Agree

GDS parent here. We scrambled (like dozens of other parents) got zero help from CC office and found that one of the Moco public schools allows AP testing for moco residents who go to school elsewhere.

Zero help from GDS. Had to make 20 calls to schools around the area. CCO didn’t lift a finger. Didn’t call schools for us. They did nothing.

I’ve written several at the school and have been grin-f*cked back by email from them. The GDS way.

I have come to despise this school after 3 kids here. Last one is done soon. It has markedly worsened in the last 5 years. Back when Kevin Barr was around, things ran better.

Now every administrator has a POV, an agenda and Russell is scared to engage any of them for fear of being labeled a racist by them.

Every consequential decision is driven by administrators who are sitting in their seats for the first time in their careers.

When a former DEI head at another school is named your a division principal and has zero school managerial experience, what do you expect will happen?

Like many hires across our society and many companies and organizations in 2020-2021, many many mistakes and over corrections were made in our collective zeal to do the right thing. Now the tide will go out and we will find out the toll this well meaning over correction took.

Feel free to hate on me.

Zero more donations to this school once my last kid is out in a year.

GDS parents. Unless your kid loves Tufts, Middlebury, Bates, Wesleyan, Bowdoin or Skidmore (and their New England small college ilk) this school is not set up for your kid. GDS is increasingly focused on catering to these small New England colleges and performs for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name the school where your kids from the Big 5 or wherever are actually attending that gives college credit for AP exams. Like real deal credit. Back in the day you could use it graduate early etc which I did. Then colleges caught on and are not interested in losing tuition. I understand you can use AP exams to demonstrate how smart your are in math or a language to get you into a higher level class but that is not the same thing as an actual “college credit.”

Does Princeton count? My kid received actual, bona fide college credit for AP Calc and Physics C.

Not like anyone is graduating early, and they don’t accept many…but yes these are credit courses.

Helpful. Didn’t know Princeton was still doing this and surprised they are. Luckily, we are all going to Princeton.

To set the record straight, he got credit for Chem AP...had to take the Physics placement test. Thought it was reversed.

The overall point is that only Harvard, Dartmouth, Amherst, Brown, Caltech, Duke, Harvey Mudd, and Williams are the only schools that don't award AP credit for something.

This is not true. My Big 10 engineering program did not award AP credit for math and science.

Michigan engineering awards AP credits for Chemistry, CS, Calculus BC and Phyics C
Wisconsin awards AP credits for many math and science
Penn State awards AP credits for many math and science

The list goes on. I don't know your Big 10, but Michigan is widely regarded as the "best", so it is quite possible that your Big 10 actually now does award credit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are trying really hard to make APs seem meaningless. Just admit the school has a problem that can be easily fixed. YOU don't have to have your kid take them, but that doesn't mean no one should have this option.

Again, no one is saying kids shouldn't take the exams. Schools such as GDS still allow their students to sit for the exams. The issue is whether or not the schools should designate these classes as AP, which requires more bureaucratic red tape than most people think.

No, the issue is why doesn’t GDS offer AP testing for the students who choose to take the tests? Oo, pardon me - for the students who GDS allows to take the tests.

Obviously, there are so few students at GDS who are on a budget for college and for whom the AP tests are meaningful from a financial standpoint that GDS just doesn’t care to take the trouble to support those who are.

Anonymous wrote:You guys are trying really hard to make APs seem meaningless. Just admit the school has a problem that can be easily fixed. YOU don't have to have your kid take them, but that doesn't mean no one should have this option.

Again, no one is saying kids shouldn't take the exams. Schools such as GDS still allow their students to sit for the exams. The issue is whether or not the schools should designate these classes as AP, which requires more bureaucratic red tape than most people think.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name the school where your kids from the Big 5 or wherever are actually attending that gives college credit for AP exams. Like real deal credit. Back in the day you could use it graduate early etc which I did. Then colleges caught on and are not interested in losing tuition. I understand you can use AP exams to demonstrate how smart your are in math or a language to get you into a higher level class but that is not the same thing as an actual “college credit.”

Does Princeton count? My kid received actual, bona fide college credit for AP Calc and Physics C.

Not like anyone is graduating early, and they don’t accept many…but yes these are credit courses.

Helpful. Didn’t know Princeton was still doing this and surprised they are. Luckily, we are all going to Princeton.

To set the record straight, he got credit for Chem AP...had to take the Physics placement test. Thought it was reversed.

The overall point is that only Harvard, Dartmouth, Amherst, Brown, Caltech, Duke, Harvey Mudd, and Williams are the only schools that don't award AP credit for something.

Which means only three students from the class of 2023 went to schools that don't accept AP credits (based on 107 Class of 2023 Insta posts, so there may be one or two more). The others acknowledge the test in some way, credit or placement or a combo of both, I don't know where the alternate narrative is coming from; maybe everyone thinks their kid is going to Harvard or Harvey Mudd?

Here are a few examples from popular colleges, showing how many credits each score gets at these schools:

Middlebury 3 = 1 credit, 4 or 5 = 2 credits (two courses)
Tufts 4 or 5 = 3 to 10 credits
Cornell 4 or 5 = 8 credits
NYU 4 = 4 credits, 5 =8 credits (two courses)
Carnegie Mellon 5 = 20 credits (two courses)
Stanford 4 = 8 credits, 5 = 10 credits (three courses)
Yale 4 = 1 credit, 5 = 2 credits
Northwestern 4 = 3 credits (two courses)
UCLA 3 = 8 credits
Davidson 4 o 5 = one or two courses
Northeastern 4 or 5 accepted for up to 32 credit hours
Wesleyan 4 or 5 = 1 or 2 course credits
Wash U accepts 15 credits in each college applied toward graduation requirements
Rice 4 or 5 = 3 or 4 credit units
...and so on.

The other thing many colleges do is let you use APs to place into the next level class, and if you pass it, you then also get credit for the pre-reqs too (e.g. Wesleyan).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name the school where your kids from the Big 5 or wherever are actually attending that gives college credit for AP exams. Like real deal credit. Back in the day you could use it graduate early etc which I did. Then colleges caught on and are not interested in losing tuition. I understand you can use AP exams to demonstrate how smart your are in math or a language to get you into a higher level class but that is not the same thing as an actual “college credit.”

Does Princeton count? My kid received actual, bona fide college credit for AP Calc and Physics C.

Not like anyone is graduating early, and they don’t accept many…but yes these are credit courses.

Helpful. Didn’t know Princeton was still doing this and surprised they are. Luckily, we are all going to Princeton.

To set the record straight, he got credit for Chem AP...had to take the Physics placement test. Thought it was reversed.

The overall point is that only Harvard, Dartmouth, Amherst, Brown, Caltech, Duke, Harvey Mudd, and Williams are the only schools that don't award AP credit for something.

This is not true. My Big 10 engineering program did not award AP credit for math and science.

Which big 10? Did they award AP credits for other subjects, such as foreign language?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are trying really hard to make APs seem meaningless. Just admit the school has a problem that can be easily fixed. YOU don't have to have your kid take them, but that doesn't mean no one should have this option.

It’s meaningful to a *few* students applying to St Andrews or MIT, international schools and major science/tech folks. That should not drive the whole school and thankfully it’s not. I am glad it’s gone. It’s a wasteful unnecessary other stress on my child who is a top student and won’t get squat at any university s/he is applying to.

First part is factually incorrect; second part is incredibly self-centered.

+1000

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name the school where your kids from the Big 5 or wherever are actually attending that gives college credit for AP exams. Like real deal credit. Back in the day you could use it graduate early etc which I did. Then colleges caught on and are not interested in losing tuition. I understand you can use AP exams to demonstrate how smart your are in math or a language to get you into a higher level class but that is not the same thing as an actual “college credit.”

Does Princeton count? My kid received actual, bona fide college credit for AP Calc and Physics C.

Not like anyone is graduating early, and they don’t accept many…but yes these are credit courses.

Helpful. Didn’t know Princeton was still doing this and surprised they are. Luckily, we are all going to Princeton.

To set the record straight, he got credit for Chem AP...had to take the Physics placement test. Thought it was reversed.

The overall point is that only Harvard, Dartmouth, Amherst, Brown, Caltech, Duke, Harvey Mudd, and Williams are the only schools that don't award AP credit for something.

This is not true. My Big 10 engineering program did not award AP credit for math and science.

But I bet they did for freshman writing requirement (or at least allowed it to be fulfilled)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name the school where your kids from the Big 5 or wherever are actually attending that gives college credit for AP exams. Like real deal credit. Back in the day you could use it graduate early etc which I did. Then colleges caught on and are not interested in losing tuition. I understand you can use AP exams to demonstrate how smart your are in math or a language to get you into a higher level class but that is not the same thing as an actual “college credit.”

Does Princeton count? My kid received actual, bona fide college credit for AP Calc and Physics C.

Not like anyone is graduating early, and they don’t accept many…but yes these are credit courses.

Helpful. Didn’t know Princeton was still doing this and surprised they are. Luckily, we are all going to Princeton.

To set the record straight, he got credit for Chem AP...had to take the Physics placement test. Thought it was reversed.

The overall point is that only Harvard, Dartmouth, Amherst, Brown, Caltech, Duke, Harvey Mudd, and Williams are the only schools that don't award AP credit for something.

This is not true. My Big 10 engineering program did not award AP credit for math and science.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are trying really hard to make APs seem meaningless. Just admit the school has a problem that can be easily fixed. YOU don't have to have your kid take them, but that doesn't mean no one should have this option.

It’s meaningful to a *few* students applying to St Andrews or MIT, international schools and major science/tech folks. That should not drive the whole school and thankfully it’s not. I am glad it’s gone. It’s a wasteful unnecessary other stress on my child who is a top student and won’t get squat at any university s/he is applying to.

First part is factually incorrect; second part is incredibly self-centered.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They had dropped the AP courses a few years ago (collusion case successfully brought by DOJ as a result of this as we all remember).

Now GDS just announced that they are dropping AP testing

"Over the last year, our team has been in conversation with dozens of college admissions offices from small liberal arts colleges to large flagship state institutions. In each of these conversations, we have confirmed what we shared with families when GDS moved away from AP courses: For college admissions, there is no advantage to taking AP tests if you attend a high school that does not offer that coursework."

Is this statement true? How about the increasing # of kids who have been applying and matriculating at UK/Ireland/Canadian schools? How about schools like NYU that actually take AP testing in lieu of SAT/ACT (optional of course).

Something about this decision sits wrong with me...they are making it even harder for the subset of students who dont want to go to SLACs.

Also what about the college credit that some schools - esp. state flagships still offer for AP tests 4+

How's that for GDS equity mission?

My kid is at a school that dropped APs years ago and she’s not taking any AP exams and I think it’s awesome. There are enough pointless boxes to check on the road to college. No need to add more.

Wait until she matriculated in a college and come back. Her classmates will have many AP credits and your daughter will not.

So what, though? I had AP credits when I went to college -- made zero difference.

Why do you think your personal anecdote is universally relevant?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name the school where your kids from the Big 5 or wherever are actually attending that gives college credit for AP exams. Like real deal credit. Back in the day you could use it graduate early etc which I did. Then colleges caught on and are not interested in losing tuition. I understand you can use AP exams to demonstrate how smart your are in math or a language to get you into a higher level class but that is not the same thing as an actual “college credit.”

Does Princeton count? My kid received actual, bona fide college credit for AP Calc and Physics C.

Not like anyone is graduating early, and they don’t accept many…but yes these are credit courses.

Helpful. Didn’t know Princeton was still doing this and surprised they are. Luckily, we are all going to Princeton.

To set the record straight, he got credit for Chem AP...had to take the Physics placement test. Thought it was reversed.

The overall point is that only Harvard, Dartmouth, Amherst, Brown, Caltech, Duke, Harvey Mudd, and Williams are the only schools that don't award AP credit for something.

Several other schools (e.g., Potomac) are still offering optional on-site AP exams, even though courses labeled AP are being phased out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are trying really hard to make APs seem meaningless. Just admit the school has a problem that can be easily fixed. YOU don't have to have your kid take them, but that doesn't mean no one should have this option.

It’s meaningful to a *few* students applying to St Andrews or MIT, international schools and major science/tech folks. That should not drive the whole school and thankfully it’s not. I am glad it’s gone. It’s a wasteful unnecessary other stress on my child who is a top student and won’t get squat at any university s/he is applying to.

So, because your kid do not want to take AP exams or (most likely) your kid can't get good scores on the AP, you want no one else in the same school to have the opportunity? Yes, this makes sense for you because college admissions are now competitions within the same school.

BTW, it is not a few students. Most national universities (not LACs) accept AP credits.