Taking online class in high school

<p>Hi. My son's school is not offering AP Latin next year as we expected and he may take it online. How does that work with college applications? Thanks!</p>

<p>In our case, my son’s school participates in some online AP program so he was able to take an AP course not offered by the school and have it on his transcript. In any case, if your son takes an AP exam and gets a decent grade, he can use it on his application and then potentially for college credit.</p>

<p>There is a section application to list AP scores (both past and pending). Might also be worth mentioning in an “additional info” section that he self-studied AP Latin just to draw more attention to it.</p>

<p>He’s a junior now, so unfortunately the colleges won’t see his AP test score when he applies, but we’ll try to get it on his HS transcript and include the indep study on his apps. Thanks!</p>

<p>If he takes the course online, it cannot be considered as independent study but, you can say that he took the course outside of the traditional classroom setting.</p>

<p>My son took an online/independent study Spanish class (not AP), to get an extra year of foreign language in before HS graduation. Hard-won advice: foreign languages really are not very useful at all without a class and a teacher to work and speak with daily. I realize every language is different, especially Latin, but the advice stands. Language exists for communication, and that is difficult to do solo. Some friends hired tutors, which helped.</p>

<p>There is a process at our HS: the class has to be officially approved (in advance) through the school for credit (involving justification, and signatures of the counselors and the principal). Do the work and take the exam. When it is finished the online school sends a transcript to the HS, which converts the class into official credit (with a letter grade) on the HS transcript. It is absolutely worth a mention in the “special notes” section of the common app, as it indicates “above and beyond” and answers the why independent study question (for example the class isn’t offered at your HS, or there may be other classes he needs/wants to take, etc.)? </p>

<p>Other advice from our personal experience: start and finish early – it is tough to find time and be self-motivated to finish a foreign language project at the end of senior year with 5 AP exams, a senior recital, band rehearsals, a job, and other senior events. Throw in senioritis, whatever form that takes, and it can be stressful.</p>