My kid’s school has been slowly losing AP courses and is now down to about 9:
AP English Language & Composition; AP English Literature
AP Spanish Language; AP German
AP European History; AP US History
AP Biology; AP Environmental Science
AP Psychology
Math 150/151 (CCAP)
Math 254-245 (CCAP)
Would college admissions counsellors have a problem with a student taking dual-enrollment courses (such as the math classes listed above, which are taught by a high school teacher and are virtual classes) but then taking the coordinating AP exam at the end of the year (such as AP Calc BC)?
My kid has finished AP Spanish and taken the AP test. This semester (grade 11) my kid is taking DE calc 3 through a community college course - so we should book AP Calculus BC as a test for May 2023, correct?
Is it deemed strange to take a DE course through college, such as English 101 (a type of Language/Composition course) and then take the AP English Language/Composition Course Test in May? (Meaning not taking the class at the local high school; scheduling issues being a reason why.)
How would this fit into most rigorous course load selected? (The guidance counsellor at my kid’s school hasn’t been able to respond to queries just yet.)
Taking a college course and the AP test covering the same material will not give double credit. However, it may increase the chance of getting credit and placement if the student later attends a college that gives credit and placement for one (AP score or college transfer credit) but not the other.
This is a question that only the counselor can answer.
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Re: high school students who can’t take a high school course (due to scheduling, or other reasons) but can take a comparable DE college course. Here is my understanding:
If they don’t know the exact colleges they will be applying to in the future, they should still take the equivalent AP test (that corresponds to their course) at the end of the year (especially if still in Grade 10/11). This way, schools that give credit for AP tests will be able to do so.
The concern is not to earn “double credit” (not sure what that is or how that works). The concern is that a student who takes, for example, English 101 (comparable to AP Language and Composition) will not get placement/credit at some colleges due to not having an AP exam to confirm a nationally-standardized score in the subject.
Meaning this is a potential “better to just take the test in May now” and avoid not being able to get credit freshman year - to place in a higher level/more interesting course.
Just trying to fully understand the ramifications of taking a DE course instead of a high school one, but then not testing the AP exam equivalent for confirmation.
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Is it common to have such schools that give only AP credit but not for DE? Are these only private schools?
It is very common for private schools and OOS publics not to give DE credit.
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Other than not getting credit if you don’t take the AP test, there are really no ramifications if the course rigor rating is not impacted. But only your GC can answer how s/he will rate course rigor.
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Thanks. Only reason I asked is I checked random private(USC) and public(Georgia Tech/Purdue) . DE from California community colleges seem to get credit at these schools.
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My son’s transcript will look like he took dual enrollment as opposed to the AP class, then took the AP test. Many of his classes are both AP and dual enrollment, but only the college credit will go on his applications. I worried about the AP class not showing on his apps, but there’s really not any remedy I can see.
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Are you talking a CCAP class (like, in California, for math or social sciences)?
From what I understand the guidance counsellor telling us last year, the AP class doesn’t give our student the credit - but the AP Test does.
Don’t know how this would work for someone who self-studies an AP subject and takes the AP Test and does well - but doesn’t have the corresponding class on the student’s transcript.
And, I think another poster on cc wrote that Canadian schools recognize AP classes/AP test scores, but not college DE credits, due to the wide variety of colleges/standards in the states.
I’m not sure what CCAP is? He took 3 AP classes junior year and he’s taking another 3 this year. All are also DE college classes through his private school. He’s taking the exams for each.
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It’s truly going to be university-specifc.
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CCAP courses are college courses taught to high school students - in our case, offered virtually due to pairing up with another local high school. “Classes allow students to earn credits at the high school level and build up college credits that are transferable.”
My son’s classes are on campus dual enrollment, taught by high school teachers with advanced degrees approved to teach dual enrollment.
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And if it is indeed university and college-specific, then the high school student that takes DE courses (instead of the standard high school AP class) should then take the corresponding AP Test at the end of the year.
The downside: paying the AP test fee, the student needing to study for the exam and do well.
The upside: since we don’t know which schools offer both DE and/or AP Test credit (having not finalized a college application list), having both the college course and the AP Test allows the student full credit for their efforts - if the school offers any credit at all.
One other variable here is the AP score. Some schools give credit for 3, some need 4 or 5.
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I do think taking the AP test is wise. It covers your bases in case the college doesn’t take the dual enrollment credit.
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Yeah, have to find this out on cc because it was definitely not discussed with us locally. The thing is, the ramifications are huge, in a way.
Your kid takes harder courses that cover a lot of material, and if they don’t take the AP Test and a school gives credit for the AP Test, your kid is missing out on building a college schedule of more advanced, more interesting classes that are a better fit.
Seems to me doing both is what we as parents want. Left to my kid, there is no way he is doing both DE and writing an AP test at the end of the year. College courses have a lot of flexible curriculum and there is no guarantee it covers all the AP material.
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And finding a school that will let a non-student take the AP test there (assuming these are AP tests his current HS doesn’t offer).
He could also consider taking CLEP tests instead of AP tests…but again credit is college dependent.
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Yep, important point. My kid took two college credits of a social sciences topic last year. However, the course material didn’t cover the same AP Government/Econ content so no test.
For Calculus, English Language/Composition, Art History, hopefully the tests are more straightforward.