<p>Freshman D is taking an honors art history class. AP art history is not offered at the school. The teacher suggested that students in the honors class should take the AP exam. But should she?</p>
<p>We still have a long time to decide so it isn't urgent yet. And, yes, I realize that we could buy a review book and take a practice test and see how she does, although it would be impossible to grade the essays. But I'm not sure that we should even do that. </p>
<p>I don't think she is REALLY ready for an AP level exam yet, as a freshman. Is it a good idea to get her exposed to AP tests early? Or would a potentially low score look bad?</p>
<p>My senior S got better AP scores as a junior (two 5's) than as a sophomore (one 4), I think purely because of being better prepared to take AP-type exams at that point. He was more interested in the sophomore subject than the junior subjects, and got better class grades. He didn't take any APs as a freshman.</p>
<p>Have you asked the teacher how well students in the past have done on the exam?</p>
<p>Do they do any AP-style questions in class?</p>
<p>Typically review books give sample answers to the essays and show how to grade them. It’s pretty easy to come up with a reasonable range on how a student’s essay would score.</p>
<p>If a freshman has covered the material, then I don’t see a downside to trying the exam.</p>
<p>AP art history exam is quite difficult. If she decides to take it, she should make sure she knows what she is getting into.
Does this teacher have any data on how well his/her honors students did on the AP test in the past?</p>
<p>yeah I would check up with how well everyone else has done in the past… but to be truthful here, and this is from my own experience, the AP Art History exam is one of the hardest AP exams out there. I managed a 3 after taking an AP course at my school junior year, so who knows how well your daughter would do</p>
<p>I would NOT recommend this. I took AP Art History as a senior and scored a 5 on the exam, but as a freshman it would have been impossible for me to, let alone coming out of an honors class.</p>
<p>The AP exam was the hardest one I took out of US History, Environmental Science, English Lit and Comp, and Art History. I honestly thought that I bombed it because of the difficulty compared to my other AP experiences (5 on USH, 4 on Lit, 3 on Environmental Science). I would advise against taking it.</p>
<p>My rule of thumb was to try to make sure most “out of the box” experiences for DS were ones that he could successfully master. Going beyond the curriculum and taking a hard AP exam and scoring a 1 or 2, might look bad, but worse, it could squelch your daughter’s initiative. She might end up thinking she can’t be successful going beyond what’s given to her in class. </p>
<p>On the other hand, DS self-studied calculus as a freshman and had a good experience on the AP exam. That led to lots of self-study (more than I actually though was prudent, but that’s another story). He built up an incredible enthusiasm for self-directed learning. I think if that first experience had been a bad one, it would have been the end of the story.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. I’ll try to follow the suggestion to ask the teacher how previous students from that class have done on the exam. Although, I must say, I’m leaning against having her take the exam, as I see more potential downside than potential upside.</p>
<p>I took a look at the College Board site with some sample questions from the AP art history exam, and they looked HARD! (However, I’ve never studied art history myself.)</p>
<p>The best time to take any AP test is close to the time one has learned the material. Some schools offer honors instead of AP so they are not restricted in the material they cover. You don’t even have to take a course to take or do well on an AP exam if you have read a lot about a subject. Being a HS freshman has nothing to do with being capable of doing well on an AP test- she is capable of learning the material therefore she is capable of passing a test on it. Talk to the teacher about what material should be covered on her own, probably minor since she recommends taking the exam. It is worth getting the AP credits for many colleges, it can save general breadth requirements so time can be spent on other courses. Far more upsides than down. Worst case scenario is that she spends the money and doesn’t get a 3 or above- even then she will have the experience of taking an AP exam, still an upside to it.</p>
<p>I want to underscore how tough the AP Art History test is – and that’s according to my D, who went on to major in Art History in college. According to the 2007 AP Exam Report (I didn’t find the 08 report) only .2% of the students who took the exam that year were in 9th grade. I would strongly discourage a 9th grader who has not even taken the AP Art History course from taking the exam, even with self- prep. Your D will have plenty of other opportunities to take AP courses and the corresponding exams. </p>