Thanks for your suggestions. Many students here take 10 AP exams when they are juniors. I was hoping he can take some exams earlier to spread things out.
But why would/should they make an exception for your child, to take the AP test without even taking the class?
Personally, I would not have him study for the AP test. You have called 50 schools to try to secure a seat. Let/help him find other ways to academically challenge himself in physics, or whatever subject. What math is he in right now?
@hebegebe do you have any suggestions for ways for this student to challenge himself outside of school?
If they are not allowed to take AP classes until 11th grade at his school, how are they cramming in 10 AP tests as juniors? Thatâs total insanity. Poor kids!
I second the suggestion that he pursue dual enrollment, which will be much more advantageous on his applications (as long as he does well) than any amount of AP self-study scores.
Agree!
I am not sure about DE for this studentâŠuntil we know how advanced he is (or if the HS even offers it), we are talking about a 14/15 year old. And taking DE (or a college class outside of a DE arrangement) does come with some caveats, especially if the student may have medical school aspirations.
This surprised me too - how? Why? This is ridiculous. At many school that restrict AP classes to junior and senior year they also have corollary restrictions on the number that can be taken each year. (For example, my daughterâs school restricts to three AP classes per year - there are a few students who have been able to get approval for four after their parents made a stink with the principal, but most students are limited to three)âŠEven without those restrictions, how on earth can you take 10 AP classes in a year? I assume many are NOT taking that many AP classes and are just taking a bunch of tests? Who is telling them that this a good idea???
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We will have to agree to disagree.
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The high school does not need to offer it. You simply enroll in a community college - a California high school student can enroll in any community college in California and take up to three classes per semester for free. They do need their guidance counselor to sign an enrollment form, so technically the high school must âapproveâ it. Some high school do have some restrictions - for example, my daughterâs high school will not allow a student to take a class at community college if the same class is offered at the high school (so, for example, you canât take intro to stats or calculus, although you could take linear algebra or something like that). Some high schools do not have such restrictions. But all the high school needs to do is sign a form - it doesnât need to offer anything.
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True - OPâs student is studying for the same course my HS Junior is currently trudging through (LOL) so I assumed he may be able to handle the rigor, if his school allows (which is doubtful given the restriction on AP classes).
D23âs school was same, no APâs until 11th, then 3 max (as grades allowed). I canât imagine the pressure of taking 10 AP tests as juniorsâŠ
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The two arenât necessarily related. As I said, my daughterâs high school has various restrictions on AP classes (only junior and senior year and a max of 3 per year), but students are allowed to enroll in DE courses - up to three a semester. The only restriction is that they canât take a DE class if the same class is offered at high school - so general physics likely wouldnât be allowed. But not all high schools have that restriction, so it may be possible for the OPâs child to take it through a CC. And if he does end up at a California public university, he should get full credit as long as he get a C or above.
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Yeah, again, who in the world is telling these kids that this is a wise thing to do? I wonder where it is coming from? I canât imagine any competent high school counselor advising students to do thisâŠ
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Wow you are all being harsh on OP.
Paging @AnnaW whose son managed to find somewhere to take self-studied APs that his school (in CA) didnât offer.
Exactly. Thatâs the reason I was hoping he can take some AP tests earlier.
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I agree, but most HS students donât have a competent HS counselor given the average student:counselor ratio is around 480:1 per NACAC. And many of the HS counselors are overwhelmed just supporting the mental health needs of their students (not many HSs have dedicated college counselors) and/or know relatively little about college admissions.
I think the other point that posters are trying to make is that self-studying for AP tests is not helpful for college admissionsâŠI donât understand why students are taking 10 AP tests in junior year. Why is that happening?
If one is looking for college credits because of affordability reasons, for example, that is another story. As someone mentioned above, perhaps taking CLEP tests make more sense in that case. And remember, many schools donât give college credit for AP or CLEP tests, especially private schools.
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How widely accepted are CLEP credits, though? I would imagine (and this is just based on anecdote) that even less than AP and even less DE. It seems the least accepted - but again, that is just based on random things Iâve heard, Iâve never actually looked into it. And, if the student opts for a private university, all of these options - AP, CLEP, and DE - are probably somewhat less likely to provide usable credits. If he opts for a California public, I would think DE is actually the most useful since they almost all transfer for credit as long as you get a C or above. APs can be hit or miss in terms of credit, not sure at all about CLEPâŠ
I agree probably less accepted. Personally I wouldnât take the risk of a HS freshman getting a poor grade in a DE class. A C (or even B in some cases) in physics for example would negatively impact college apps via GPA calculation, as well as some graduate/professional school apps. The student will get little to no benefit for âchallengingâ himself.
Yes, this is a very important point. Not only will a low grade look not great to colleges, DE follows you beyond college into grad school, law school, med school, etc. DE grades become part of your college record. So it definitely depends on the student - some may not be ready as freshmen, or even at any time during high school, and thatâs totally fine. There is no reason anyone HAS to take DE. Some students, however, do feel ready for the challenge and, the OPâs reasoning for wanting to take the AP physics exam as a freshman was that he needed a challenge. But of course in addition to challenge, there are also considerations like maturity, organizational ability, etc that are needed for success in DE classes. That OP should of course consider whether or not DE is potentially a good fit. It is for some, and not for others.
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Except the kids at your high school have taken the AP courseâŠnot self studies only.
Is your high school on some sort of block schedule or something. We only have 7 class periods on our dayâŠno way any student can take ten AP courses in one year.
My apologies if my comments were viewed as âharshâ - I was sympathizing with the OPâs studentâs situation, and the amount of pressure they may be under to perform.
I think most of us were also quite surprised by the number of AP exams students at this school are regularly taking in one year, which is surely not the norm. Why limit when you can take APâs and then condone taking 10 exams in one year? This is not a criticism of the OP, but of the school.
The OP came here to figure out how to help lessen that pressure by stretching it out over several years.
I think it produced a useful discussion on the merits of self-study AP tests vs. other options that could be viewed as even more beneficial as they relate to college admissions.
Hopefully the OP found some of the discussion useful as it relates to helping her student - no criticism intended.