He was not in the top 6%, so no auto admission. With the CAP (coordinated admission program) you attend another University of Texas system school like San Antonio , Arlington or El Paso (not Dallas though!) for freshman year and then you’re guaranteed a transfer after that but only into a major in the College of Liberal Arts. For any other major, you’re an external transfer competing against a spot with everyone else.
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I do not see it as skipping ahead by taking credit so much as not having to beat your head against the wall while sitting through a course for which you already know the material all while you get the privilege of paying for the experience.
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D will take her APs because they could cover some requirements she’d prefer to get out of the way. She’s not STEM so it’s not about placement but having a few distribution requirements covered might help her double major or study abroad more easily. Some of her schools have a foreign language requirement but AP French score could fulfill that.
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We paid for all of Ds AP exams, but once she knows where she’s going to school, she will drop some for sure that won’t net her any credit/placement. She’s pretty confident already that she’ll get a refund for calculus since her teacher has been a hot mess, very behind the national pacing guide and she’ll need to take it in college regardless of school.
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Thanks for this explanation, I was wondering too. CA and TX really are a different world in college admissions, and I get lost w/ the lingo sometimes.
@Momof3B – sorry to hear this and hoping for good news from TAMU!
@Shelleen – congrats to your D! Bet you’re happy to be done with this process 
BMC is so great!
We can cancel APs we’ve already paid for and get refunds?
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I guess we are lucky in NC – the state pays for all AP exams. The flip side of that is you really aren’t supposed to skip them; I think the school gets dinged if too many students don’t take them.
I think AP participation and scores are part of our schools’ ‘report cards’ from the state education agency and that’s why the cost is covered. They want to make sure pretty much all students take the AP exams so they can make fair comparisons. Also, I think teachers get a small bonus based on AP performance of their students.
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I can’t confirm, but that’s what I’ve heard (that you can get a refund late). There is supposed to be more news coming soon - my daughter told me she heard will be both in person and online tests.
What? How will they grade some tests that are in person and some online? They’ll be different tests!
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Here is what CB has said so far, update is due soon (early Feb)
"We’re working with educators to prepare an expanded 2021 exam schedule, with two contingency testing dates for each subject—one in the second half of May and one in the first half of June—to support schools that want more instructional time before testing. Exams on the contingency dates will be full length, covering the full scope of content.
If a school is closed or coronavirus-related risks prevent a student from testing at a school, the AP coordinator will be able to authorize a full-length digital contingency exam that can be taken at home.
The exam schedule and information about the contingency testing options will be posted to AP Central in early February, and announced via email to AP teachers, AP coordinators, and administrators."
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Who knows? And I don’t know if the online tests will be like last year or the full three hours. There are schools that aren’t open though - so I don’t know if it’s practical to only hold in person exams when your students haven’t stepped foot in school all year.
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I talked directly to our guidance director who is the AP coordinator when I went to the school to drop off the check to register and she said it is a pain for her to do, so she’s not widely advertising the ability, but yes- students can not take exams and get a full refund. Then later apparently it was announced (twitter maybe?) that if you don’t show to take the test it will be refunded.
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Gotcha. Yeah my D is in the same boat with IB classes, so she doesn’t really need the AP credits. I think she is signed up for a couple, but she will probably skip them if they don’t equal a college credit she wants.
btw, AP Spanish credit can be really nice to have.
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My son is required to take the AP tests by his school, otherwise, we wouldn’t bother to take Calc AB as he’ll be repeating Calc I in college no matter what he gets on it.
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We are required to take AP Calc tests too, but those are the only ones required.
Yikes, so they’re moving AP exams back this year!?! Don’t they usually take place first half of May?
This could mess up my S’s plans for his summer camp job b/c they may be having the staff quarantine b4 camp starts, starting 3rd week of May I think. Ugh, there’s a couple he really wants/needs for the college credit. Argh!
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I think those are in addition to the first half of May. My son is done school May 19th with finals happening the week after so if they are later than that he wont take them, lol.
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Oh, phew! Honestly, I haven’t been thinking about AP exams at all, but gosh, it’s all happening. Even in this crazy year, the fact is our babes are graduating in a matter of single digit months now! How can that be!?!
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@Momof3B Sorry to hear about UT, sounds like it is a tough system!
@Shelleen Congrats on being done - so exciting!!
D21 will most likely take all of her AP exams (Eng, Stats, Gov, Micro, Psych) because the school pays for them. I looked quickly at the CU website to see where she would get credit and there were a few that could help.
D19 used a few for distribution requirements which was great, but some were kind of worthless. For example, AP Environmental did give her a natural science with lab credit but English only let her skip the entry level writing class, she still had to take a higher level writing class though. After reading advice here on CC she decided to retake Intro to Psych since that was going to be her major, it was a waste though. She didn’t learn anything new, it would have been better to get right in to the advanced classes.
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@skkm0906 same here. D said they are required to take the exams and we paid for them back in Sept. I need to see whether she will be able to use any for core requirements next year. @homerdog, was your S able to apply any of his AP credits at Bowdoin? Our schools are open here, so barring any major Covid spikes I’m sure exams will be in person and on the dates already posted. If they were to be held in late May or June, no way! D has already moved on mentally in February!
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