<p>Just a quick correction to an earlier comment. Some schools do give credit for high scores on AP exams. Both of our kids at Northwestern received over a quarter’s worth of credit (needed 5s on most AP exams), which gives them the option of skipping quarters (which D is about to do for a professional theatre contract) and/or graduating early. At $20k per quarter that means AP courses can represent a significant savings on tuition. ;)</p>
<p>Momcares, great for your D! Very exciting.
I didn’t get a sense folks were saying that colleges didn’t give credit for AP tests. Only that it varies. Some colleges are very generous and will give quite a bit of credit, others give credit for only a 5 and/or in some classes, and some colleges - like Williams, where my older D is graduating in a few weeks! - won’t give credit at all. But in many cases, regardless of credit, you can at least skip an entry level class and go up a level. For instance, my D at Williams was able to take a 200 level writing class as a Freshman. </p>
<p>Thanks, @connections, and congrats on your D’s upcoming graduation! I just didn’t want people left with the impression that AP courses are of little value. I also know our flagship state school gives higher registration priority to kids who enter with lots of AP credits, which can make the difference between graduating in 4 years versus needing a 5th year to complete required courses.</p>
<p>AP credits definitely have value as described. You sometimes can get college credits. Other times, it really helps with placement in the right level of courses. </p>
<p>Our high school (back when my girls were attending, but is not the case now) only had one AP class…Calculus, which both took as juniors. Older D then took a second year of Calculus long distance through Johns Hopkins. She took the AP Calculus AB exam and the AP Calculus BC exam. She didn’t use these credits in college as she wanted to take as many college classes as she could (and also math was not required at a her college…Brown University). HOWEVER, those two AP credits really helped when it came time to applying to grad school and she needed two years of college math. She did not take any math while in college at Brown. But those two years of AP Calculus in high school counted for the prerequisites for admission to grad school, which worked out great.</p>
<p>If you have a student who will not struggle and stress over AP classes, calculus and statistics or whatever they may be, by all means have them take those classes. As many previous posters have mentioned, many schools will offer credits or allow you to bypass classes if you score well,on the AP tests.
However, there are many very smart kids who may find the pace and stress of senior year, college applications and auditioning a lot to handle. If they are applying to,schools where these higher level classes will not impact their admission, then I would suggest allowing them to take a somewhat easier course load that will,allow them to get good grades and cause less stress. In what is a very stressful year. Do figure out what the schools in which you are interested require. And make sure you meet those requirements. But don’t cause undue additional stress if not necessary. Know your child, know what they are capable of handling, know what their goals are, then plan their class schedule,accordingly.
Do not feel bad if your child does not feel they can handle AP Calculus, statistics or,other high level classes. It does not mean they are not smart or talented. They will find schools and programs that are their ideal match. And it can still,include Carnegie Mellon, Michigan and NYU. I know students at each of these schools who did not take any AP math or science and were still admitted. Just do what is best for your child and situation and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing.</p>
<p>I agree with vvnstar, but wanted to be sure the value of AP courses for some kids applying to certain programs didn’t get lost in the discussion. </p>
<p>I totally agree with vynstar, but like MomCares, also wanted to share information about AP tests that might benefit those who are interested. AP testing is not for everyone at all - my younger son didn’t do any AP classes -but on the other hand, I believe that informed decisions are best. Just as we shouldn’t worry about what others are doing to make us too pressured, so we also shouldn’t simply assume things are true simply because it’s commonly repeated, or not know options at all. As a teacher, I have seen many more cases of uninformed unfortunate decisions than informed ones. But the bottom line is definitely always that each student, as vynstar says, should do what is best for him/herself.</p>