<p>So..my DS is going to Northeastern on a half ride merit scholarship Fall 06. Currently taking one comm. college class-getting a B. Took one last semester-got an A. Last semester, he had a 4.14 gpa (taking AP Eng/AP Stats/College History/Yearbook/Webdesign/Student Services...lol). He has three community college classes which should transfer over but of two AP tests soph and junior years he got 3's so no credit. Right now he is getting Bs in weighted classes and As in extracurriculars so probably 4.0 this semester. This May he has English and Stats APs. I would like to see him study for APs and hopefully get a 4 or 5 so he gets credit for one of them. His attitude is: I'm a senior. Let it go or push him to study?</p>
<p>Print out whatever information Northeastern has on AP credits and show it to your son, and also point out the advantages of entering with some AP credits.<br>
Other than that, I don't think you should push, mainly because based on his past performance there is no particular reason that he will do better -- and you can make him study, but you aren't there during the test to make him do well. </p>
<p>So you could either spend the next 3 weeks fighting, or simply let things rest and hope for the best.</p>
<p>I have a very lazy one at MY house right now. Not in senior slump, but not in gear as much as I'd like....</p>
<p>Oh, yes. My son has to take 3 AP exams- and they count as a fairly large part of his grade in the courses. To say he is not motivated would be an understatement. To top it off, he is leaving school for the next month (during the in-class review period) to do an approved internship working for his sports doctor. He will be living away from school (he goes to boarding school) and will have to do all his reviewing on his own. I am NOT optimistic.....</p>
<p>Hmm.interesting that APs count toward actual grade. Ours don't, in fact, AP test scores will come in so close to graduation that the only thing I'm thinking is that those classes each cost me $3-4K when he goes to school in the Fall. I also considered saying that if he didn't pass at least one he had to take a summer school class at the local comm. college but we will be going out of town in June so that is out....By the way, those three classes he already took (one after junior year in summer to boost gpa) and one each semester this senior year, were the smartest thing I did. Automatically transfer without the worry of the AP test and our HS weights them...I guess I should read the postings of the parents who think their children may have their acceptance withdrawn and I will feel better..lol.</p>
<p>The AP scores don't come in until late June or early July. My son's college doesn't give credit anyway, but I don't want him messing up his grades too much.</p>
<p>My DS is taking 6 AP tests - since his school accepts them for credit/placement, he feels motivated to "stay the course" and finish well.</p>
<p>My son was carried away with a national competition in a non AP related subject this time last year which blew his focus. If he had better AP-prepared, he could have avoided an entry level course that is much more brutally curved in his college than in his high school.<br>
It is VERY hard to use up a weekend in senior spring on AP exam prep but frankly..it is very hard to study like that for finals when you are 19 and a college freshman with spring fever and a great social life, too. This is a maturity issue..on test prep in general. If my son had taken SATIIs or APs in foreign language he could have two more semesters free for other subjects for instance but he never prepared for the exams. Final exam prep in college resembles AP prep. I am not big on rushing through college on AP credits to shorten the time frame, but if your child's college has a "weedout" mentality in freshman survey courses in math or science, and a 4 or 5 can get your child out of the survey class and into a next tier subject class, that can be a good thing. Ask yourself if your S or D is interested in a possible double major, a minor or a foreign study or earned Certificate that would require more curriculum hours..if so, nailing your AP scores can help free up hours in college.<br>
I do know many students at colleges who simply didn't care about their AP performance and are happy and doing just fine and are not in the least interested in acceleration or double majors.</p>
<p>DS also has quite a few to take!! He has been studying, and has not finalized where he is going to school yet, but I am willing to bet that wherever he ends up, they probably won't take very many of his credits. Just the way things go around here!</p>
<p>However, if for some reason he opts for our in-state uni, UNC-CH, he will matriculate with over 78 semesters units. Like I said, he'll end up somewhere that will take maybe 3.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>We don't get the weighted average for our AP classes until we take (and pass) the AP exams. Our school district pays the fees for everybody. I'm also taking 6 APs this year and had to skip a national level competition for my elective course because it's DURING AP weeks!</p>
<p>You would think that since APs and IBs are nationally scheduled during the same time period, that any other high-school level academic competition would NOT be scheduled during the same time period!</p>
<p>My S (now college fresh.) took 7 AP classes and tests during high school. I can say without a doubt that he never studied for any of the tests. His excuse was "if I don't know it by now, I'm not gonna memorize it in a couple of nights". He ended up getting 2 "3's", 3 "4's" and 2"5's". One of his 3's was Eng. His sch. gives no AP credit for any score so that didn't matter. He has been able to use the rest for (20 hours) credit and it's really helping him out with scheduling.<br>
Leave the decision up to your son. Then the consequences (if any) will be his as well.</p>
<p>Seven AP exams and for the first time in years of unremitting hard work, it's party time. She spent the afternoon reading a really good novel and then watching a video with her dad. Her younger brother is studying more than she is, and that's only because we have a gun to his head. All I can say is I'm glad those scores don't come in until after final grades are issued.</p>
<p>In S's case he needs to get 5s for any kind of credit - he's got 4 APs and an SAT II (for language placement) coming up, in addition to finals. It's tough, since the weather has just gotten so beautiful here and the kids are really done with school in a couple of weeks (they do an internship for the last month of school). I don't think you can force the issue with your son, but maybe pointing out the advantages of doing well on these (more options for electives, or to explore other major possibilities once in college) and some empathy would help!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input everybody. I think since our HS doesn't use the AP scores for anything, the classes are weighted regardless of your AP score and he is of the same mind as Packmom's son, I'll leave it to him. I just could never tell if the APs were like the SATs, either you know it or not, or if there was a reason to study hard for them. When I was in HS and the dinosaurs roamed the earth we didn't have AP.....</p>
<p>When did you graduate. My parents said they had APs but not as many as there are now. They graduated late 70s from high school.</p>
<p>Don't know about ebeeee, but I graduated in 1970 and my high school did not offer AP courses, but we were able to take AP exams. I got AP credit in English & Biology. We just signed up for whatever we thought we could pass, based on the courses we had taken in high school.</p>
<p>My college friends who came from Los Angeles area high schools (i.e., bigger, better funded school district) did have AP courses available then. I remember being surprised to learn that they actually had classes geared to the test. </p>
<p>My curiousity aroused, I have found the answer. Wikipedia to the rescue: the AP program has been around since 1955.<br>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Placement_Program%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Placement_Program</a></p>
<p>I graduated HS in 1979 and my school didn't have them. East Coast school on a University campus....considered a highly rated school. Anyway, it seems to me that the academic pressures are way ramped up compared to what they were back then.Kindergarten isn't kindergarten anymore, everybody takes algebra and geometry before they get to high school, there is this push to enter college with credits, But that's a whole nother post......</p>
<p>I would advise you to make him study for the APs. I entered university with a full year's worth of credit thanks to APs and am graduating a year early :) Even if he only gets a little credit it will really make it easier in the future when he has a tough course load and wants to take one less class or in his last semester when he feels less motivated, etc.</p>