@2muchquan, sorry I misunderstood. I though you were talking about skipping APs (as in classes), but you meant the exam.
Sās school just had a school assembly to tell the kids that they do not need to take "a bazillion " (quote from son) AP tests or take a bazillion college courses before going to college because so many schools are cutting down on what they will now accept. Also, the kids are not preparing well for the AP tests and now getting high enough scores to matter. I will caveat with Sās school does not have designated AP classes, but they may opt to take the test in May if they feel prepared. They are also able to dual enroll in university classes. They do not get a GPA bump for taking AP tests.
D15 only took the calc BC test and did get credit for calc in her small LAC which only allows 2 AP credits and only if a 5 was scored. Personally, I think it is better for the kids if they are not so stressed by having to pile up on APs. It is one thing to be challenged by the classes you are taking like mommdc said, but so bad for many kids who feel they need to pile on to get the bump in GPA from the AP level classes.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek My D16 was advised to take the German CLEP exam because at her first choice school it will eliminate one more required language class than the AP exam.
We are not in CA, so I did a quick google. CSUs accept them according to this document. https://www.calstate.edu/sas/conferences/2010/CLEP_CSU_Presentation_Final%20Aug%202010.pdf
Different schools accept different ones. But, if they do accept them, they have the advantage of being taken at any time. My older kids all did APs oe DE. This dd was incredibly Iāll last yr and we didnāt want her DE this yr while we monitored her health, so CLEP is a new consideration for us.
Thanks, I looked at Cal Poly SLO and CSU Northridge, which are schools that our HS sends a lot of students to. Cal Poly gives little CLEP credit, but Northridge gives a lot. I will ask our GC why they donāt tell kids about CLEP tests, because that could be very valuable to a lot of our HSās kids. (Though I see that the closest test center to us is 41 miles.) DS will probably apply to Cal Poly but not to other CSUs.
Because CLEP is a joke. The passing scores are ridiculously low.
@itsgettingreal there is no official passing score on the CLEP test, each college determines what score they will accept for which classes. Some may require a very high score or in the case of languages may give credit for more classes the higher you score, itās all up to the individual colleges.
@itsgettingreal17 If schools are willing to give credit based on CLEP scores, why eschew the opportunity?
If itās cheaper and easier than AP exam, why not?
Also why should the D wait until May, when Calc AB material is fresh in her mind?
Our school never said much about CLEP. I will need to learn more about it. Sounds like it could be a good option for some students.
Be careful about taking easier courses senior year. Colleges want to see that you took a rigorous course load and didnāt slack off
Our school has sort of a bimodal distribution. Some portion of the kids take all APs or IBs and engineering and get high scores. Some portion of the kids struggle to graduate because of low motivation, low income, etc. There is a focus on getting kids who would probably attend the local community college to see CSUs as an option and to get them the A-G credits to be eligible for that. They also try to get 1st generation kids (AVID) to try AP English Lang and AP World History, though some do very poorly in both grades and test scores. For them, the CLEP units available at the CSUs could be very valuable. Our gap between āadvantagedā and ādisadvantagedā students for weighted GPA of 3.0+, SAT of 1500+, and AP exam 3+ is about 75+% vs 40% (or less).
We are lucky that our school offers many AP classes and pays the test fees. My kids will each have 12 AP credits plus dual enrollment math classes past BC Calc. My S16 will basically get nothing for these in college. The math doesnāt sync with the college curriculum and they base placement on their own test. He will get out of freshman chem which is good because itās time consuming and not that interesting to him. He will get 5 elective course credits which will give him extra courses to double major. All his APs senior year he doesnāt need. Heāll probably take the tests for the honors point but not sure.
So, course selection is going on for senior year at Dās school. Seeing as how she will probably be applying to 12-15 schools (merit chase), Iām wondering if she should skip AP Calc MV in favor of AP Stats. Sheās probably going to major in Bio of some sort, so Stats would probably be more useful, and (?) less time consuming? Anyone have any history about this choice? Iām worried about her managing her time so that she has enough times for apps and essays. Sheās a great student, but she really has to work at it.
Oh, yeah, then we were thinking of taking Lit H, rather than AP Lit for a couple of reasons: to avoid a specific teacher, and also to aid in stress-reduction.
Yes, this kind of goes against your warning @greeny8. 
Anyone else think this is a mistake?
@2muchquan Take these comments with a bucket of salt bc we do everything differently. My first reaction was what does your dd want to take if you disregard what will colleges think?
How competitive are the 12-15 schools? What are their admissions requirements? Would she be happy eliminating any of the schools based on not meeting their profile? Is her profile strong enough/unique enough that taking her own path might make her a candidate even if she didnāt 100% match their profile?
I make my kids stay within a general framework of required classes, but beyond that I let them make their own choices. My 11th grader did not take science this yr and will only graduate with 3 sciences. But she will have
4 yrs of Latin, 4 yrs of Russian, 6+ yrs of French, and other ādifferentā courses like linguistics. Her choice. If schools will not accept her bc of only 3 vs 4 sciences, then that is the consequence of her decision.
She is a very strong math student (almost as strong as her physics geek brother), but she really does not like math (along with science.) She could take BC without any difficulty bc math is actually her easiest subject, but there is no way she will. She is contemplating stats for next yr or maybe as a DE class this summer.
As long as they are fully aware of the consequences of their choices, then I let them make them and live with the outcome.
DD will be taking AP Stat next year. This year she made the decision to take AP Cal AB instead of BC. Originally, I was feeling very unsure about it. Worried if colleges will not look at it favorably. But it turned out to be exactly the right thing to do for her busy schedule this year. @2muchquan, this didnāt directly answer your question but my point is that you know your child best. If you are concern about her stress level, it might be that you have a good reason.
@2muchquan Just to clarify, what do you mean by āAP Calc MVā? Has she already taken AP Calc BC, and this is the multvariable calc class after that? Or, did you mean one of the actual AP Calculus classes?
I donāt know much about biology (Sam Cooke lyric), but my expectation is that most biology majors never need multivariable (3rd semester) calculus, with the exception of bioengineering type majors. So, in the long run, AP Stats would be more useful than multivariable for a biology major. AP Stats taken over 2 semesters should be a fairly easy course.
My son is taking a Multivariable and Analytic Geometry class online this semester. It looks like a tough course; I think it was my only C in college, and my husband with a PhD in physics recalls it as his hardest undergrad math class. So far, DS is doing well on the homework, but the first exam hasnāt hit yet.
We are trying to schedule a meeting with our GC to plan classes etc for next year, but havenāt hit on a time yet that works for everyone (mostly because of DH). Class selection isnāt until late Feb or early March.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Thanks for the response. No salt needed. Iām looking for others opinions. I appreciate everyone on here for their input.
I am a little confused though. I actually asked the question because she and I were talking about options for next year. She will do what she wants, in the end. I donāt believe we are ādisregardingā what colleges think, unless by this you mean they generally want a student to take the most rigorous schedule possible in there school?
So, similar to your daughter, my daughter could take M/V Calc next year, but may take Stats instead. Thatās where my question was. So, Iām guessing you didnāt take issue with this choice, since youāre not concerned about your daughter opting for AP Stats? Maybe itās the Honors vs. AP Lit choice you donāt think is wise? Maybe I just misinterpreted that part of your response?
As for those 12-15 schools, they range in their competitiveness. She would be top 75% as far as stats in all of them. There are none that I know of that require multi variable calculus. As far as I know from my research, she matches all academic profiles with or without these specific classes.
So, I guess itās like you said: Is she aware of the consequences of the above choices? Are these choices I laid out so drastic that this group thinks she should stick to the original plan and take M/V and AP Lit? Is it worth it to have a more miserable senior year (maybe), or has she earned a slight dip in rigor in favor of more time to build more solid applications and essays, and enjoy her extra curriculars and friends.
Thanks again for your view on the world.
@2muchquan Yes, I think you misunderstood. What I meant to say was that if she is a strong candidate for the schools in general, she should not feel the pressure to take the more advanced courses as long she is comfortable with her decision. It might limit some options, but certainly not all. Only the top competitive schools are going to frown on not pursuing MV if it means that she was not taking the most rigorous course load. For most schools, it is going to be way beyond what the avg applicant has.
Fwiw, our experience with high merit schools is that they are less holistic and more stat driven.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I thought I wasnāt tracking! Iāve got it now.
And, how did your kid take so many language classes?