<p>Not everyone is able to give up working 20-30+ hours a week…my HS classmates’ families needed their contribution not only for college…but also for the family’s economic survival. </p>
<p>Moreover, getting a 4 or 5 on AP tests doesn’t necessarily guarantee college academic success or even a basic mastery of a given AP subject. Knew plenty of such kids at my undergrad who flunked/floundered the very same courses I had no difficulties with…despite never having taken an AP course/test in my life. HS classmates at other colleges observed the same thing among their classmates. Made good money tutoring many such kids during my college years. </p>
<p>There was also an older undergrad classmate who needed US history tutorial from me because his knowledge was so spotty it was causing him serious issues in several advanced courses in his major/related fields…and he scored a 5 on the US History AP. :(</p>
<p>No, not everyone is able to give up working. But if you can’t give up working now, you won’t be able to give up working in college, unfortunately.</p>
<p>And I’m saying that if you can’t pass a basic AP test, you won’t have better luck in an academically rigorous college.</p>
<p>I already read your other post about how you were too good for AP tests. Well good for you. But please don’t twist one of my posts to tell us that AGAIN.</p>
<p>Oh well maybe I don’t know anything and I’m doomed to a life of academic mediocrity. Sorry not all of us can be like you.</p>
<p>I brought it up because you made this statement:</p>
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<p>While passing AP tests does indicate some potential to do college level work…they are far from being a great predictor of actual college success based on my own observations as someone who had already attended and graduated from college along with those of HS classmates, college Profs, and friends who TA undergrads at various elite/respectable universities. </p>
<p>It is not enough to just perform well on some standardized tests. You also need to have the ability to maintain sufficient focus/drive/attention over a semester/quarter/trimester, manage your pacing on coursework/priorities in your life with far less supervision/nagging from your parents/teachers, and take far greater initiative to seek out timely assistance from academic and other campus resources before situations snowball to the point they cannot be salvaged. </p>
<p>Also, it is rare that one can predict how their college academic performance/experience will go based solely on their high school experiences. For the vast majority…the only times they’ll really know is once they have had a semester or two under their belt…especially if they’re in a residential college dorming away from parents/family.</p>
<p>I think my post shared the same conclusion as you, yet you keep insisting like it said otherwise.</p>
<p>I said that AP tests aren’t rigorous. If you can’t handle those, it doesn’t mean that you can handle college either. Isn’t that exactly the same as what you’re saying?</p>
<p>Obviously, some people change and are going to have great college results even if they didn’t do well in high school. But if you are consistently scoring 3’s on your AP tests, I wouldn’t expect you to be an academic superstar freshman year out of college.</p>
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<p>Oh how did this statement 10char? Would you mind explaining how I’m supposed to be naive instead of acting like I can magically come up with the answer?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It is possible for someone scoring 3s to excel in college from the get-go. Far too many variables such as what I posted above to completely rule them out. </p></li>
<li><p>What counts is how your college academic record stacks up at the end of 4-5 years of undergrad…not end of freshman year.</p></li>
</ol>
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<li><p>Yes it is. There are always exceptions. But the vast majority of people getting 3’s aren’t going to be outstanding students if even most people who get 5’s aren’t oustanding students either. </p></li>
<li><p>How could you say something so ridiculously condescending to me? I’m not that stupid. I’d explain why I said my original statement, but… nevermind.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>cobrat, I think you are missing the point. That point being, the purpose of this thread is most probably for the OP to declare (repetitively) how well she did on the AP exams, while not studying for them. A teenager starting a thread to bemoan how poorly all those “others” do on something as trivial as AP exams, well? No offense intended, though I’m sure it will be taken…but it really doesn’t seem necessary to put people down to build oneself up.</p>
<p>Based on what my kid told me, once certain seniors get their college acceptances, they slack off to no end, and don’t study for the end of year AP exams. The apathy as one factor contributing to low grades on some APs.</p>
<p>Good point about seniors. For my teens, if you take the ap exam then you dont take a final. If you go to a very selective school that limits the ap credits, what is motivation to study if no credit. My DD could potentially take six next year. She has already taken six through junior year. Many of her schools have a limit of 18-24 maximum hours which she might get this year depending upon if 3 or 4 credits per exam.</p>
<p>My teacher explained to me that they give each test a raw score and find the mean of the score. This would be considered a three. Then thEy find the stAndard deviation. And one sd would be a 4 or 2 and two away would be a 1 or 5</p>
<p>At our excellent suburban HS, the Calc teacher is proud to tell the parents (at open house) what percent of his students get a 5 and what percent get a 4. I don’t think any of them get below that, and most get 5s.</p>
<p>All of my 4 kids got 5s on all of their tests. It was a point of pride with them to work hard during the year and be prepared for the test. </p>
<p>Haven’t read responses…responding to the OP…
Our k1 passed all but one of the 11 APs with 5s or 4s…it is about preparation…mostly in the classroom.
I realize some students may self prepare–yet setting that aside for a moment.
According to the guidance officer, colleges can tell a lot about schools and grade inflation when they compared GPAs and the AP scores. Kids with high GPAs and yet not passing the AP exams tells the admissions office about the rigor of the classroom work and the grade inflation of the school. Kids with high grades in AP classes Should pass the AP exams.
That said, our student took the National exam for Latin every year and did very very well…every year…and then on the AP exam, not so much.
I contacted the Latin teacher to ask what she thought had happened with k1’s performance–and she was silent…which was telling.
My student said, “we don’t learn latin, we learn how to take the nat’l exam well”… (my kids go to a local private)</p>
<p>I was a proctor in a local public hs for APs…the huge auditorium was filled with kids, every other row, every other seat.
Most were placed into AP classes because it helps the school’s ranking look better. Most of those in that room signed their name, pulled up their hodie and took a nap! The county was paying the fees for the testing and the kids had no interest in doing well. It was a shame and my tax dollars were at work! (in the classroom and that testing site!)</p>
<p>So all that is to say that performances on AP tests varies as much as the circumstances behind the classroom prep, the motivation of the school districts and the students.</p>
<p>Our HS requires students to take the exams to get AP credit for the class. For seniors not intending to use AP scores to place out of college classes, the tests serve no useful purpose. Ours is a very good HS with top students going to ivy’s and other great schools. My kid told me many of the top students didnt care and didnt try. Some drew pictures, took naps or told jokes instead of answering questions. I see it as a quiet protest by a group of smart, motivated but serverely burnt out kids. (As juniors these kids were all 4’s and 5’s and straight A’s)</p>
<p>It is hard to imagine that if one is taking AP exam right after finals in this subject, they would fail. That almost mean that they have failed their final exam. But if they did, there is no reason to take AP exam. Failing AP does not make any sense as kids know their stand in particular subject before. AP exam is NOT mandatory, do not take it if you did not do well in AP class.</p>
<p>Chaosakita, you are a Hs senior. You “wouldn’t expect” someone who didn’t do well on APs to be an academic superstar in college. But you’ve never been to college; how do you even know what academic superstar-hood looks like? </p>
<p>You’re going to find that some people who got straight As and perfect scores were really just regurgitators or grinds, when others with lesser stats may really thrive and grow. Point is, you don’t have the experience base to proclaim yourself an authority or decree that people who didn’t find AP tests as easy as you just can’t cut it.</p>
<p>SteveMA, busdriver, & pizzagirl–way to jump all over the messenger for delivering bad news.</p>
<p>She has a valid point about the state of education, the poor preparation, and the lack of motivation of many students today. As does fogfog with his report of tax dollars paying for tests that kids sleep through.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine kids having the test paid for and not trying at all. College credits handed to them on a silver platter, as it were. Then they wonder why someone doesn’t hand them a summer job, or a “dream” job upon graduation.</p>
<p>The thing is that your performance on the AP test depends a lot on your curriculum in the AP class. It’s not as if getting a low score on an AP test means you’re dumb - I know some very capable people who did badly on some of their AP tests because their classes poorly taught and it didn’t occur to them to study using a prep book and to ignore their class. These people are doing perfectly fine in college now.</p>