@bgbg4us I think he answered that in a tweet. No curve. Straight scores.
Re: AP test scoring; hereâs what I just read. **
AP exams arenât scored on a curve or norm-referenced. This means that the percentage of exams earning scores of 3s, 4s, and 5s can increase each year if a greater proportion of students demonstrates mastery of the material. And the scores decrease if not.**
The AP exams are given to a set of college students in the corresponding class. Then their score on the exam is correlated to their grade in the class. A=5, B=4, C= 3, D =2
If a test is harder the raw score to get a 2, 3, 4 or 5 will change because the college students also find it more difficult.
A question about the foreign language requirements: some colleges (tippy top colleges - in the cc lingo) are ârecommendingâ 4 years of foreign language during high school. Earlier, I assumed that completing the 4th level foreign language course would satisfy this and student can skip the FL course in senior year if he reached the level by then (for example, by taking Spanish 1 in middle school; continue it in HS with Spanish 2-4 courses in 9th to 11th): is our assumption correct? or the student is expected to take a course in senior year as well to satisfy 4 âyearâ recommendation.
The middle school course that son took is accepted by the HS to accelerate him thru 2-4 courses but the Spanish1 will not be on the transcript explicitly. Any experiences with this situation. BTW DS is a STEM kid and not really interested in pursuing advanced Spanish class in HS (in college he will, if required) - and use that space for an elective AP course. any advice is appreciated.
Totally ok. Most advanced students at our high school finish up with Ap lang/4th year junior year and get accepted all over.
@hs2020dad Itâs fine. So many schools say âX yearsâ, and I have even tried to get clarification on it on school visits, and for some reason they donât seem to understand the confusion. If they say â4â and your C is through 4th level, fine. This question is asked almost as much as the question about whether to send all scores or not. 
My eldest only completed through French 3 (had taken Spanish previously in elementary and middle school and is fluent in another language) and was accepted to Boston College and an ivy who both required 4 years of a language. YMMV.
@VickiSoCal and @bigmacbeth - thanks for confirming. I had that impression as well (thanks to cc community) but just met a private college counselor that we are considering to hire. He suggested to have DS take a senior year Spanish course beyond level 4 - this made me seek opinion of other parents here. thanks.
BTW about the college counseling service - talked to couple and felt as if I know as much as them (or maybe more in one case) but still considering: mainly because DS becomes more involved/attentive when advice comes from a third person or anyone other than his parents
@hs2020dad
I have heard anecdotally that Harvard requires four years of foreign language, this is from their website âThere is no single academic path we expect all students to follow, but the strongest applicants take the most rigorous secondary school curricula available to them. An ideal four-year preparatory program includes four years of English, with extensive practice in writing; four years of math; four years of science: biology, chemistry, physics, and an advanced course in one of these subjects; three years of history, including American and European history; and four years of one foreign language.â it looks like that it is âidealâ to have four-year of FL, for Harvard.
thanks for the input - the question is if they take the middle school FL into account or not (i.e. 4 years of FL by end of high school vs 4 years of FL âduringâ high school) - this aspect confuses me and not much explanation on other college sites. Harvard seems to indicate that these 4 years is âduringâ the 4-year high school.
Our school AP Japanese for example, is Japanese 4 and that is where it ends. So if you take that junior year you cannot take more.
@hs2020dad Your experience with the counselor is typical. You do know about as much, or could find out.
And, you can read into the Harvard quote as â4 yearsâ in HS. I wouldnât.
FYI. The only freshman I personally know at Harvard this year âonlyâ took 3 years of a foreign language, Also got in to UPenn, Brown, Duke and UCB regents among other colleges. She is a brilliant, but unhooked, kid. With holistic admissions anything can happen. With that said if any college says recommend, think ârequiredâ.
Think ârequiredâ only for an instantâŠand then ignore that thought and move on.
Regarding Harvard, they want four years of the same language but I donât believe they require you to have all four years in high school. My understanding is that they donât want two years of French and two years of Spanish. They also want EHAP which very few other schools ask for.
@hs2020dad call the admissions departments of the schools you are concerned about. I remember calling when my kids were in junior high because I had heard that it could be an issue. Not one school that I called said that all four years had to be in HS. It has been 6 years since I called so donât take my word for it.
@lkg4answers what is EHAP?
@milgymfam sorry⊠European History AP. Iâve never heard of a school offering Euro History that isnât AP but I could be wrong.
The exact wording is:
Crazy!
Regarding the AP tests being curved, Trevor Packer wrote,
Anyone on this list take AP Lit?
I asked at a Columbia information session and they just wanted you to reach the 4th level, they didnât care if it was junior year or senior year. They also seemed like they hadnât thought about it before I asked. Our high school transcript does list the high school level classes taken in middle school (mostly just the language, earth science and algebra)