Anonymous
Post 02/13/2026 15:23     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:By not supporting its students who want to take AP exams, GDS reveals how little they care for the few students on their campus who would materially benefit from being able to get college credit/placement and save some money on tuition.


Have had 3 kids go through GDS and two have been lifers. You are spot on. It took us until high school to understand that GDS is designed for the middle kid - middle of the pack grades and college prospects. They do NOTHING to help top 20% of the classes who want to do more.

Let me give but 1 more example other than this AP policy they have that is so bad

When a rising 9th grader who has been a GDS 8th grader is selecting math and language course levels, it is all locked in for the kid. Not allowed to test up if they are ready to test up.

When a transfer student coming from another school into GDS as their 9th grade year comes in, they are offered placement testing and can test up.

So GDS discriminates against its own top students. They cookie cutter all into the path they were in in 9th grade. Later in high school some can jum but language department discourages and makes it nearly impossible.

I know some will read this as crocodile tears stuff but it's a problem if a school does not support it's top achievers who are motivated to excel.

I have also heard the opposite too - kids who are struggling academically - GDS does very little to help other than performative acts

So like I said, a school designed and run for the middle. And run by the middle - no more Kevin Barr types around. They HS admin for the most part are people who would never have themselves gotten into GDS or the type of college many send their kids to GDS to be competitive for. The teachers for the most part are awesome though
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2026 15:16     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I just responded on another post, but I’ll say it again here. Most private schools have stopped offering APs in many cases because they don’t want to report the scores. They will say it is because they want to be able to be flexible and nimble and innovative, and not teach a specific curriculum to a test. But it is also a well-known fact that private school teachers often have no certification or training and so having a clear rigorous curriculum with milestones and Tess is actually a good thing. College is due value APs as well. They are objective and the world is going to go back to prioritizing standardized, test, and scores on them. I think it would be good for private schools to offer a piece again, and it would certainly help lower income students who would like to transfer college credit and spend less in college.


This is bunk.


Exactly it is bunk as you say - people keep saying this and it is a lie. Many of the DC private schools who colluded (yes colluded as per DOJ) to get rid of AP testing quietly brought testing on campus and / or classes back in last few years.

https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-concludes-its-investigation-dc-area-private-high-schools-decision-stop
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2026 14:53     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:By not supporting its students who want to take AP exams, GDS reveals how little they care for the few students on their campus who would materially benefit from being able to get college credit/placement and save some money on tuition.


What does "not supporting" look like? We're at a school that does offer APs, plus makes it relatively simple to take the exam for accelerated-type classes even if they're not officially AP classes.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2026 10:24     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
By not supporting its students who want to take AP exams, GDS reveals how little they care for the few students on their campus who would materially benefit from being able to get college credit/placement and save some money on tuition.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2026 10:21     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How common is it for students at GDS high school to take AP exams? We are new there in 10th grade and the college counselor says it doesn't make a difference in college applications because GDS does not offer AP classes nor prep students for the AP exams. To take it, a student would have to prepare for it outside of school. They seem to discourage it. I was just wondering if most kids get prep and do it anyway if they are taking an UL or Honors course in an AP subject? Do they actually get the extra prep to cover the content? Seems like a lot of extra work and cost. And does it really not make a difference to not have taken any AP classes in college applications?

Thanks for any insight.



ap IS NOT NEEDED TO APPLY AND TO BE ACCPETED TO THE BEST COLLEAge


Stop yelling
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2026 09:58     Subject: Re:AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:If you want to study abroad, you need AP classes (or IB). Not relevant for many people, but I know some that realized too late that they wanted their kids to study abroad, but couldn’t because of no AP classes.


The decision to study abroad should be the kid’s not the parents.

I studied abroad and had zero AP credits. I took 1 AP exam (Latin).
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2026 09:57     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:I just responded on another post, but I’ll say it again here. Most private schools have stopped offering APs in many cases because they don’t want to report the scores. They will say it is because they want to be able to be flexible and nimble and innovative, and not teach a specific curriculum to a test. But it is also a well-known fact that private school teachers often have no certification or training and so having a clear rigorous curriculum with milestones and Tess is actually a good thing. College is due value APs as well. They are objective and the world is going to go back to prioritizing standardized, test, and scores on them. I think it would be good for private schools to offer a piece again, and it would certainly help lower income students who would like to transfer college credit and spend less in college.


This is bunk.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2026 09:08     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:How common is it for students at GDS high school to take AP exams? We are new there in 10th grade and the college counselor says it doesn't make a difference in college applications because GDS does not offer AP classes nor prep students for the AP exams. To take it, a student would have to prepare for it outside of school. They seem to discourage it. I was just wondering if most kids get prep and do it anyway if they are taking an UL or Honors course in an AP subject? Do they actually get the extra prep to cover the content? Seems like a lot of extra work and cost. And does it really not make a difference to not have taken any AP classes in college applications?

Thanks for any insight.



ap IS NOT NEEDED TO APPLY AND TO BE ACCPETED TO THE BEST COLLEAge
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 17:27     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
AP classes are relevant for UC admissions (they give you a higher GPA for your AP class grades), though the exams are not factored at all for admissions...they do matter if you want to enter the school with college credits and skip intro classes.

I am sure GDS kids get accepted to UC schools, so not sure how much it matters at the end of the day.

AP exam scores are essential for international admissions, especially the UK schools.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 16:45     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:It is a lot of extra work to take AP exams in these schools that don't offer AP classes and they usually occur around the time of finals etc. I had a kid take 2 of them and did fine but not sure it was worth it. Only problem is that they then have no credits going into college and cant place out of anything which does put them at a disadvantage in some colleges.


Great point, I’d sit for the AP tests if the colleges/programs I preferred gave credit so I could:
- test out of stuff I already know, skip liberal arts one-offs that are irrelevant to my major (geography, CS, earth science, writing, calculus)

- test out and to the next level so I can make more progress on my single or double majors.

- test out of more so I can study abroad or intern more during the years or summers

- get into honors of BS/MS programs for 4 years

- knock out prerequisites I don’t care about or want to start at better level.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 16:27     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
I can understand not offering 20+ APs but there is some value in placing out of some of the core classes the first year. Maxing out at 5-6 core classes seems like a sane balance. Have also heard of schools offering the 20+ APs, but limiting students to 6 as a way to not penalize students for not taking the most rigorous schedule.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 16:04     Subject: Re:AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you want to study abroad, you need AP classes (or IB). Not relevant for many people, but I know some that realized too late that they wanted their kids to study abroad, but couldn’t because of no AP classes.


Excellent point if you want UK uni's you must take APs - check out the Oxbridge requirements

My fave was when GDS neglected to mention this before canceling the testing on campus and only after parents figured it out and were scrambling to fund other high schools did they add in new messaging about university abroad / UK requiring 4 or 5 APs. Head of the CCO is anti test and solves for the middle GDS kid in all she does.


I believe that all international colleges and universities want to see AP or IB test results from US students
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 16:03     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I just responded on another post, but I’ll say it again here. Most private schools have stopped offering APs in many cases because they don’t want to report the scores. They will say it is because they want to be able to be flexible and nimble and innovative, and not teach a specific curriculum to a test. But it is also a well-known fact that private school teachers often have no certification or training and so having a clear rigorous curriculum with milestones and Tess is actually a good thing. College is due value APs as well. They are objective and the world is going to go back to prioritizing standardized, test, and scores on them. I think it would be good for private schools to offer a piece again, and it would certainly help lower income students who would like to transfer college credit and spend less in college.


If there were only someplace where a kid of high school age could go, perhaps for free, and take all the AP courses they wanted.


Ha, best answer I've seen in a while.
Seriously though, nothing has been worse for education in the US in general than teachers being forced to teach to tests, and being evaluated by how well their students do on standardized tests. It's the curse of our entire system, so I think it's great for a school to trust their teachers instead.


Except when those teachers have no training and no curriculum. This is why some schools have students reading 1 book and writing no essays in 8th grade. That is what I heard about Maret's 8th grade last year. The teacher "redid" the book list and assignments.


This message and the one you posted little bit previously imply that private schools have teachers with no training and certificates. I found that to be an unsubstantiated generalization. Maybe that exists more at some schools than others and maybe some schools have way too much of that but at our progressive 6-12 in DC that is definitely not the common thing that’s going on. Of course there are a few, but I am largely impressed with the skill and experience and training of the teachers my kids have had.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 16:02     Subject: AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:GDS parent here. Many kids in UL classes sign up in Sept/Oct for AP testing - often at Churchill. The college office at GDS will reluctantly give you the info - like pulling teeth and they will shame you or your kid for asking. You must sign up by late Sept or early Oct. The MoCo public schools are great about helping out (unlike GDS)

Both of my high schoolers did this in last few years and I of course can't prove if it helped their T20 admissions or not but they both took 2-3 APs 10th/11th grade total and reported their 5s.

Several GDS UL teachers (history dept, math) do special sessions to help kids self studying. And all of those teachers grumble that GDS got rid of AP testing option. They got rid of AP classes first which was fine - re-labeled as friendly "UL" though exact same content acc to 3 GDS teachers. Then 3 years later uner Yom Fox they got rid of testing and announced that first day of school. The CCO head hates all testing and will tell you that.

My guess is about 20-40 kids in the 11th grade class did AP tests last year. Most I know took 2 to 3.

I know there is this anti-test movement at some of these private schools. I wont get into the politics of it but the reality is public school kids are applying with 6 to 10 APs....like I said, whether it matters or not, I dont know but in a LLM admissions world where the LLM is the first screen, it can't hurt if your kid is ready for the self study late March through early May

Like most things GDS:
1) Performative virtue signaling is strong by leadership
2) They always gaslight if you ask probing questions
3) They go out of their way to not help motivated kids who do want to self study and instead guilt them by saying "this has no bearing on your chances of getting in"


Thank you. This is very helpful
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 15:18     Subject: Re:AP Exams and GDS
Anonymous wrote:If you want to study abroad, you need AP classes (or IB). Not relevant for many people, but I know some that realized too late that they wanted their kids to study abroad, but couldn’t because of no AP classes.


Excellent point if you want UK uni's you must take APs - check out the Oxbridge requirements

My fave was when GDS neglected to mention this before canceling the testing on campus and only after parents figured it out and were scrambling to fund other high schools did they add in new messaging about university abroad / UK requiring 4 or 5 APs. Head of the CCO is anti test and solves for the middle GDS kid in all she does.