I am being denied AP Econ as a HS junior from my school as it’s strictly a senior course.
I want to take up Econ in college. I am not a science inclined student and only taking AP Physics in senior year.
I want the AP Econ score on my resume before I start my college apps.
How do I resolve this?
Can I take AP Econ externally? How will that be viewed by colleges?
By taking it as a senior.
There are certainly plenty of on-line options. Whether your HS will give you credit for it is another story.
Please read my post fully
OP your Econ score isn’t likely to have much if any effect on your admission to college. Listen to what your school is telling you to do and take it as a senior.
Why do you say that? May I know the reasoning?
What will colleges look at then?
Admissions prefers that you take the class. If you take the class and get a 5, that’s great, although senior AP scores aren’t available in time for admissions decisions. Submitting a score without a corresponding class may earn you course credit, but admissions just is not impressed with self studying.
Why can’t you just take the class as a senior?
For the very same reason you have stated.
Colleges won’t see my AP score if I take the class in senior year
I am not a STEM inclined student. AP ECON will be the only AP that will demonstrate my
Strength in the subject.
Does that make sense?
I am willing to take it externally, But question is will my school still need to validate it?
If I choose to send my AP score directly to colleges, will my school still need to know/validate?
Taking a class junior year versus senior year will not impact your college decisions. Taking the class as a junior and getting a 5 will not be “better” than taking the class as a senior.
Yes, you could take the course online, and send the transcript with your application if the online provider provides grades. If you don;t need the class to fulfill graduation requirements, then school approval is not needed. Whether the time spent on an online class is the best use of your time given that you’ll still have to take your normal academic load at school, prepare for SAT/ACT,maintain/enhance your ECs, is a different question.
OP having a 5 on one course is not going to make a diffence in admissions. My son had one AP score that he had back from junior year and took 4 more senior year (so only one score to report and it was APUSH) and will be attending a top 25 school. You’re making this class out to be more than it is. Spend your time on the things that matter like your GPA, teat scores and essays.
In general colleges look at AP scores after matriculation to determine if and what to give credits to for things like AP, IB, and dual enrollment. When you apply they will ask for a list of classes your currently taking your senior year. My daughter was doing dual enrollment which went by the semester and was told to put what she guessed she would be taking.
My daughter’s high school had grades available on naviance for schools to look at after all 4 quarters. Since my daughter was doing semester only classes one school contacted her to ask when her 1st semester grades would be available since she had no 1st quarter grades to see and asked if she could at least send an unofficial copy of the grades before they were put up on naviance (basically if they were available before winter break they would love to see them asap) so some schools do look at your senior grades received after you apply for colleges.
If economics is important to show your interest you can write that on your application - the common app has a spot for additional info and/or have your guidance counselor write something. Colleges are aware that schools may have year requirements for classes.
Like @skieurope mentioned, you could look for an introductory Economics class at a college or community college that allows high school students to sign up, perhaps something online. (This is how both of my sons took Statistics. It was not counted as part of their high school record, so they did not need approval from their high school to take it.) You would have to submit a transcript and report the grade when you apply to any college in the future (although there are some grad schools that don’t require grades from college courses taken before high school graduation.) If you think it is likely that you would NOT get an ‘A’, then you would probably be better off not taking it, and just taking AP Econ as a senior. If you do take it, list the course on your college application where it asks for college courses taken.
I second the idea of taking Dual Enrollment Economics - and not the basic “Principles of Economics” but the full-on “Introduction to Micro Economics” and “Introduction to Macro Economics” courses(one each semester). Be aware those are difficult and, at some colleges, even weedout. Getting an A will be HARD and if you don’t get an A, you’re better off taking AP Econ senior year.
(Colleges will like seeing you took AP Econ or the rigorous Econ college class + an A. They won’t care about having a score or not).
For an economics major, however, having a strong math background is very important. Are you scheduled for Precalculus junior year and calculus senior year (AP or not)?
Can you take AP Gov? APES? What’s your level in Foreign language? Have you taken AP World History and/or any other AP History class?
What’s your current GPA? What universities are you aiming for?
I took AP Macro as a sophomore and was fine. I know a lot of schools push it to senior year as they claim it’s a hard course or better once you’ve acquired more real world experience. I would go to your guidance consular and speak to them about how you want to major in the area and really need to take it as a junior to make sure you are 100% interested in the content.
From personal experience I can tell you now that your school will almost definitely not allow you to do duel enrollment since they do have the course available at your school. Although, you can still take it externally and send the course to colleges when you apply (it just most likely won’t go in your transcript).
Honestly I would really try to push your guidance consular into allowing you to take it.
@sierramn2727 unless you go to the same school district as the original poster what your saying about dual enrollment is not necessarily true… Many kids take classes offered at their high school in order to be able to take more classes or fit in a class they want as an elective and still keep up with required classes. Sometimes taking a full year class through dual enrollment allows you to take two classes of interest instead of one full year class such as say Spanish 1 and 2 in college vs Spanish 1 h in high school as a full year class.
Fret not…colleges are much more concerned about your grades in those classes as opposed to the AP tests.
Why is that?
Colleges want to see that you are prepared for College…not necessarily just your major. For any major, colleges would assume you would start with Econ 101.
Also colleges will see you are taking AP econ as a senior…so that shows interest in Econ.