<p>We always read about kids acing every AP they attempt here on CC. But that is more unusual than I thought. Only13.6% of all APs are aced. This kid aced all 13 and will be sitting for three more.</p>
<p>No offense to this young man, he's obviously very bright, but I think this isn't a good thing to make competitive. He got a scholarship out of it, but think of the money spent on fees, review books, etc., and more importantly time spent. It's not a direction I would ever nudge my kids into.</p>
<p>The bookie in me gives following odds for Mr Lin:</p>
<p>Caltech - 100%
MIT - 75%
Stanford - 50%</p>
<p>I would like to place a bet that he gets into Stanford at those odds.</p>
<p>Berurah can hold the money.</p>
<p>Problem with the article is that I beielve it says 300000 kids took tests . Now over a million I believe</p>
<p>Each year there are Siemans AP qualifiers who have receive 5's on all 8 math science qualifying exams, several do it by end of 10th grade.
As far as number of 5's overall I have had and seen several students who earn 5's on 13-17 exams. The odds of doing so are not as low as one thinks as these are not random independent events. First, even using the present data base you might want to start by lookling at only those kids who can take at least 13. Not many. Second, kids that do often begin early. Most of the Siemans type students take calculus at an early age. The probability of a 9-10 grader getting a 5 is relatively high. Moreover, once a person gets a 5 on calculus the probabilty of getting a 5 on AP stats or APp environmental goes to almost 100 % even though the overall percentage scoring a 5 on those is 1o-15 %. It is these relationships that allow for what seems a higher percentage of kids accomplishing this feat than one might imagine. Yes, it is still relativley a few compared to the total and like the perfect ACT worth a "Wow!"</p>
<p>"Berurah can hold the money."</p>
<p>why? don't you trust your bookie.</p>
<p>
Why dstark, I am deeply honored! :) The money <em>will</em> be safe with me....at least unless I receive a Duke tuition statement while it's in my possession! :o ;)</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>AH, simba, don't be jealous of dstark's faith in my integrity. Nothin' personal... ;) <em>ROFL</em></p>
<p>dstark has thought of that possibility. He knows that the bill comes in August. This will be over in the next 28 days.</p>
<p>Getting 5's on all those AP exams have nothing to do with odds or luck. If the kid really knew all his AP course material, then he'll get 5's on all his exams.</p>
<p>That's like saying the probability of rain is 50 % --it will either rain or it won't.</p>
<p>oldolddad's reasoning is correct. A kid who scores a 5 on AP-Calc has a good chance of scoring 5's on other science/math tests. A kid who scored high in AP-USH has a good chance of scoring high on AP-Euro, and probably on AP-English and AP- American Lit.</p>
<p>I also wonder about the calculation of APs involved here.
Not to detract from the young man's achievements, but calculating the number of APs has changed recently, so that as far as the CB is concerned, courses that counted as only half now count as full when calculating AP scholar classification. Some AP classes are semester classes, others are year-long classes. But both types are counted the same for the purpose of AP scholar classification. </p>
<p>Still, I've heard of a student who had 18 AP credits under the old system. I don't know if he got 5s on all; but I know he got at least 4s and 5s only.</p>
<p>Marite: I think it would be interesting to correlate those achievements with SB-IV probabilities. I kind of think that students SB-IV IQ of 145 or greater put under same conditions would be able to achieve that feat. So my guess is perhaps somehwere beweteen 1/200 -1/500 chance of a student picked at random from a normal population might achieve this. I say that after knowing bit about what students in our district tested on earlier years and what happened later on HS AP tests. You know a lot about this what do you think?</p>
<p>oldolddad</p>
<p>I actually know very little about IQ testing. Neither my kid was tested. I don't think our district engages in testing of any student (there is no gifted education). What one could do, although it would not be a scientific study, is to look at the AP scores posted on CC (students usually post after ED/EA and RD results are in).
It just seems to me that the kind of ability-cum-preparation needed to do well on one kind of test carries over very well to other tests. For example, AP-Calc is a co-requisite or pre-requisite for AP-Physics C, and many physicists are mathematicians in disguise. So if a student does well on one test, chances are s/he will do well on the other. Similarly, AP-USH is often taught together with AP-Am Lit, and the qualities needed to excel on one--the ability to engage in critical reading and analytical writing--are closely related.</p>
<p>"That's like saying the probability of rain is 50 % --it will either rain or it won't."</p>
<p>Ofcourse....my cajun friend tells me that whenever he bus lottery ticket, his chances are 50-50. Either he wins or he loses. :)</p>
<p>
[quote]
I kind of think that students SB-IV IQ of 145 or greater put under same conditions would be able to achieve that feat.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The SB-IV is one of the few IQ tests that no one in my family has taken. We have two generations of L-M test-takers, and more than one who has taken the SB5. (To onlookers: all of those abbreviations refer to different editions of the Stanford-Binet IQ test, in order of time L-M (third revision), SB-IV (fourth), and SB5 (fifth).) </p>
<p>I think the problem with IQ tests as predictors of other scores, and this is an area I have done some</a> research on, is that any particular IQ test score matches up to a RANGE of scores on any other test--even on another IQ test. One simply can't say that all persons with an IQ score above whatever number you choose will likely be able to score above whatever other number you choose on a different test. </p>
<p>Some students (especially on the Art of Problem Solving Web site) self-report that they self-study some AP subject for a week or two, with no school class in the subject, and then they get a score of 5 on the test. But they usually don't self-report that about a lot of different subjects. To score high on a lot of AP tests would take, it seems to me, a good deal of persistence and patience irrespective of the learner's IQ score, and I wouldn't hazard a guess as to what the lowest observed IQ score might be among students who have become AP state scholars or AP national scholars. Most important of all for scoring high on an AP test is learning the content of the AP syllabus for that subject. Some high-IQ young people don't bother to do that, and some more moderate-IQ young people apply themselves to do that and succeed. </p>
<p>For parents who are really, really interested in high-IQ young people and what to do to bring them up, I recommend the Davidson</a> Institute Young Scholars program. There is no time like the present to sign up, if that is a concern in your family.</p>
<p>I think a few posters are underestimating the difficulty of getting 13 5s.</p>
<p>I know most people don't take 13 AP tests, but even so, I think there is only one kid that has 13 5s.</p>
<p>Now we will see more because it has become publicized.</p>
<p>It is still going to be a very rare occurence.</p>
<p>Many people are incredibly bright or have large abilities in one area. It doesn't mean they are bright in many areas or can get 13 5s.</p>
<p>Maybe, some of you have seen this?</p>
<p>Berurah, what can I say? I've been on here for 4 years. I think. </p>
<p>You're the winner. ;)</p>
<p>
<p>You're the winner.
Awwwwwww, ds, <em>sniffle</em>!!!!! And....{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}!</p>
<p>~b.
and p.s. You're right....I'm nothing if not trustworthy! :)</p>
<p>Dstark:</p>
<p>As I said, I do not mean to detract from this young man's achievement. But, aside from the fact that someone who excels in one area is likely to excel in a closely related area (eg. math and physics), there's chance involved.<br>
When S graduated from his school, only 12 APs were offered. There are 15 APs. But three are languages, which means that it is unlikely a student could take APs in all three given scheduling issues. Two are in math AB and BC, and it's an either/or proposition. So, right away, the count is down to 12 and was lower when S was at the school.
Schools that are on block schedule tend to offer more APs. Finally, many students prefer to take college classes to piling on APs. In fact, the limited number of APs at our school is due partly to the ease of attending the Harvard Extension School.</p>
<p>Kudos to the young man mentioned in the news story. But where does "1 in 9.2 billion odds" come from, in a world with fewer than 7 billion inhabitants?</p>