are shorter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nah. I'm 54 and I had MTV. Totally the same.

It is not the same at all. You didn't carry MTV around with you everywhere you went, and even music videos typically lasted 3-4 minutes. If you were disinterested, you could not find a new video with in two seconds, you needed to wait for the next one to come on. It is very different and attention spans are shorter.

I sometimes sat in front of it and wasted 2 whole hours instead of doing homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day I took 3 AP’s and got 2’s on all of them! I’m happy to report I am now a productive member of society and am very happy 😂

Exactly. My 1 on AP French and Calc hasn't held me back

I love you, PPs. I also got a 1 on French. But a 2! on calculus.

It's easy for us to forget that these tests are supposed to be hard and that it's great to challenge yourself and give the class and test your best effort. That's really how we end up as productive members of society.

[Anonymous]

My kid got a 3 on the AP gov exam but has gotten 4s and 5s on everything else. I looked at the test questions that year and did think they were incredibly hard. I have an Ivy degree in political science and a law degree and I don’t know how I would have done. I don’t know about this year but looking at the questions tue year my kid took it, I was really surprised by how random they were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. DD is a rising junior. She has accommodations for anxiety. She works hard and is an excellent student. Her AP Gov teacher told her an essay she wrote was the best he’d ever read. I’m sure the essay portion was fine, but multiple choice tests kill her. She doubts herself, panics, changes answers. When she bombed her PSAT, she skipped entire sections. She even failed her learners’ permit test. Twice. I don’t know how to help her with this skill.

I haven't read the whole thread, but I'd recommend that your daughter try to cover up/hide the possible answers on a multiple choice question, think of the answer, write it down (if possible), and then choose the closest match when revealing the possible answers. This is very effective for helping kids who overthink multiple choice questions.

On regular unit tests, she should also consider writing down any information she's worried about forgetting (steps in a process, important dates, etc.) as soon as she gets the test. This can take pressure off the working memory and reduce test anxiety.

[Anonymous]

DS's good friend at a W school was one of the 52% who failed the APUSH exam. He's very smart and stem-focused, don't think it will affect him at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS's good friend at a W school was one of the 52% who failed the APUSH exam. He's very smart and stem-focused, don't think it will affect him at all.

It won’t! I think most parents here are over the top nutty about this stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day I took 3 AP’s and got 2’s on all of them! I’m happy to report I am now a productive member of society and am very happy 😂

Exactly. My 1 on AP French and Calc hasn't held me back

NP. Conversely, I got 5s on every AP test I took. Went to UVA with 27 credits under my belt and my career has been a total bust. You all would laugh at my salary. These tests are not predictive of much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS's good friend at a W school was one of the 52% who failed the APUSH exam. He's very smart and stem-focused, don't think it will affect him at all.

It won’t! I think most parents here are over the top nutty about this stuff.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did your kid submit a score of 3 to colleges?

Can you pick and choose which scores to send? Do they see scores you don't send?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did your kid submit a score of 3 to colleges?

Can you pick and choose which scores to send? Do they see scores you don't send?

They only see scores you send