For us, the dual enrollment classes are fantastic – they are humming along without having missed much of a beat. I don’t see why the college wouldn’t grade the classes – they are college classes after all with a separate transcript. Maybe I’m missing something? The high school classes are the bigger problem for us.
Yes - some colleges have already come out and said that they’ll require placement exams to confirm AP scores, per my students. And I think this is a perfectly reasonable course of action, considering it’s a much-reduced exam and partly-reduced content. If your college program wants a kid who had the full learning, then the partial exam wouldn’t tell you that.
The teachers at my school, and our AP students, begged the administration to let us give grades. These kids want high grades to show their waitlist schools, for example. And AP students want more acknowledgement than just “Pass” for all that they do. But we’re not allowed to give grades this quarter.
“Do you think it is possible that colleges will delay start of classes to October or to January?”
IMO, I don’t see colleges giving up a quartet or semester of classes or even a late start as they will not be able to get through the material and would push back everything indefinitely, not to mention losing tuition for half the year.
In addition, most colleges have navigated going to online instruction temporarily and probably think if they have to, they can do another semester of online instruction.
^ That is typically when flu and virus season starts to increase as well.
I blame them. Its unfair to these kids to be punished for something completely outside their control. There will be AP tests - they should accept them.
Parent of 2021, D will take 5 APs (free, paid by district) I agree placement test are what we expect. She will take the exams as there is no down side. She is only looking at State universities.
@amsunshine - yes I think there should be a grade for DE classes. At our HS, its taught in the HS by the HS teacher who is qualified to teach at the local U. Kids pay for the class through the local U if they want the dual credit. Some take it dual, some don’t and just take the HS credit (like my son).
My son’s BFF has several DE classes. The HS isn’t giving a grade, the school district tells the teacher to NOT give grades even though they are dual teaching. I don’t know what the University is saying, but it puts that teacher at odds. I’ve encouraged that kid’s mom to make a ton of calls; at this point no decisions are made. it is a mess here. I’m glad some of you are having an easier time figuring it out.
Spring sports season was officially cancelled today here. there are some sad seniors. My senior was perky today. He has been in contact with a potential roommate from another state and that was a nice boost.
I really understand your feelings on this, but the college has the duty of making sure that the kids actually know the material before sending them into the next class or into the world. The blame should be on AP Central (if anyone) because they cut so much out of the exam that it no longer means what it used to.
If I have a doctor in ten years, I want him/her to have really learned the chemistry or biology or whatever, regardless of what the AP Central people decided to cut out of this year’s test. So I am pleased to hear that colleges are putting their own tests in play just to make sure that the content is known.
So I would look at it not as being “punished” as much as being assessed for real, a bit later in the process, since the AP means something different now. I think a reasonable accommodation of the college might be to not require the AP score at all for a kid to take the placement test (some colleges might have the requirement now that they also have the AP score, and that could be waived?)…
It is no one’s fault, but you can’t expect colleges to give credit for a course and exam which doesn’t resemble an actual college course. Most AP courses are pretty light anyway, compared to college courses, and are now being abbreviated even more.
Most APs are used for elective credit, not major credit. Placement tests for classes that build (writing skills, math, sciences, computer science,etc) are always a good idea IMHO but AP credit for other APs should be granted if the students achieves the minimum score the college requires. Maybe that minimum should be raised just for the abbreviated exams offered this year. IME very selective schools have always taken very little, if any AP credit so that is not a big change. Just pick 2 APs from a previous year to claim credit for.
my D24 is taking APush right now. Her HS class ended with history through the 40s. The AP test will only cover history through the 40s. Yet colleges will expect her to know through now . . . but that’s not what was taught nor being taught in her HS class. The HS class is teaching to the test and just reviewing.
We are having her watch the online live AP classes every day to learn about the history she’s missing. (and I’m watching too and enjoying). If colleges don’t want to take that credit, I wouldn’t blame them because I know many - or some- kids are missing a good part of our history. Again, its all messed up with no best answer. that’s my term for the week!
Quick question about acceptances: Once a college is chosen, are you required to notify every other college before May 1st that you will not be attending? Is there a penalty if you don’t? How do you notify? I notice some portals have a place to decline but some don’t.
No, if you don’t notify before May 1, you forfeit your spot.
For this year in particular, that may not be the case if some of the other schools have June 1 decision dates.
One scenario I can see playing out for some kids is if the local state school has a June 1 decision date, but top choice is farther away, well beyond commute distance, and has a May 1 decision date. Kid might deposit for top choice by May 1, but wait and see for the June 1 decision on local school.
If it looks likely that top school will only be online in fall, kid may choose to defer top school, and also deposit local school if top school doesn’t have policy against attending another school during gap year.
D emailed her AO about taking a gap year for an intensive language program in our home country. She was told to deposit, enroll, and then let them know if the program works out. She has till the freshman orientation weekend (mid-September) to confirm whether she’s taking a gap year, which I thought was very nice/flexible. Again, not sure if they are always as accommodating, or just this year.
Ah, that explains the difference with DE courses. My daughters are taking theirs at the community college with professors there, so there is no confusion. The high school courses, though, are totally up in the air because of special ed requirements though, so that has been our problem. It is a mess with the high school. The community college has been a dream in comparison.
High schools here have announced that seniors on track to graduate and in good standing as of the third quarter have satisified graduation requirements. So, essentially, sr yr is over. That means an entire 1/4’s worth of work is no longer being required at all.
I feel sorry for all of the students who are facing such academic shortfalls and upheaval. While I have always been thankful for the opportunities that my kids have been able to have as homeschoolers, this yr I am even more thankful that education is one stablizing factor in their lives. In my sr’s youth group’s GroupMe, seniors are expressing how much turmoil their lives are in bc they are concerned about being prepared for college classes in the fall bc basically their educations ended early March. They are frustrated.
There is going to be a huge ripple effect when these students not completing classes enter as freshman. Colleges are going to have to have some sort of methodology for filling in the shortfall.
I agree. We are not talking about becoming a doctor after graduating high school (AP courses are even recommended as med school pre-req requirements, they want you to take Bio 101, and Chem 101, etc. at your university, so not even that applies) - we are talking about replacement of a few 101 courses in college - at best, some electives at worst.
They are not learning rocket science in APs and there will be a test. It may not cover the last term, but most quality AP teachers spend the majority of the last term prepping for the exam, not teaching a ton of new material. Plus, my kid IS getting taught online right now. How about all the college students that are completing their actual Bio 101 or Chem 101 online - are they not getting instruction to prepare them for the future? To be honest, if you compare what a college student has lost in in person instruction (1/2 of a semester course) to what a high school student has lost (1/4 of of a full year course) the high school student has had more material taught. the AP courses are resembling the reality of a Covid-19 college course. Which college students will get credit for.
@fretfulmother @roycroftmom Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the AP exams! I posted the question last week about whether D20 - currently in AP Spanish, APEngLit, AP Calc, and APBio - should bother taking the tests since she scores 4’s, not the 5’s her college requires. The college administered placement exams at orientation are definitely the answer for kids in this situation! We think she will probably just take the AP tests for all but APBio, which is the field she is interested in. Does this make sense to you? That way she gets practice even if not scoring a 5, and her biology knowledge is rebooted from scratch at the college level. Thoughts? Could someone let me know where to find info on which colleges are just doing once-on-campus placement exams? I can’t find that info anywhere and her college hasn’t address the issue yet. I appreciate all the insight and ideas brought up on this topic. Thanks so much!
You likely have already paid for the exams, so may as well take them.