Yeah, similar thoughts here. Didn’t visit half the colleges for S21, and didn’t need to. Wouldn’t have visited even without COVID. Just didn’t matter for his decision. D24 is a very different search. Not sure if visits will add pressure or motivation…
If motivation, then we would want to visit now, if pressure, then just wait and squeeze visits in after acceptance(s) come in.
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I hear ya. I’m the same way re: missing school days for college tours. I will probably pull D24 out of school 1 day this fall to go tour U of A on a day when they’re also having info sessions for College of Sciences (she wants to major in biology).
We’re planning on spending all of spring break on a combo flying/road trip to some colleges out of state, plus probably doing a Thurs-Sat road trip to go tour UNM & NMSU in New Mexico some time before the school year is over.
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It is really hard, S21 is so different from S24, knew what he wanted and couldnt fall in love with a school until we knew he was in. This one has no idea what he wants and has a saturday program during the school year he cant miss so this is the time to go, but seems so random! Also, I have never seen any of these schools, went to my state flagship and that was it!
For mine will add pressure. We aren’t touring colleges with this one like we did with S21. Because of Covid we were glad he had seen some but D24 has anxiety issues and is not ready to think about it. Definitely not worth it. Also she is likely to stay in our home state.
The high schools have some 3 or 4 day weekend holidays that the colleges do not and it’s a good thing to look for those and plan ahead. I did a trip with S21 on President’s day weekend.
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Well, that’s a wrap. S24 is officially done with 10th grade. He’s starting ACT prep tomorrow and going to see a couple of colleges this summer. Glad to get this year out of the way and hopeful he’ll find 11th grade manageable.
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Congrats!!
Question for the group.
When are your kids taking the SAT? Fall or Spring? I know most kids take it in the spring.
We found a tutor to help her prep during the summer. We figured studying for the SAT will indirectly help her prepare for the PSAT in October. But since she’s already prepping for the SAT, maybe take it in fall 2022 and then a second time in spring 2023.
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I am pretty sure that due to sports, DS will take it late winter/spring 2023
I’m probably going to have D24 take SAT and ACT in the spring.
We are doing in the Fall. His spring will be busy due to Sports and since he is planning to prep in summer so August/Oct make better sense for him.
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I expect S24 will take the ACT once in December and once in the spring. Almost all of D20’s friends (including D20) took their standardized tests (ACT or SAT) more than once. Granted, this was pre-Covid so maybe that has changed.
S24 is taking in August with hopes of being one and done. He just got an email from college board asking him to be part of a cohort to take the new SAT online. Will depend on the timing since weekends are hard for him but should be interesting to see what it is like!
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Just wanted to pass along a very informative podcast which I listened to yesterday.
It explains all about CLEP exams. Apparently, with this Modern States online organization, you can take several classes online for free and they include the cost of the CLEP exam, too.
Honestly, I had no idea what CLEP was before listening to this podcast. Compared notes about this with a home schooler mom friend of mine. She said that in the home school community, lots of people use CLEP exams instead of AP exams. Apparently, CLEP exams are usually about 90 min, are mostly multiple choice, compared to AP exams (which can be up to 4 hr long). She said that the word on the street amongst her other home schooling parents is that CLEP exams are a bit easier to pass than an AP exam.
CLEP exams are administered by College Board.
I’m going to have ODD take some CLEP exams at the end of next school year right around AP exam time. You can take CLEP exams at any time of year, though.
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It’s important to consider a particular student’s purpose in taking CLEPs. Highly selective privates do not give credit for CLEPs. If the goal is credit at a regional or even state flagship university, that’s a different question. Check specific college websites to see whether they offer CLEP credit.
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Putting aside the issue of credit for CLEPs: is taking the tests, and doing well on them, a benefit in the admissions process? Or is it relatively unimportant?
My understanding is that, for admission purposes, highly selective colleges care about AP courses as representing additional rigor in the schedule and that the grades in those courses are more important than AP exam scores. As far as I’m aware, highly selective colleges don’t care at all about CLEP for any purpose, as indicated by the lack of credit given.
I would also assume that AOs are familiar with this word on the street, about CLEP being easier than AP exams.
If the student may end up at a somewhat less selective school, check the school’s website to see if there are any requirements that could be taken care of via CLEP credit. Even though CLEP is likely of no benefit for admission purposes, I do think it’s worth checking college websites, especially any non-top schools that may end up on your student’s list, to see what they might offer for CLEP credit (certainly before sitting for any CLEP tests).
I just took a quick look - for my three kids in college, only one of their colleges offers CLEP credit, for a small smattering of core courses.
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That’s a good point. In the case of D24, she’s not going to be applying to any highly selective private universities. The CLEP website has a great search tool where you can look up a particular CLEP exam and see what sort of credit you’d get at different colleges.
I’ve never used College Board’s CLEP search tool, but want to mention the caveat that College Board’s tracking of individual college policies is not something I would rely on, as historically CB is typically out of date on other policies such as test score reporting requirements. In other words, while it’s fine to check CB’s CLEP search tool as a first step, follow up by checking the college website directly because CB’s data is not sufficiently trustworthy.
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From what I’ve observed from researching our 3 in-state universities here in AZ, you don’t necessarily get college credit for scoring a 3 on an AP exam. Sometimes, ASU or UofA will only give you college credit for a score of a 4-5. However, the college credit given for CLEP exams is more permissive.
That being said, CLEP exams don’t appear to be available for stuff like AP Computer Science, so folks should just be aware of stuff like that.
I think that if you look at it from the perspective of saving you money on tuition at many schools, a passing score on a CLEP exam is helpful.