<p>"It’s a really helpful exercise to look at AP credit given at a couple of universities your student is considering. Perhaps your state flagship and a couple of other schools of interest. " - BlueG.</p>
<p>Excellent advice for all of us.</p>
<p>GREEN square for you Blueiguana!</p>
<p>I was shocked that my DS’s school gave him credit for both AP English classes, because as blue says, most schools only give credit for one. He got to take only 1 instead of 2 freshman writing seminars, and also got 3 credits of generic “literature” credit that he can use toward his humanities and social sciences requirements (he’s an engineer). He also got 8 credits of generic biology for AP biology, but that doesn’t really fill any need in his program, so I don’t think it will do anything for him. The only thing he didn’t get any credit for was Calculus AB as his school only gives credit for BC. Kids in his program are <em>expected</em> to have AB or another introductory calculus course before starting the first “calculus for engineers” class, so he needed the class, but he didn’t get out of anything for it. He got credit for Physics C Mechanics getting him out of the first engineering physics course (which ironically he didn’t actually have the prerequisites to <em>take</em> since it required the first calculus for engineers course as a prerequisite – because of that he talked with the physics department before accepting the AP credit but they assured him he would be fine, and he was). He got credit for the introductory CS for engineers course from AP CS. And he got credit for the introductory chemistry class all engineers have to take. He didn’t take any history/government/etc. AP classes but those would have also counted toward his humanities requirements.</p>
<p>jasmineRose, I think your D should take any AP exams that she thinks she can do well on. For $90 it can (a) solidify her applications by showing that she is indeed ready for college-level work, and (b) might get her some credit starting out so she can possibly graduate early (huge $$$$ savings) or at least take more of the more interesting upper-level classes, having the introductory stuff out of the way.</p>
<p>Something JasmineRose said makes me wonder about the classes. It’s not considered AP on the transcript but is in the syllabus. I think I would want to know how other students performed on past AP tests from those classes. Were they prepared for the test? If the teacher isn’t covering the material that is on the test, then it may be a waste of money if the majority of students are scoring too low for the credits to count. Or maybe some outside studying may also be in order. </p>
<p>This may be true for any AP class, but I guess the fact that it’s not considered an AP class on the transcript is what made me think this.</p>
<p>Going back a bit: CT1417, my DD took APGov this past fall as that is when her school offers it. During the spring, the students and teacher meet on Fridays at lunch to review, stay current, and ultimately study for the May test. Of the 5 AP classes she was taking this fall, APGov was the most demanding. Lots of material, lots of papers and tests and reading crammed into one semester!! She was very grateful that it was the longer fall semester and not the shorter spring semester! Maybe your son could take it in the fall and “organize and lead” a similar lunchtime study session?</p>
<p>Teachers have to take certification from the AP folks to teach an official AP class, but lots of times teachers can teach a class that covers the AP curriculum without it officially being an AP class. But yes, definitely check and see how past students have done. No point taking the exam if the class hasn’t prepared you for it.</p>
<p>What mathmom describes is a great way AP credits worked out for her son. You never know until your student chooses a university. I would say this is especially true for engineering. My son chose to use some credit (AP Chem and never looked back baby!), and elected to retake physics knowing they’d only gotten through half of the textbook despite a 5/A. He’s mech’e so wanted a firm foundation. It was a good call. His university also ‘assumed Calc AB’ and started at Calc 2 so no credit there but very necessary. If he’d chosen another university the approach would have been totally different as the weeder classes are different there. You really have to wait until you choose a university, talk to current students and department advisors to get a handle on what AP credit to take advantage of and what to retake (I stress department advisors as the advisors at orientation, although well meaning, will not necessarily know the ins and outs of engineering weeders during registration).</p>
<p>Thanks Portlandia! Will have him talk to teachers and students.</p>
<p>My S’11 is in CS so that is another factor in why he chose to take the Physics credit instead of re-taking the class. I have already advised my S’14 who wants to be a mechanical engineer that he will most likely want to re-take it. (Due to some bizarre circumstances, the AP Physics kids this year, including my S’14, also had to switch midyear to an online class that doesn’t seem that great, so that’s another factor.) </p>
<p>There was a lot of advise given by current students during the accepted student visit day about which courses to consider re-taking and which to be thankful you can skip. In the end the only things my S got credit for that he needed to take a follow-up course to was the physics, and the courses weren’t that tightly related, and the CS, which is an area he had done a ton of work outside of class and was very confident about. In general for kids at a very rigorous school, you may not want to skip a class that is foundational for your area of study, but they do advise kids with programming experience to go ahead and take the credit for the CS AP class.</p>
<p>So, as it turns out we “wasted” $90 on the Calc exam since he didn’t get any credit for him, and while the class was important, the exam wasn’t. But at pretty much any of the other schools on his list, he would have placed out of Calc I with his 5, so not knowing where he’d be going at the time when we had to sign up for AP exams, it was worth paying for to keep that option open for him.</p>
<p>My kids have to take the AP exam to get the additional credit for the class. A few years ago they tried to start charging for the tests and parents had a fit because of the no test- no weighted credit policy. So, the school system went back to paying for the tests. They can flaunt that huge numbers take the tests each year this way. I have no idea how many do well on them though. My D has done fine on hers.</p>
<p>What is Calc AB and BC. At DD’s school there is Honors & Reg pre-calc, Honors & Reg Calculus 1 & AP Calculus 2.</p>
<p>Hot off the Press: The Choice’s February Checklist for Juniors: [February</a> College Checklist for Juniors - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/counselors-calendar-february-juniors/]February”>February College Checklist for Juniors - The New York Times)</p>
<p>DD had her first “official” session with her school’s college counselor. DD came home quite positive and said “Wow, your mom’s been busy!” since I was the one who added “Schools to Think About” on Naviance. She told daughter it was a good mix of reach and safeties and that she would also add some schools for her to consider. She told her that she usually doesn’t like to see a student apply to more than ten so DD will need to prune the list. Meeting with Private CC tomorrow so I will see what she thinks of the strategy. </p>
<p>DD brought home straight A’s for the first time this semester and will take the ACT for the first time on Saturday. She’s hasn’t had much time to prepare since her EC’s have kicked into high gear and she’s stayed focused on her grades. Signed her up to take the SAT a second time in March; thinking it is probably her test since she did quite well back in December. </p>
<p>With a shorter spring semester and so much testing, I’m guessing this term will fly by before we know it! Good luck to all taking the ACT on Saturday!</p>
<p>Calc AB is Calc 1, first semester of college Calc, taught over a years time. Calc BC is Calc 1&2, college Calc 1 and Calc 2 taught at the same pace it would be in college. For Calc BC you take two AP tests (or parts 1 & 2) and receive two separate scores.</p>
<p>Thanks, Blueiguana. I suspected as much, but different regions do it differently, so wasn’t sure. </p>
<p>Signed up DD for her first SAT test in March. I guess this is where the rubber meets the road.</p>
<p>Any other kids have total meltdowns this week over academic demands? My D14 and S14 are both a mess after being swamped with homework all last week, spending the weekend doing yet more homework, and then being up until almost 11:30 last night doing homework. I wish I could email their teachers and tell them to give these kids a break! The biggest demands are the AP classes, of course. We’re on a trimester system and AP Comp (Language) is taught in only one trimester, which I have decided is insane. It’s not unusual for them to have 4 hrs/night of AP Comp homework alone. Add in a major AP Bio test for DS, and the end of AP Music Theory for DD (it’s a 2 trimester course, ending in 3 weeks), and Honors Precalc, plus their other courses, plus the ACT this weekend, and they are overwhelmed. I feel like we are tiptoeing around the house so we don’t disturb them and I’m bending over backward to make their lives at home as easy as possible. If my stress level on their behalf is any indicator, then I can only imagine the level of stress they are feeling…</p>
<p>Also in NY Times Choice blog is an article about the upcoming CA 5 essay prompts our 14ers will have to pick from…also looks like the word limit is increasing from 500 to 650…interesting</p>
<p>Yes, the different names can get confusing. We have two levels of pre-calc but they have odd names and the students shorten them to their initials XXX Math and XXX Math, both of which are not really nice. From one you can only move on to Calc AB, the other gives you the option to move to Calc BC.</p>
<p>S3 is taking the March SAT as well. He took the online SAT test that the college board offers, then scores immediately. Has anyone else’s kid done this as part of their study prep? Any idea how accurate the scores are? His score was up a good amount from the one he took at the school hosted by a test prep company three weeks ago. He has done decent prep work since them. I’ve also heard the test-prep co’s make their tests harder so when you do better on the actual SAT you think it is from their prep-classes. I have no way to know if that’s true…urban-myth. The increase was encouraging but I don’t want to get our hopes up too high. He’s still got 4 more weeks prep, so fingers crossed!</p>
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<p>Ugh, my initial impression is that I don’t like the looks of them and have no idea what my S’14 will come up with to write about!</p>
<p>You’re not alone, Collegefortwins. Fall semester was hell at our house, mostly because of APUSH and a few other demanding classes. There’s a similar thread in the parents forum about a stressed out junior although this parent is concerned about next year. </p>
<p>I believe AP classes and homework in general needs to be rethought. The student is there for 6-7 hours a day. I’d like to see more real work done in class and less brought home. And if the class is too demanding, then teach it a full year. </p>
<p>Blue - We have limited knowledge about test prep centers. Most of DH’s peers self study or have tutors. Although she does know a current college freshman who took an expensive summer course and her score raised only about 50 points. </p>
<p>Dreading the SAT as Spykid does not do her best on these types of tests. She seems to be an ACT kind of kid.</p>
<p>blueiguana - D’s SAT tutor was the opposite – D scored in the mid700s on every practice test with this woman (a level she never achieved in real life). I think the tutor wanted to show us how great a job she was doing.</p>
<p>We’re using someone else for S, and he does the practice tests in the blue book then brings them in and they go over his answers. Tutor says he’s doing well; S say he thinks it’s helping.</p>
<p>I’m going to come back in life as a kept woman or SAT tutor. Or golden retriever.</p>
<p>Blue: Lol on the math course names.</p>
<p>My MIL is D’s tutor so we can’t fire her if DD bombs the test 
Especially since she’s doing this for free - a service she extends to all of her grandchildren. I must say that D’s practice test scores have risen dramatically since working with grandma, but they are still a bit shy of what is needed for D’s chosen schools. </p>
<p>D is a STEM kid with little love for her English classes and SAT prep is sheer hell for her. And I can’t say I blame her. I look at those questions and think WTH? They all seem like the right answer, lol. Guess she comes by this naturally. She took a practice ACT and scored fairly high without any study, so fingers crossed that will be her saving grace.</p>
<p>ETA: Ha, Classof2015 MIL doesn’t charge nearly enough, which is why she’s booked. I want to come back as the CEO of CollegeBoard.</p>