Reply to Parents of 10th and 11th graders...AP question

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What browns me off is that, in addition to having to show some APs on the college application, a lot of colleges also want SAT IIs in the same subject. Why? If DD has good scores in AP Govt, World History, and Calculus, why do some colleges also require 2-3 SAT IIs in, wait for it, Govt, World History, and Math?  Why, oh why?

Sorry, just finished paying for DD to register for all these. Maybe I'll ask this question on the College Forum. I'll grumpily pay for it all, but what really gets me is the additional stress on kids who have to take what seem like duplicative tests.[/quote]

I think it is to facilitate "apples to apples" comparisons.  Your kid's A minus in her World History class may be in a more competitive environment than a child in a less academically competitive area.  Your child should logically do a lot better on the SAT II than that other student.  Conversely, the kid with the A+ in the course from a poor school system who gets an 800 on the SAT II subject test will be "validating" her good classroom grade.  I also think more colleges want to see SAT II tests (they like at least 2, generally) than require APs.  Lastly, from observation, once the kid has studied for the AP they don't have to study more for the SAT II test and most of them think the SAT II test is fairly easy.  [/quote]

I do get the SAT II for kids who aren't in AP for whatever reason, and I can see how it's useful for comparing kids from different schools. My gripe is with the colleges who are already getting the APs but also want the SAT II subject tests in the same subjects.

And re the ginormous tests in Asia, that does sound awful. But do they have to take it twice? That's my issue here. US kids take lots of tests, doing SAT prep, then PSATS, then the regular SATs maybe multiple times, then 8-9 APs or the IB -- all of this adds up to lots of testing for US kids. I'm not against testing per se, but I'm against duplicative testing. FWIW, DD took her first AP last year and got a 5, so does think the subject tests will be a cakewalk after the APs. It just seems like a waste of time, because it's not giving colleges anything they don't already have for kids who are submitting AP scores, and this is what makes me think, with the other PP, that it's a big money racket.  That's all.[/quote]

I don't know of any college that requires the taking of APs (in part because not every school offers AP courses).  They require the SAT II tests (and generally only about 2-3), and the APs are optional; if there is duplication that is because students choose to take the APs.[/quote]

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