<p>You're child is in at the Prep school of his/your dreams...and on the road to an Ivy....NOT.</p>
<p>We lucky parents now get to climb a new learning curve: lining up the prerequisites so the your DBSkid has his ducks in line so that his JUNIOR year standardized tests and courses are shiny. Yes, College apps are based on junior year stats, not senior. </p>
<p>Top schools require 3 subject test - do you know the schools policy on qualifications to take these? Some schools require AP classes before taking subjects, although Math II can be taken off of Pre-calc. Study your course catalogs; draw prerequisite trees. Know college requirements.</p>
<p>You may need to be an advocate for your child to ensure he has access to the honor/AP level classes that are expected these days. Univ of Calif "recommends" that all applicants have 17 contact hours of AP level classes. The average Standford applicant has between 5 and 6 AP classes in the transcript. At Olin and MIT everybody has AP Calc/AP chem/AP physics - it is assumed. But sometimes if your little one is not in the right level a math in Freshman year, catching up becomes nearly impossible. Be sure that your dear D or S has the right level first-year courses which will lead to the higher level Junior year courses. </p>
<p>No rest for those weary from the application process - on to course selection with an eye to college.</p>
<p>But step gently - you need the schools cooperation for the next three or four years.</p>
<p>What are “contact hours” for AP’s? How many AP’s does this boil down to? I had noticed that also on the UCLA website. Is it as important to have the AP’s if you are attending a respected BS? Because certainly the rigor of the classes is equitable to some public school AP’s.</p>
<p>They DO NOT have AP. They have post AP. It states something along the lines of “We thing AP regulations are too stringent, and as such do not offer AP curric classes”</p>
<p>“Advanced Placement (AP) Program of the College Entrance Examination Board certifies college-level work undertaken by student in secondary schools. These tests, three-hour examinations in 14 academic disciplines, are administered at Exeter in May. There are several advantages in taking the examinations. Students may earn college credit, exemption from college distribution requirements, and/or exemption from lower-level requirements of specific disciplines.”</p>
<p>I spoke with a teacher (he is even on this forum) he clearly stated that certain courses may (or may not) prepare you for the exam. When students have taken the exam they have been successful, but many classes do not shape the mold of AP CB reqs.</p>
<p>AP courses are called APXXXX. The curricula have been reviewed by college board to fit the requirements of AP exams and are supposed to be counted as college credits in some colleges. While you should be able to take AP tests by completing many Exeter courses, they are not AP courses. I think someone asked PEATeacher the question. She gave a good answer. Check it out.</p>
<p>Toadstool…the 3 subject tests required by top schools have nothing to do with AP though. Those are SAT II’s not AP tests and don’t require AP level preparation. I took those way back in the day and my school did not offer AP. Heck, it didn’t even offer much in the way of honors.</p>
<p>keylyme is right. Two, or somewhat rarely three SAT subject tests are commonly asked for by elite colleges. None of these require enrollment in AP classes at all. SAT physics, for example, does not require math past algebra really.
AP tests can be offered by any school (and , I think , possibly private testers). It doesn’t matter if you have taken an official AP course or not. My child will be taking AP Computer Science AB soon - he hasn’t taken any CS at high school and , in fact, his school doesn’t offer any.
Colleges get that not all schools offer AP. It’s not required. If you are at an elite prep school, your curriculum may not line up with AP, particularly in the humanities.
It is true that one is wise to keep an eye on the math track. Many elites will expect calculus and if you don’t get on the right track early, it is hard, but not impossible to switch.</p>
<p>Why would I take AP classes then? I was planning on taking a few in the next year or two but if there is no benefit, why not try a different subject rather than doing an AP in something I have already done before? I am entering as a junior.</p>
<p>You don’t need the class to take the test. Any decent prep school’s English SHOULD prepare you for the AP, as should the history courses. The tests aren’t that hard. Heck, my 11 yo daughter is thinking of self-studying for the AP Bio exam for May 2010. The thing is…anything below a 4 will make an adcom at an elite go “yawn” and I think the last thing anyone wants to do is have them do that!</p>
<p>By way of subject tests, I was told by a GC that some schools want either x number of SAT II’s (subject tests) OR a minimum score on various sections of the ACT. I guess this is because the ACT is an achievement test, as opposed to a reasoning test. I doubt this applies to selective colleges. Honestly, I’m trying not to think about college right now.</p>
<p>AP Equivalence: AP designation is expensive and paperwork heavy. Many high end Prep schools are dropping AP designations for classes that were taught at the AP level anyway. For example Deerfield Academy course catalog states: “English III…Regardless of their section, many students take and perform well on the AP English Literature and AP English Language Composition examinations at the end of the junior year.” This is an AP-equivalent class. Although NMH offers an AP English Lit and AP Comp class, a fair number of juniors in regular English take the AP exam. The presumption is that if you take a regular class and do well on the AP Exam, the class is AP-equivalent. Colleges have a pretty good idea for what is what.</p>
<p>Contact hours: 3 hours for most classes particularly humanities; 4 contact hours for a science with lab. 17 contact hours are 5 APs, two of which are lab science.</p>
<p>What competitive colleges want to see is the rigor of your academic courses. So, if an AP class is the most rigorous in the particular subject at your school, they want a student to have taken it. If your school doesnt offer APs they will know it based on the school profile that gets sent out with every transcript by the school’s GC. That profile will also list the courses available and their difficulty. You do not have to list your AP grade in the college application, so unless they have all 5’s most people dont bother till they register for courses, unless they want merit $ at large universities that give some $for every AP with a high score. (Another way that doesnt allow BS/private school kids to compete for merit aid, since most of them will not have taken as many AP classes/tests as public school kids)</p>