<p>No...10 char</p>
<p>Our high school made the kids send their score in- they put the scores in their records so the college got them no matter what. Which was a real bummer considering they wouldn't change their grade from a B to an A if they got a "5" but they would let the college know if they failed the test.</p>
<p>^^ From College Board -
[quote]
You may have one or more grades withheld from the report sent to the college you indicated on your answer sheet. To have a grade withheld from the indicated college, AP Services must receive your written, signed request by June 15 accompanied by a $10 fee per grade, per college. If your request is not received by June 15, the grade is automatically sent to the college indicated on your answer sheet.</p>
<p>The grade will be withheld from any future grade reports sent to that particular college. You may later release the grade to that college by sending AP Services a signed written request.</p>
<p>If you later decide to send an AP Grade Report to a different college, however, you need to contact AP Services to have the grade withheld from that grade report.</p>
<p>A request to withhold a grade does not permanently delete your grade, and all exam grades, even those withheld from grade reports sent to colleges, are sent to you and your school...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I have one kid who, despite busting his tail in AP Eng Comp all year, got Bs (no pluses or minues given). He has always been an A student in English. Got the 5, as well as extremely strong scores on CR/W. The English teacher has departed, so no chance for the teacher to explain how hard DS worked.</p>
<p>I have one kid who got As in a tough AP US Gov't class all year, lives, breathes, and eats this stuff, knew it cold going in to the exam, and got a 4. He swore he had a 5 coming out of the exam. He was mightily unhappy, as the time he spent studying to reach a five was time he didn't spend in two other classes, where he had a real shot a improving those grades. Lesson learned: Focus on the grades, the exams will take care of themselves in a fairly respectable manner. </p>
<p>Neither teacher changes grades for AP scores.</p>
<p>I just have to hope in the professionalism of the adcomms, who will see each student's overall work ethic as exhibited in essays, recs and other information.</p>
<p>ucladad,
Thanks! (too late for us, but thanks!) We were told the kids had to report their scores. Once again, another nail in the coffin for our wonderful expensive private high school. :(</p>
<p>Unfortunately final grades in classes come down to the teachers (yes - and students) and again, it can come down to the 'luck of the draw' for the student depending on which teacher's class they get randomly assigned to. Some teachers end up with 3/4 of the class getting an 'A' while the other teacher believes only a couple of 'A's should be given no matter what. Hopefully the colleges can see through this - especially if they have the AP scores in hand when they make decisions.</p>
<p>So, you can request in writing that a grade be withheld if you do so in June. But you don't know what your grade is until July!<br>
OTOH, most colleges let you self-report AP scores on your application. You then get into the ethics of whether or not to report the good ones and ignore the bad one, or come clean about that 2.... and check that the high school doesn't post them on the transcript. Those little stickers that are sent to the schools are so handy; they seem to land somewhere!
Back to the original topic: I have never heard of a teacher changing a grade based on a test score that comes in long after the class is over. If the kid has graduated, do they go back and alter the final transcript, or is this just for those still at the school?</p>
<p>^^ College Board seems to have the money extraction down to a science.</p>
<p>I guess the only thing one can do is not indicate any colleges to send the scores to at the time of taking the test, take the test (for a fee), get back the scores (or pay a fee to get them earlier), decide whether to withold some of the scores (for a fee), and then have them sent to specific colleges (for a fee). This assumes it'd all arrive by the college's cutoff date.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You then get into the ethics of whether or not to report the good ones and ignore the bad one, or come clean about that 2...
[/quote]
Since witholding AP score reports is part of the standard process I wouldn't think there'd be any ethical problems with not reporting it. The college can still see the strengths of the student based on the scores they do receive and they can probably read between the lines anyway and notice an AP class was taken but no score sent which means the AP test wasn't taken at all or the score was witheld - usually due to getting < 3.</p>
<p>I'd go ahead and report less than stellar grades since if I were an adcom I'd assume that any grade that wasn't reported was a one or a two. Our school is not one that changes grades either. It doesn't bother me that much. I got an A on at least one final in college that didn't change the B I had going into it.</p>
<p>Not at our school.</p>
<p>At my son's high school, his AP Chemistry teacher had a policy of bumping the final course grade based on the AP exam result, but his AP Calculus BC teacher, AP Physics teacher and AP Psychology teacher did not have any such policy. My son told me about a student in his AP Chemistry class who struggled all year with the material (had a "low C" average) and somehow pulled out a "5" on the AP Chemistry exam. So his transcript got changed to show a "A" in that class and that is all the college admissions people saw when he applied to colleges during his senior year. In the end, if that student is trying to get into engineering or is pre-med he will probably struggle when he gets to college because he may let himself be placed out of Chemistry and find himself overwhelmed by the second level Chemistry class he goes straight into. In the case of my son, he placed out of two semesters of chemistry, two semesters of Calculus and one semester of Psychology but he is repeating Calculus II as he is an engineering major at his school and wants to be very well grounded since engineering is so math intensive. He is letting himself place out of Chem I and Chem II since he took two years (six trimesters) of Chemistry in high school with strong grades and got a "5" on the AP Chem exam. He feels he is solid there and will go straight into the next level of Chemistry. The credit he got for AP Psychology will serve to waive a social science elective for him- may come in handy if he wants to lighten his course load some semester or takes time off to do a co-op.</p>
<p>In the end, the students should think carefully about whether they are always well served to let themselves waive out of some Intro classes.</p>
<p>I'm an AP teacher. My school system does not allow grade changes after two weeks, so it is too late by the time the AP scores come out. I see some advantages to adjusting the course grade up for students who score well on the exam, especially in terms of motivation for the students to prepare for and take the exam seriously--far too many in my school seem more interested in the weighted grade (which they get as long as they take the exam, which is paid for by the school) than in achieving a high exam score. On the other hand, I'm sure few people would condone the idea of lowering a student's course grade due to a low exam score. </p>
<p>I have never had a student make a 4 or 5 who earned less than an A in the class. I have had a couple of A students get 3s on the exam, but in general, the B to C+ students get 3s and C to D+ students get 2s. This past year I had more 2s than I expected, but I tell myself they must have been very high 2s! </p>
<p>We are under a lot of pressure to improve the pass rates in our school. They are right around 35%, compared to a 50% or so national average in most AP subjects (but we consistently and significantly surpass the national average on other yearly standardized tests in all grade levels). Our more competitive students tend to take 3-4 AP classes per year, and I sometimes wonder if they would put more effort into exam prep (and get more encouragement in that direction at home) if they were putting out $240-$320 for exam fees. When I taught AP in WA, students who qualified for reduced-price lunch could get a waiver or reduction of the exam fee, but all others paid for the exam. Another difference was that the WA school did not have a weighted grade policy. As you might imagine, only students who were confident they would do well even took the test--it was a very small number compared to AP enrollment (and the enrollment was quite small).</p>
<p>I guess I've gotten off the topic of the OP, but I am curious about trends other posters might have noticed--who pays for the exam, weighted grade being contingent on taking the exam, and opinions on the effect those factors might have on students' motivation to prepare for the test.</p>
<p>
[quote]
and I sometimes wonder if they would put more effort into exam prep (and get more encouragement in that direction at home) if they were putting out $240-$320 for exam fees
[/quote]
Since it's not the kids paying the fee but rather the parents, I doubt that this change would make much difference. My kids went to a large public HS and the family was obliged to pay the test fees. I think there might have been some assistance for low-income parents. My kids took lots of exams (5-6 each per year in junior/senior year and another one or two in the sophomore year) and it certainly cost quite a bit. Again, some of their teachers bumped grades depending on the AP test and some didn't - it was up to the teacher. </p>
<p>I do think the idea of a possible grade bump due to getting a 4 or 5 on the AP test motivates the student to do well on these tests. The tests are taken before they get the final grade in the class so for high achievers that tend to do all extra-credit opportunities I think the bump factor is also motivating. Of course, these are also already the kids most likely to be doing well in the class but if it was a school policy to bump, it could help level-set the inconsistent grading policies between teachers.</p>
<p>It strikes me as radically wrong to raise a course grade based on an AP test grade. Neither grade reflects knowledge per se but rather performance. The course grade reflects performance on a series of assignments and tests dealing with relatively small amounts of material, modified by performance on two tests (midterms and finals) which deal with larger amounts of material; by contrast, the AP test grade reflects performance on a single test dealing with a large amount of material. In short, they reflect different things.</p>
<p>One could make an argument for weighting the AP test the same as any final exam. However, that would lead to potential adjustments both up AND down. I don't think many people would go for that.</p>
<p>The test measures how the student performs on those questions on that day at that time. the course grade involves work ethic, turning in/not turning in assignments, class participation, etc., that the test doesn't take into account. That's why kids who never took the course can take the test.</p>
<p>ejr1, I guess that's my gripe with changing AP grades: the work ethic is replaced with a focus on the exam score. I know of a case where a student got a C in AP USH because the student decided not to complete a project. This person who subsequently got a 4 on the exam, and the teacher changed the grade to an A. </p>
<p>This student's parents were quite upset and felt that the student should have had to face the consequences of having a C on the transcript. They felt their child was rewarded for slacking off, which is not exactly the attitude they want to see as they contemplate college expenses in a year. I agree.</p>
<p>I don't believe AP scores should impact class grades, which also reflect assignments, presentations, research papers, etc. However, I wish colleges would consider grades within the context of the AP scores. Our school must be much different than ReveeV's, because it is very uncommon to get a solid A in any AP class, with or without a 5. "B" and even "C" Kids routinely score 4's and 5's, and it's not because they didn't do all the classroom assignments. It's just that the teacher grades hard and conducts the class like a true college level class. </p>
<p>So once again it's a case of being able to assess grade inflation between applicants from different schools. Might examining the AP test scores be an equalizing factor?</p>