Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are surprised too about the 3. We thought she’s score a 4/5 based on prep tests. Anyways, I’ve always told DD study first for school (get As) next is prepare for SAT and third priority is APs.

These are probably the best priorities for most kids. Doing well in school is probably the most important task. There is no need to take too many AP courses. You can signal academic rigor and ability to handle AP exams without taking tons of APs. A couple in sophomore year and three or four per year in 11th and 12th should be plenty for a high achieving kid.

You are kidding, right? That is 10 APs!! Is that a normal average amount?

high performing kids (like magnet kids) take ~16 or more APs.

And are popping Adderall to pull all nighters and have high anxiety, stress, and depression. But it’s all good!

My dd (rising Junior) has taken 4 APs now. She pushes herself to get As but hasn't much cared about additional study for the AP exam and I haven't pushed her to do so--she has enough stress with regular coursework. But now I'm starting to wish I'd nudged a little harder. I hadn't realized that students with 5s self-report them to colleges. So by not self reporting, or by reporting lower scores (two 3s, one 4, one 5) she is signaling lower performance. I hate that there is one more metric to worry about, but I'll probably be nudging self-study a bit harder next year (in addition to aiming for an A in the class...)

My son took 13 AP classes thought the high school (1 in freshman year, 2 in sophomore, 6 in junior and 4 in Senior) and scored perfect 5 in all the exams. He is not in magnet program. So proud of him !!

Anonymous wrote:No the crazy AP parents come out, the same parent who were upset about compact math and then the same upset about getting a perfect gpa or 10 points higher ion the SAT and retake it 3 times.

and now we know why kids are so stressed out.

Why are your kids stressed out? And why are other people kids coming to you and telling you that they are stressed out?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are surprised too about the 3. We thought she’s score a 4/5 based on prep tests. Anyways, I’ve always told DD study first for school (get As) next is prepare for SAT and third priority is APs.

These are probably the best priorities for most kids. Doing well in school is probably the most important task. There is no need to take too many AP courses. You can signal academic rigor and ability to handle AP exams without taking tons of APs. A couple in sophomore year and three or four per year in 11th and 12th should be plenty for a high achieving kid.

Oh. My. Word. I took one AP my junior year, and two my senior year. I got into UVA in the 90s. These poor kids! Makes me consider moving.

Not the OP but my DD was also a bit surprised by a 3 on the AP Gov. Based on practice tests, grades, studying, she thought she'd get a 4.

She has a friend, also good student, who was surprised by a 2 on the same exam. I wonder if this test was a bit anomalous and distribution is different this year so that teacher's prep for prior year was not good enough for this year's test.

The silver lining is that as DD was a freshman, this was her first taste of taking this kind of exam. Her immediate reaction was that she was going to study hard for APUSH next year.

Anonymous wrote:As I am reading on AP Central, there are certain terms you must use in your answer to get the full marks. Seems a bit tricky and does not really measure content knowledge but what you must do to fulfill the rubrics requirements.

No different from the bar exam.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I hope someone gives me a clear answer to this.

If a student already takes AP or magnet class, is it beneficial for him/her to take the AP exam for college acceptance purposes? Let's say (s)he is not interested in college credit for the course.

I think we need to make this clear: AP exams are NOT for college acceptance purposes. They are only for college credits. In principle, the AP test result is not considered in the admission process.


The grade the student gets in the AP/magnet class, is considered by colleges in the admission process.

This is NOT true. AP classes/grades are used to indicate rigor within the school and AP scores are used to indicate rigor compared to other schools. Colleges have stopped requiring official scores because they want to reduce the financial burden for low income applicants. But if you score well on APs, you should report them.

Anonymous wrote:AP scores do not even go in with applications. Not all AP credits are useful depending on your major and the schools requirements. I would recommend a retake of an AP exam.

Of course they can go in with applications. But they aren’t required. Either self report on Common App or send official scores.

Anonymous wrote:As I am reading on AP Central, there are certain terms you must use in your answer to get the full marks. Seems a bit tricky and does not really measure content knowledge but what you must do to fulfill the rubrics requirements.

False

Anonymous wrote:My DD is kind of upset because she scored a 3 on the AP US Government Test. Is there anyway to find out her raw score to see if she missed the cutoff by 1 point (4) or conversely if she barely made a 3. It would be helpful for her to know for next year. She’s going to be a sophomore.

The teacher can see much more information...

4 and 5 are lumped together by colleges. Especially when they are not giving credits for it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I hope someone gives me a clear answer to this.

If a student already takes AP or magnet class, is it beneficial for him/her to take the AP exam for college acceptance purposes? Let's say (s)he is not interested in college credit for the course.

Yes, because you don't have a crystal ball and therefore don't know whether the AP exam results will be useful.

My DC is a double-major at a SLAC and is finding it easier to fulfill the requirements for degrees from both departments thanks to the AP credits earned prior to college. DC was able to check certain boxes for core requirements fulfillment, freeing up his schedule for other things.

Don’t many top colleges have limits on the number of AP credits they will accept?

Yes. And?

If you can get credit or place out of certain classes thanks to AP credits, it makes sense to do that.

So it might not help to take 10 AP exams when the college only accepts 2 or 3.

If you are in a public school, then AP courses may be the highest level offered in a discipline (humanities, science, etc), although for Math there may be courses offered beyond AP Calculus BC such as, Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, etc. Thus it helps to take many AP Courses even if the college of interest may not give credit for all of them. It helps you better prepared for rigorous course work at college level. By appearing for AP exam and scoring high (preferably 5, if not at least 4) you are signaling to the adcoms, by sharing the scores, that you are a diligent student and prepared to continue to do well once in college.

In the case of private schools, many parents claim that the courses offered are at a higher level than the corresponding AP Courses and students are well prepared past college Freshman course level. If you believe that, then you don't need to appear for AP exams. Mere Private School graduation stamp should get you into one or more of HYPSM.

Anonymous wrote:Do Blair magnet kids take any AP exam while in 9th or 10th grade?

None in 9th grade
2 in 10th grade (Comp Sci A and Government)
11th grade many take Language, world history, Statistics, Calculus BC and one science exam. The latter three are AP exams that students study for on their own after taking a similar Magnet class
12th grade seems more variable- for example some take Literature, most just take honors English 12, some take an AP foreign language and many don’t take any foreign language course in 12th
I suppose if you’ve taken several AP exams in different disciplines (humanities, Math and science) you can focus on Magnet electives in 12th grade

Do Blair magnet kids take any AP exam while in 9th or 10th grade?