Timing SAT prep, SAT taking and AP tests taking

<p>Taking 3 AP tests in the same year is very doable.</p>

<p>Here’s the exam calendar to see how they’d be spread out:
[AP</a> Exam Dates](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/ap/about/dates]AP”>2024 AP Exam Dates – AP Central | College Board)</p>

<p>If he were doing it this year, he’d have exams Wednesday morning week 1, Friday morning week 1, and Monday afternoon week 2. (assuming Calc AB, Physics B, and APUSH)</p>

<p>So, no exams on the same day and no tests on two consecutive days.</p>

<p>At my daughter’s school, there are so many kids out of class for AP tests those weeks that very little gets done in the other classes.</p>

<p>Son is a soph, taking chem. He will not do AP Chem because our school has only one teacher who is dreadful! So, am wondering if this June can he take the SAT2 Chem?</p>

<p>Thanks Mathinokc, I also hadn’t realized that with other students taking APs, the workload around that time might decrease. I plan to find out how much prep the second year AP Hist teacher does for the exam which would lessen the need for more review.</p>

<p>I am also curious for those who have taken CAlc AB and CAlc BC, if a student is going to take Calc AB and Calc BC do they take both AP tests?</p>

<p>Normally, you take either not both. If you take Calc BC, there is also an AB subscore from the BC exam so that he can still get the credit awarded for AB if his BC score isn’t high enough but his AB subscore is.
though.</p>

<p>I wondered because I aske the Guidance counselor if my son took Calc AB in his Jr year, what math does he take in the Sr. year and he said Calc BC. The next choice is Multivariable Calc which is supposed to be above Calc BC. </p>

<p>So, in order to get 4 years of math, he would have to take either of those </p>

<p>I believe AP Stat would only count as an elective.</p>

<p>Lakemom:</p>

<p>Some schools offer AB Calc to be followed by BC calc. Others offer either AB Calc or BC Calc, both over one year. The BC part is only one third or one half the amount of materials covered in AB, so taking it over a whole year makes it very slow. This is why BC Calc is offered in one year, but the pace is obviously faster than for AB Calc. Many students who take either AB or BC in their junior year take AP-Stats for their fourth year of math. Others take MV-Calc. It depends on what they want to major in in college.</p>

<p>If you take AP STat in the Sr year, does it count as a 4th year of Math? Or do you have to move on from Calc AB to Calc BC?</p>

<p>And based upon what CRD posted, if you take Calc BC in your Sr year, can you skip the AP CAlc AB test in Jr. year and just take the CAlc BC course in Sr year. Then based on your score, you will either get credit for AB alone or BC if you score well.</p>

<p>AP-Stats counts as a fourth year of math (but check with your high school!). If you take BC-Calc in senior year, there is no reason to take the AB exam in junior year, except perhaps to have a good score to report to colleges at the time of application.</p>

<p>Lakemom if he’s taking Physics B this year he should take the SAT physics subject test. He should definitely also get the official review book and make sure he’s got all the topics covered, but he’ll probably never be better prepared and many engineering type programs like to see a pysics subject test. You should take Math 2 now if you are doing pre-calc, but again check the review book - my son had to learn how to do matrices. (There’s usually only one matrix problem on the test and it’s easy - but you still have to know the technique.) Both my kids have gone straight from pre-calc to BC Calc (our school doesn’t expect you to take a year of AB Calc first.) That said, most of the pre-calc classes cover at least some of the AB material in the spring - my younger son’s class cover all the AB material (not in time to take the AP though!), it’s making this fall quite easy for him which he appreciates, since he’s busy with applications.</p>

<p>End of junior year is just a really tough time and things don’t get much better during senior fall, what with college applications, interviews, road trips, etc. I would try to do as much as possible during the second half of junior year, with the following exceptions:</p>

<p>If you are taking a science SAT Subject test, I would review a review book during the summer before senior year and take the test at the beginning of senior year. As Marite noted, often the high school curriculum in science does not include all topics that will be covered on the subject and you can use the summer to fill in the gaps.</p>

<p>If you are going to take Calc BC as a senior, wait until senior year to take the AP Calc AB or BC test. Don’t bother taking the AP test as a junior. That should relieve some pressure in junior May.</p>

<p>Thanks marite, I didn’t see why the guidance counselor said that AP STAT would be an elective since it is an AP class so I will check.</p>

<p>Also good info mathmom, if my son goes on to take Calc BC, delaying the test, one less AP to take at the end of Jr yr. Especially since I really think as CRD said, trying a June ACT test and then deciding in the Fall whether to retake SAT or ACT is a possibility for my son. He is strong in Math/Science, less so in the Lang. so he might do better on the ACT.</p>

<p>And ellemenope, I hadn’t even thought about all that we would be doing early Sr. year. Another heads up for me.</p>

<p>When I went to college over 30 years ago, I applied to one school, got in. So much easier.</p>

<p>Wait, is this two year AP History class actually two AP classes? Is it covering AP World history or AP European history AND APUSH? If so, he will have an AP test each year for it.</p>

<p>Incredibly it is 2 years of AP HIstory, all US history, no world or European. I’d love to know how some schools only have it for one year and others for 2, makes no sense. My son took Honors World History in 9th. Our school does not have AP Euro or World hist, only 2 years of AP US Hist. They only take the AP test after the second year. The book is the American Journey.</p>

<p>I guess you could do it that way, and hopefully the school’s average score would be pretty good. Having seen it taught in my school, I just have difficulty imagining it taking two years. I mean, you could get really in depth of it all, but is it really necessary? Meh, learn something new every day.</p>

<p>They are supposed to have a high passing score, but they ought to if they take 2 years to teach it. My son says that he was told the first year they read alot and the second year they write a lot of essays. Hopefully all the writing will help him on the SAT essay section.</p>

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<p>It’s possible that the state or district graduation requirements for U.S. history and government in your area include a substantial number of topics not covered in AP U.S. History, and that the school combines those topics with those usually taught in the AP U.S. History course. </p>

<p>That might make the amount of curriculum to be covered too much to cover in a single year.</p>

<p>The school might also want a slower pace if it’s offering AP U.S. History to students who have not had a high school level course in U.S. history.</p>

<p>My D took AP Calc BC Junior year after precalculus and is now in MVCalc at a local college and will take Linear Algebra in the Spring. AP Stats is really a half year college course stretched out over a year for high school, so it may be too slow for really strong math students, especially after finishing AP Calculus. Most people who take it, take it instead of Calculus. Also, I think for a good student, taking AP Calculus AB followed by AP Calculus BC is also too redundant. Some kids who take AP Calculus AB still take MVCalc at the local college. I’m not sure when they make up the “C” part of Calculus, but it’s not a prerequisite for Multivariable Calculus.</p>

<p>The two-year APUSH is a matter of semantics. Ss had what would be termed World History in 9th grade, except it was just called 9th grade Social Studies. In 10th grade, they had 10th grade Social Studies, but it was actually all about the US. And they had APUSH in 11th grade. A two-year AP USH would probably be pretty much the same thing my Ss got.</p>

<p>If Lakeson is strong in math/science, I suggest taking MVCalc and Linear Algebra rather than AP-Stats. The latter really required only a knowledge of Algebra II. It is extremely useful, but for math/science, MVCalc and LA may be more desirable.</p>

<p>I guess that is possible marian that other requirements are added but they are already on Chap 6 and seem to have alot of reading. </p>

<p>CRD, I will have to ask more about the Math sequencing because I agree with you, it seems like you would take CAlc AB or Calc BC depending on your Math strength. I does seem redundant to some extent to take both. I’ll have to find a CAlc teacher to ask about how it is done at our HS. Glad to know the AP Stat is not that hard. Sounds like a good AP to take as a Senior.</p>

<p>marite, as the year continues, I will have my son discuss with his current math teacher who is actually pretty tough which Jr and Sr. math he should choose. She would be a better judge than the guidance counselor.</p>

<p>Hope you all had a good thanksgiving!</p>

<p>My younger son could not take a science test in the fall, he’d have forgotten everything by then. For him June was a much better option. I’d take a look at the AP subject book in a bookstore shortly before sign up time - if there are huge gaps, by all means take the summer to study, but it’s more likely that there won’t be that much extra work required.</p>

<p>Our school does AP US in one year and kids do very well. (My sons both got 5s.) They do World History as a two year course freshman and sophomore year, because that’s NYS requirements for Global History. A small portion of the class prepares for the AP as sophomores. They also do pretty well, though I think there are more 3’s than there are for the US History.</p>