AP Exams

<p>I have a question regarding whether my daughter should take her AP Chemistry exam. She has spoken with the professor who heads up the pre-med students at her choice school, and he highly recommended that she not use the Chemistry credits she would earn with a 4 or 5 on the AP exam. He said that the freshmen who begin in Organic Chemistry after "testing out of Chem I", do not do very well, regardless of how well they did on the AP exam in high school. We think we will take his advice, and have her take Chemistry next year, and designate it as one of her honors classes for the honors college. So, is there any other benefit to pay the $50 bucks to take the AP exam?</p>

<p>Does the school have core requirements? Could if fit anywhere else in the core?</p>

<p>Also, is it a school requirement to take the exam after the class? It is at my school.</p>

<p>Seniors are not required to take exams 2nd semester, if they meet the exemption policy. (absences, tardies, etc…) The school does have core requirements, but I don’t think AP Chem will fulfill any of them. She will probably end up taking it just to see how well she knows it. She is hoping it will be an easy class for her next year having already taken it once.</p>

<p>What is her grade in the class? AP exam scores validate course grades. If she has a B in the class and thinks she could get a 5, then it is probably worth it. I took an AP class last year where most of the students with B’s got 5’s on the exam.</p>

<p>She got a 95 first semester. She has a good teacher, and really enjoys the class. Last year, her teacher’s class average on the exam was around a 4.4.</p>

<p>*I meant we are required to take the AP test in May. We can exempt exams at the end of the year as well.</p>

<p>I’m with you on the skipping. I don’t agree with using AP exams to skip any class at good universities- the knowledge and experience is far too valuable to pass up (though not the case at a less prestigious school).</p>

<p>Might as well take it, unless there is some financial strain. If she is a junior, the class will contribute towards AP awards (AP Scholar, AP National Scholar, etc) which look decent on applications, and she will have the option of providing her Chem score in the application just to prove she understands Chemistry. If she is a senior, I suppose there is no true purpose, but as a student myself, I kinda would like to gauge my knowledge, whether or not it would be used for college credit. I mean, I will be taking 12 AP exams total and don’t plan on skipping one class…</p>

<p>At our school, the AP exam stands in place of final exams. Since seniors are exempt from final exams, they would not be required to take the AP exams either.</p>

<p>Is it possible to take the intro Chemistry course when she is a freshman in college, even if she got a 4 or 5? She would be very well prepared for her class and will be ahead of many students who didn’t take AP Chem. This could mean an easy A, which is important to a pre-med.</p>