<p>I am upset, but I don't think there is anything I can do. If you believe there is, please let me know....
S took AP French Language this semester.His school made an error and did not sign the class up as AP French with College Board. My son was told about the situation about a week and 1/2 ago. We are told the school tried to fix the problem, but could not, and he will not get credit for taking AP.His transcript is going to show a WP ( withdrawn without penalty) and then show he took French V.
They are putting a letter with his transcript explaining the error and will weight his GPA as though he got credit for AP. For all future transcripts we must be very careful to be sure this letter is included with any applications for transfer/grad school/ med school etc. I am upset with the "Withdrawn" notation to his transcript, as HE DID NOT withdraw. He took AP in it's entirety. I think the W will look like he dropped the class, and will the adcoms really read the letter?
So is this a big dealor no big deal??? I understand people make mistakes, I just don't want it to hurt my son in the long run. Just want to be sure I don't miss an opportuntiy to do something...if there is anything to be done. Thanks ..</p>
<p>Why doesn’t the school just change the name of the course on the transcript from AP French to French V? Why do they have to withdraw him and list him in another class? That makes no sense to me.</p>
<p>But I wouldn’t worry about grad school, they’ll only care about what he did in college. The difference between AP French and French V in high school won’t make a difference at that point.</p>
<p>I think that the high-school transcript becomes less and less important as credits are accumulated in college. We have our own transcript issues and requests for high-school transcripts haven’t been that common for applying for internships, jobs, etc.</p>
<p>It’s no big deal. It can be noted with any applications by the g.c., and your son can still take the AP exam next spring if he wants to – as well as SAT II’s in French.</p>
<p>Wow. What a mess. So, did he take the AP test? How could they have given the test if it wasn’t an AP class? </p>
<p>I think the adcoms will definitely look at the letter. </p>
<p>I don’t ever remember needing my high school transcript to apply to anything beyond college. I personally wouldn’t worry about grad school/med school applications.</p>
<p>Seems like what might be affected would be his placement into college French and the lost credits. How big a deal that is depends on where he goes.</p>
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<p>According to mulitple postings I’ve seen on CC, there are all kinds of students out there who self-study and take AP exams without taking an AP class. So I think the College Board doesn’t object since they get the $$ for each exam taken. The College Board DOES care that a HS administered class meet the requirements for an AP class, since apparently there have been abuses over the years.</p>
<p>I concur with posters who suggest that once he’s in college and established, this issue will fade rapidly.</p>
<p>I thought one could take the AP test by self studying. If so, why could the class not have taken the AP test either together or individually? I think the “W” is wierd, seems like it would just be easier to change the name of the class on the transcript but the difference to colleges between French V and AP French is probably minimal. I’m sure there are schools that don’t even offer AP French (like ours) although we do have French 5 (if the kids elected to take French 1 in middle school). In terms of “placement” in college class, each college handles placement differently so just check with the school where he is accepted when the time comes. High school transcripts will not be impactful for grad school so not to worry about that.</p>
<p>Yes, you CAN take the AP exam without taking a course. Are you saying that the school’s course is not accredited by college board? Schools can choose to weight their own courses however they choose and your s. can take the AP exam, though it sounds like he’d have to take it next year. </p>
<p>I’ll tell you something that turned out to work fabulously for my d. Anything that came along in HS that might look like a mess - the school dropping a program she was interested in, scheduling conflict, that kind of thing - can actually become the thing that makes a student’s application stick in the minds of admissions people. How does the student handle these kinds of disappointments? A student who takes an AP exam when their school has not supported the class looks more motivated/mature than a student who has picked their courses from the school’s offerings. Just something to think about.</p>
<p>Since the school made the error, they should accept responsibility and fix the transcript properly, meaning no W, but just list a grade for French V. (Our HS offers a combo class for language, AP & Lang IV, and the teacher will drop a kid back mid-semester if they can’t handle the AP rigor, but the transcript is fixed properly – no mention of AP.)</p>
<p>AP credit is only given after taking the test. It is not required that you take an AP class as others have noted above. It doesn’t matter what the high school calls the class–or even what grade a student gets in the class (probably needs to be a passing grade). Any AP credit given by a college is a result of the score earned on the AP test.</p>
<p>For a high school to note AP on the transcript, the teacher has to have completed the AP training (another way College Board makes $$$ no doubt).</p>
<p>Our school has several classes that do not translate to the packaged AP offerings. The high school profile labels these classes as “rigor comparable to AP classes.”</p>
<p>What’s the problem? His GPA will be the same, and his AP test result will be the same.</p>
<p>I’m with CF on this one. A little note attached to the transcript (by the way, the high school transcript is a dead issue once you’re in college, unless you are thinking of transferring later–you don’t need it for grad school, med school, etc.) should suffice. It lets the person looking at the transcript know that S didn’t bail out and move down to an easier class. [And even if he did, I’m not sure that “moving down” to a French V class will be seen as an app killer.]</p>
<p>S’s grade is weighted, as if it were an AP class. You don’t have to take an AP class at school to take the AP test and get credit in college if you get the requisite score. So S will get whatever credit he is going to get from a college from the AP class he took. </p>
<p>Someone screwed up with the AP paperwork. School has tried to make it as right as they can make it. I would definitely move on. There will be lots of reasons for being upset later.</p>
<p>It will forever be on his permanent record! Maybe it will keep him out of the draft…</p>
<p>Kids may self-study for AP tests, but don’t the tests themselves need to be taken in a place where it can be proctored and properly administered. Guess I’m just confused by the whole situation. If the school gave the test, and he took it, and he’s getting the equivalent of AP credit for it, why does any school need to register with the college board as an AP class?</p>
<p>I don’t see how the OP’s situation is significantly differnt from those school systems (I’m thinking Scarsdale) who abolished AP courses a few years ago. They teach their own curriculum, letting students who want to take the AP exams do so, but without being constrained by the AP requirements and authorizations.</p>
<p>At S1’s HS, there were a number of classes (BC Calc, Stat, Comp Sci AB, Bio…) that had completely different names. The AP curriculum was the minimum level taught in the course, and several were taught as one-semester courses with significantly more content than AP. Rather than having the teachers submit their curricula for College Board, the school said, “oh, it’s not an AP course,” and went on doing exactly what they’ve been doing (with tremendous success) for many years. Everyone in the classes took the corresponding APs and nailed them easily since they had covered so much more than what AP required. </p>
<p>If the school doesn’t have certification for AP French, just list the entire year as French V, and let the kid’s AP score stand as demonstration of what he has learned. Geez, seems like the school is making more work for themselves by posting a W and then including a letter, etc. This is just a change in the program that spits out course names on a transcript!</p>
<p>A student can take an AP test at any school that administers it, just by paying and registering. A school can offer an AP test without teaching the corresponding AP course. My son, a homeschooler, took his AP Micro at a local high school. They kindly ordered the test just for him.</p>
<p>Mini, I think you’re confusing a W on the transcript with being on the Group W bench.</p>
<p>If your son is a senior who is already accepted into college, don’t give the situation a second thought. Unless he transfers to a different college, it’s likely that nobody will ever ask for his HS transcript again.</p>
<p>If he is a junior, he may want to put an explanation of the transcript anomaly on his college applications, but once it is explained, it shouldn’t do him any harm. There is nothing wrong with taking French V. </p>
<p>If he intends to take more French in college or if he would like to see whether he can get college credit for his work in French, he should inquire at his college about whether they give their own foreign language placement tests. Many do.</p>
<p>From other posts by the OP, her S is a senior and already accepted to college.</p>