Testing: D is at an IB school, and you commit to taking the IB tests when you register for the IB classes, so that money was gone in any case.
@youcee, what benefits do AP test scores get you at UCLA? The only thing D is going to get for her IB exams is that if she gets a 5-6-7 on the IB English test she will place out of freshman comp 3. She already placed out of ELWR with her ACT score and placed out of American History and Quantitative Reasoning with her scores on the SAT subject tests in Math and USH. But the foreign language requirement can only be satisfied with AP scores, not IB (though it looks like she can test out during orientation). And it doesnāt seem like you get any credit at all for doing the IB diploma, so I guess itās just as well she didnāt do it!
@dustypig AP Lang and AP Lit each satisfy English Composition 3 (with a high enough score). APUSH satisfies American Institutions/History. Calc counted for one, but subsequent DE Calc classes will count for possibly 3 more. A 5 on Physics C Mechanics could get you out of the first Physics class if one petitions. I donāt think Gov or Econ are useful as a GE for engineering (which is our sonās area). Only 3 of 9 APs will count, but heāll have maybe 21 units of required courses going in. The APs may not all be useful, but they were necessary for him to get in because top kids typically take a lot of APs at his school (he may have been on the low side).
Congratulations to all on their D and/or Sās decisions!! Yeah HS Class of 2017 and (hopefully) College Class of 2021!! =D> :-bd <:-P
Thanks for the fun link, @Fishnlines29 ! I finally made time to take it, and found I guess, even tho I grew up in So Calif, I moved to the right place, 22 yrs ago! Test results: Minneapolis, Milwaukee & Madison.
sigh UAH counts Lit and Lang separately, and each fulfills one of their two requirements for Engl 101 and Engl 102. UNLESS youāre an Honors student, in which case you are required to take Engl 105 regardless of any APs you have.
And Music Theory is accepted, only itās for a 200-level course, and the only Music Theory course in her list of options for the Engineering pathway is a 100-level course.
Physics, which she would have gotten credit for, sheās not taking because she doesnāt want to skip the course in college.
I think she can use Psych and definitely Calc AB. Itās not like it saves us money, but it will free up a little time for her.
@LoveTheBard - Congrats on your D choosing Stanford. Go CARDINAL 2021. My D had a great time at the admit days and already looking forward to her next chapter of her life.
Wow to all the students who have made their decisions with a few hours to spareā¦you guys are either really ālazyā or know how to make your parents grow really old really quickly. Parents, there is a big reason why we get grey when our kids are about to graduate. Enjoy all the great swag with all the logos of your schools.
@mamaedefamilia - to answer your question about the admissions season I did hear an interesting tidbit from a friend who has a HS junior. The counselors at their HS felt that this current senior class saw more wait lists than normal. They attributed it to the new SATā¦their take is that the colleges did not know how to evaluate the new scores and tended to use the wait list more often (especially in the early rounds). They also advised the current junior class to subtract 60 points from their ānewā SAT scores to concord them to the old SAT.
On a different note, Kenyon published an article about the decrease in applicants this year. They attribute the decrease to being in a āredā state as they heard comments from school visitors about the political signs on display in the nearby area.
@NerdMom88
āAnd Music Theory is accepted, only itās for a 200-level course, and the only Music Theory course in her list of options for the Engineering pathway is a 10ā
I would think that should count. Have you checked with an advisor?
Congrats @WhataProcess on 2 fine schools! Thats quite an accomplishment, neither school is an easy admit. I know kids at each school and they love their choices. Iām sure your kids will enjoy their time there!!
@youceeAP tests - yep, complete waste of money imo. D17 could have taken the AP Physics C test and if she got a 4 or 5, she could potentially transfer 8 credits. As you mentioned though, since she expects to major in Physics, she feels sheāll need to retake Electicity/Magnetism and Mechanics anyway.
It must be that many colleges do not recognize these credits for a reason. Iām thinking maybe (in general) it must be acceptable to take the courses and not take the exam at the end. It shows you want a rigorous schedule, but if colleges wont take the credits, whatās the point of the exam and the extra $$ spent. This would ring true for most colleges D applied to, she didnāt even bother to report her AP exam scores - since they werenāt required - colleges donāt necessarily know if you took the exam or not.
Obviously, as @Ynotgo mentioned, some schools may still require the exam grade. Also, if you can test out of certain basic classes, there could be a benefit to taking them I suppose. I think you just have to research the schools youāre applying to before deciding and if unsure on where to apply, I guess you just have to take them! What a racket.
@thinmints Interesting theory on the SAT scores. There is a very long thread on this topic running here on CC that calls the concordance into question. Posters have brought data from very competitive schools like Williams, that show almost no difference in the SAT range for admitted students from the old SAT of last year and this yearās new SAT scores. There seems to be a tentative consensus emerging that the gap between old and new closes at about the 1400 mark and that to earn in the high 1500s-1600 might even be a smidge harder than for the old SAT.
We are in the west and the ACT is the preferred test. I saw plenty of waitlists and denials among the ACT takers that left me scratching my head, including ED applicants who appeared very strong to me. Then again, Iām not an admissions officer!
Can definitely relate on the paying for APs that may or may not be useful. D is taking 5 this year (plus 4 previously), but i think only 3 or 4 of those will be able to count for credit. Wonāt really know for sure until July when she meets with her advisor, but best I can tell about the way Chapman does their ācoreā classes, D will have credit, but a bunch of them fall in the same category. Also, 2 of them are Micro and Macro Econ, which she might be better off taking in her major. The seniors are all done after AP exams, so next Friday will be her last day of high school. Starting to feel really old. I canāt possibly be old enough to have a child who is finished with high school, can I?
I am also starting to feel really old, Iām 45ā¦ how do I have 2 kids in college?
As far as APās- mostly a waste. The Calculus Iām sure sheāll have to take again as a math/stats major. The apes may get her out of something. She didnāt score high enough on Lang or euro to count as a requirement, I donāt think anyone takes 3ās. where we did get the bang for the buck was in dual credit classes. Cal Poly takes all of those, sheās coming in with an almost sophomore standing because of dual credit community college classes.
APās will probably be a waste of $$ for son17 unless he somehow pulls out a good score in AP Stats. I donāt see it happening as it hasnāt been a strong class for him, heās had a hard time with certain sections. His grades have been OK, but he is not confident in what he has learned. Heāll probably end up taking it again in college.
Heās also taking an AP Gov test. I doubt heāll ever take a gov class in college, so waste of $$.
The only benefit my kid gets from taking the AP tests is that he doesnāt have to take the actual class final exam if you take the AP test. So with his 2 AP exams he now only has a couple of finals to take. He is really looking forward to being done with this semester in particular, heās not really happy about his classes at the moment.
And now that everyone should have a decision made, I will say CONGRATULATIONS to all of our fabulous kids and to us for weathering through this process. We are DONE with this step. Now to start really looking at the āwhat to bring to collegeā lists!
S will get to use all of his AP and DE credits at his U, OU. He wonāt have that many as his school doesnāt have AP-specific classes, but he will have enough pertinent ones to move ahead in many of the STEM classes. And for him, I think it will be good for him to be in the freshman honors seminars for the humanities. It will keep him well rounded, because if he has his choice, heād be very pointy.
@NerdMom88 I agree, the APs wonāt really save us money for college costs, but they may allow our kids to have just a few more classes they can use to explore a non-major interest. For engineering there are so many required courses, that there isnāt as much flexibility as other majors. Plus it might allow them a quarter or two where they can take a lighter load than they otherwise would have to.
@Fishnlines29 Iām with you on not using the AP credit to get out of Physics. Itās just such a foundational course and by requiring a petition to get out of it in our case, it seems like itās barely considered the college equivalent and only in some cases.
