Took AP theory in high school, trying to test out of college Theory I

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hello! I'm an incoming freshman at USC Thornton, and I'm hoping to place out of my first-year theory and aural skills classes. If I succeed, it will save me money on books, room for different/more advanced classes, and a chance to not have to take any 8am classes (I am NOT a morning person). I have about 2 weeks to brush up on my theory and learn anything I didn't already know. </p>

<p>I took AP theory this past year and I got a 4 on the test with subscores of 3 and 5 in non-aural and aural, respectively. (I'm pretty sure that, had I received adequate extended-time accommodations on the test, my non-aural subscore would be at least a 4. College Board was being difficult about it, despite my documented ADHD.) </p>

<p>I have a few questions:
-Are placement tests for theory typically timed? If so, how does the testing speed compare to that of the AP test?
-What are some subjects typically found in college Theory I that are not in the AP theory curriculum? What's more/less emphasized in college theory as opposed to AP?
-What are some good free online study resources for this type of thing?
-If I don't end up testing out, how on earth am I supposed to be in class and awake enough to learn things as early as 8am?</p>

<p>By the way, USC Thornton uses Kostka's Tonal Harmony for its theory textbook. If anyone is familiar with this and/or how its content compares to the AP theory curriculum, please give me some info on that as well.</p>

2

<p>I can only answer a couple of your questions but yes, theory placement tests are typically done in large groups of students so you have to keep up with the pace. As far as 8 o’clock classes- think of it this way: school is your job for now(as it has been for the past 12 or 13 years), and one of the requirements for that job is being where you need to be when you need to be there and ready to do what’s expected of you. That may mean going to bed earlier (ear plugs come in handy!), or grabbing a nap in between classes on days with early mornings. When you’re an upperclassman you have more control over your own schedule and can hopefully avoid classes before 11AM! Meanwhile, just know that you will live through the torture! Find someone to study with who can take coherent notes in the early hours and line up a tutor if you need to so that you do absorb all the material into your sleep-fogged brain. And do go and find out what accommodations, if any, can be made for your ADD.
Good luck and enjoy the upcoming year!</p>

3

<p>Each school seems to have its own approach to theory and sometimes it is really helpful, even for very advanced students, to start at the beginning so as to have a foundation in that particular school’s curriculum. You might feel more solid just taking the intro class.</p>

<p>Even at the most selective schools, it seems as if students who might qualify for tougher, more advanced classes due to AP scores, still opt to take the easier class. Keeps the stress down at a time of transition.</p>

<p>Also, I have heard that high school AP theory isn’t the best preparation: perhaps others know more about this than I do.</p>

<p>I would hope that you might enjoy the rest of your summer and maybe just do a quick brush-up for the placement (are you expected to study for this?). If you begin with the introductory course, do you even have to take the exam?</p>

<p>I sympathize…have a kid w/ADHD who is also taking an 8am class. She is taking 3 alarm clocks and is strategizing about how to get out the door to class in time. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Locate the college’s office of disabilities NOW and find out what you need to do to get accommodations. Colleges frequently require new testing be done since they do not accept the HS testing results. If you have had to have accommodations in the past, trying to tackle a school like USC without them is setting yourself up for potential failure. It is not brave to try to go without them. DD’s were not discovered until she was in college. Getting the test accommodation, along with others, made all the difference in the world.</p>

5

<p>quotation: Are placement tests for theory typically timed?</p>

<p>There is nothing typical about placement tests, and even if there were, finding out what is typical will not help, if your school is not typical. Call Thornton to find out if they strictly time the placement exam. Some schools are strict about the timing; others are not. If they do time strictly, then ask if you can get extended time. </p>

<p>Ideally you already have the documentation in place for USC since you do not want to be madly running around getting tested, finding out their requirements, filling out and submitting forms, and waiting for processing when you have midterms to write. If you do not already have everything in place for extended time, then now is a good time to start the process.</p>

<p>quotation: If so, how does the testing speed compare to that of the AP test?</p>

<p>AP tends to time things quite tightly with little room to spare even for strong students. From what I have heard of experiences of students with placement testing, most find they have adequate time.</p>

<p>quotation: What are some subjects typically found in college Theory I that are not in the AP theory curriculum? What’s more/less emphasized in college theory as opposed to AP?</p>

<p>Again, there really is no typical college theory I course. AP does its very best to mimic a typical college theory I course (after all, its success in marketing its program to colleges to convince them to grant credit rests on its ability to mimic), but colleges vary widely in what they emphasize. Get a copy of the text and determine what you do not know already. I realize that the text is costly, but far much less so than the tuition for the course (usually the tuition exceeds the course cost by at least a couple thousand dollars).</p>

<p>quotation If I don’t end up testing out, how on earth am I supposed to be in class and awake enough to learn things as early as 8am?</p>

<p>Mezzo’sMama gives good suggestions. Part of growing up is becoming flexible; adapt your sleep schedule to your work schedule; in other words, go to bed three hours earlier, if necessary, in order to wake up by 5 am so that 8 am feels like lunch time. Just as millions of teenagers every summer effortlessly adapt to staying up until 3 am and waking up at 1 pm every day (which is about a 5-hour shift in times), you can easily do a 3-hour shift in your sleep patterns. Just be grateful that you are not on the East coast where you would have to do a 6-hour shift!</p>

6

<p>I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but other than the 8am class time, taking theory I would give you a strong foundation in music theory at your school and hopefully an easy A. At son’s orientation, a theory prof had lunch with us and was musing that most kids who scored 5 on the AP exam had trouble with theory II classes if they skipped out of theory I. He said when he first started teaching 13 years ago he was surprised by this because these were usually the top students. He determined that most AP music theory classes do not go into as much depth as the typical theory I class and anyways most theory I classes start introducing new material (beyond AP music theory) by the beginning of Nov. The prof is new to son’s school and has taught theory at several institutions. He strongly advises starting at theory I at any school and enjoying the fact that most of it will be a review while the other kids will be going “huh?” around you.</p>

7

<p>^ ok with the above advice then, when choosing APs, is it best then to just take something you will be able to take the credit for and free up the college schedule some? I’m sure DS would love (and plans to) take AP theroy but if it’s going to be repeated then maybe any of the other APs makes more sense.</p>

8

<p>Yes, the other AP’s make sense from a credit standpoint but DS did take AP theory just so he’d have a strong foundation in theory and out of the 30 plus kids in his high school taking the class with him 25 or more are going to major in music this fall and most are planning on starting with theory I anyway. I think most of the music school applications asked if he had taken AP or any other theory class. (He is getting credit for the AP course but just as a general credit but not music theory credit which will help with room selection next year since his college does room selection by number of credit hours earned so all is not lost.)</p>

9

<p>AL34, your question is a good one. I think whenever possible, it is always a good idea to take AP Theory or some equivalent study. Some music schools have a “theory placement exam” that they give during auditions. It is not entirely clear to me how they use this information, so some preparation would be wise. My D took at least one of these exams which also included Audio. (I think it was Oberlin). Also, a couple of years ago when we were visiting Northwestern, we were told at the presentation that “the content of AP Theory is covered in the first 3 weeks of our Theory I class”. Scary thought. If they are moving that quickly it would be nice to come in with some familiarity. The kicker, of course, is that music schools don’t seem to care at all if you took AP Theory, and it seems to be a much more impressive resume item if you are majoring in just about anything else. This has been our experience.</p>

10

<p>From all I’ve heard, the AP theory class usually covers maybe the first semester of college thoery. I remember sitting in my theory class and being bored for awhile, but now and then learning something I hadn’t been taught in my other theory classes. It was also a great class to meet other music majors who were not in my specialty. Theory is so very important to a complete musician. Never underestimate it’s value!</p>

11

<p>It isn’t a bad thing to take AP theory in high school IMO and even take the test, to see how you do, but in terms of placement and such you may find it doesn’t help to skip, and may hurt you in some cases. First of all, I am not aware of a school that will give you placement out of theory I based on the AP score, from what I know they have their own placement exams. </p>

<p>More importantly, as others have pointed out, music theory teaching varies from program to program, and AP represents a ‘norm’ of sorts, so in school A the AP might be 1/2 a semester, in another, represents the first month, another, a full semester course. More importantly, how they teach it and the terminology they use can be quite different, which could make it harder to work in the theory II class, since you would need to pick up terminology and such you weren’t familiar with.</p>

<p>Best thing to do would be to see if you can get either a course syllabus for their theory I class, or find a copy of the theory book they use and see what is in it (unfortunately, that probably won’t help all that much, since few classes use textbooks like they did in HS, you don’t know how far in the book they will get, and you also don’t even know which chapters they use, which sections of chapters, or order of teaching; a syllabus can tell you that or if they have their course descriptions on line, might give you an idea)</p>

<p>Recommendation from a lot of music students who have gone through theory to my S and others seems to be to take theory I, unless you are so sure of how much you know that you feel confident it will be okay:). The placement exams will in the end tell the story, you could possibly find yourself placed in theory I:)</p>

12

<p>My D did not take any music theory in HS, AP or otherwise. Although she struggled quite a bit in Theory I, she struggled less in II and she told me that ultimately she did better in II than some of her classmates who’d tested out of I because they hadn’t learned theory the way the college profs and the music dept wanted them to. She did better because she had the foundation her teachers wanted.</p>

13

<p>27, just so you know, at my son’s school, even a 5 in AP theory and “testing out” only means you get to skip the first 4 weeks – theory moves that fast at some of the top schools. My son had already taken a university theory class while dual enrolled, and had a straight A in it. And he’d exhausted that knowledge by the end of September ;)</p>

<p>This will also not be the last 8 a.m. class in your college career, I predict, if you’re like most music students. Even upper level theory seems most often to be taught in the morning, and I suspect it’s to coordinate ensemble (eg. afternoon and evening) schedules. So you will definitely want to learn and practice some strategies to get yourself going in the morning – for ADD an especially useful regime is an early a.m. protein shake and a workout at the gym, swim or run. It makes it easier to “attend” the class (in terms of absorbing it.)</p>

<p>Also, re: accommodations – you will likely need an Adult Neuropsych assessment in order to get extra time. It can take months to schedule. You will want to get this in the hopper this instant, because trust me, you will want to have those accommodations before finals. So please take time now to contact the LD office and get an appointment set up and a list of things they need from you. Also inquire about coaching/time management opportunities if they exist. My son has inattentive type ADD. When you’re at a school like USC where all the students are pretty much from the top tenth percentile, issues like early-morning functioning, executive functioning (eg. managing a busy schedule) and performance under pressure are germane. Accommodations and learning tricks (like the protein shake/workout strategy) make a BIG difference.
Best wishes!</p>