<p>So, here’s what I would like to know (as I eat my Panda Express - yes, really, all this talk made me crave some chow mein and Sweet Fire Chicken, which I realize is not Chinese-Chinese but rather American-Californian-Chinese, but delicious nonetheless):</p>
<p>Have Chinese parents gone just as crazy as American parents over the last ten years? </p>
<p>Wǎn’ān :)</p>
<p>Perhaps you misread. Was not talking about a premed graduating in 3 years, though its been done by students successfully going to med school. </p>
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<p>Some (most?) colleges remove AP credit units if the student takes an overlapping college course, so the option of early graduation or improved registration priority is lost in this case. Also, having both AP chemistry and frosh general chemistry 1 in college does not give any additional distribution subject credit (a chemistry major might be able to use AP history for a distribution requirement at some schools, but has no need for additional chemistry credit for distribution requirements).</p>
<p>“I still don’t understand why kids are penalized during admission if their parents have college education).”</p>
<p>Californiaa. This isn’t true. Could you stop repeating it as if it were? </p>
<p>Do you have a clue as to how many kids at elite schools are full pay? Their parents certainly went to college. </p>
<p>Not our experience, ucb. Students got the hours credit even if they retook the subject. Didnt use for distribution credit in their major but other APs did meet other distribution requirements. . And allowed them to take upper level classes with the AP class counting as the prerequisite.</p>
<p>“little look at Chinese history might inform us about their focus and drive…obsession or craziness if you will…to go to great lengths to help assure that their kids get ahead.”</p>
<p>Make up your mind - Which is it? Chinese immigrants aren’t responsible for the “Ivy craziness” and how dare anyone suggest so … Or they are, because of their cultural history which we need to understand and appreciate? </p>
<p>Aren’t responsible. And I don’t usually ever use the word “dare” except to quote others, so that part of the option can not be right.</p>
<p>@mathyone - I forgot to respond to your Calc example. </p>
<p>There are qualitative differences in placing out via AP, retaking a class in college and starting at the beginning. There is no reason to repeat course; there are other ways to do it. No interest in placing out via high school AP tests does not mean one is doomed to repeat.</p>
<p>My older son did it the old-fashioned way. He finished through multivariable calc, but no AP test. So, he went to head of math department freshman orientation week and asked to place out. They interviewed him (literally) and drilled him about the concepts and told him OK - 20 minutes of his time he said and the best part, he now had a relationship with the head of the department of one of his majors - a twofer. It is amazing what you can get if you just ask. </p>
<p>In his other major, there is no placing out, period. All students must take the two entry-level courses, regardless how much courses and AP tests you have had in that discipline before. They get it that teaching their philosophy matters. But, then, it is the #1 department of its discipline in the country, so I think they know what works for them.</p>
<p>Younger son is finishing up Linear Algebra as a senior and will do the same - ask permission at whichever school he goes to. No top school wants to hold a kid back, and it is easy to ascertain if someone knows what they are doing or not, if you know the questions to ask. Therefore, no repeat is required at all. </p>
<p>The phrase, “From the beginning”, was specific to that particular program. My son and a few prospective students saw the syllabus of the freshman courses and of the two intro courses with same name that supposedly they took, they all agreed it was very, very different then what any of them had done.</p>
<p>So, useless retaking is not necessary. And, as for the younger son, it is not a retake if the philosophy and approach are completely different than from in high school AP courses. The important part there is not the information, but how to use the information the school’s way. That can prove much harder than a high school AP, even if some info is the same.</p>
<p>@jym626 - Just caught up with your post. Please see my post above, as I do think that it is an error to think an AP class covers the gamut at the very top programs. </p>
<p>I just saw your post from this morning in that you do not blame the parents, as I am finally catching up on the thread. I blame no one, but myself, when I choose to write a check for something. I do not have to write the check. Same goes if I decide to do something or take an action; I have the choice not to do it.</p>
<p>no one said that an AP class “covers the gamut” at the “very top programs”. But thats completely besides the point. </p>
<p>All this thread proves is that there are many crazy parents proud to come show themselves.
Not all of us, of course, jym. But such experts.</p>
<p>Cobrat, when I point something positive toward you, oh, forget it.</p>
<p>LOL, lookingforward. Spot on.</p>
<p>@Pizzagirl
"“I still don’t understand why kids are penalized during admission if their parents have college education).”
Californiaa. This isn’t true. Could you stop repeating it as if it were?</p>
<p>First generation kids, from families (better, single parent) without degree (better, without school education) get additional points from adcoms. Agree? This is a known fact. Since it is a zero sum game, kids of parents with college degrees are getting penalized for their parent’s education. </p>
<p>Every application that my D had filled asks about my education. Why adcoms need to know it? How is it relevant? What’s wrong with being educated? How is it possible to be proud of your achievements and education, if it is viewed in the negative light by adcoms? How could I explain the value of education to my children, if they know that kids from uneducated families are valued more? </p>
<p>“Why have parents gone crazy in the last 10 years?” - </p>
<p>Because the whole admission process is crazy. Fix admission = make it transparent = create perception of a fair play = I (personally) would relax. </p>
<p>Read it and weep: elite privates don’t give “extra points” for uneducated or under-educated parents. You keep telling us how educated your D’s parents are, but not taking time to verify some of what you think is true. (You can find, via google, how UCB and UCLA review a kid’s hardships. It’s there.)</p>
<p>They ask parents education to understand the education support the child received and will continue to. The context. </p>
<p>And, how can this ever become transparent when people argue back with misinfo?</p>
<p>@jym626 - Well, then I confess, I do miss your point. </p>
<p>I starting reading CC because there experts who chime in, so I am glad they are here. I learn a good bit from them. </p>
<p>this thread, like so many other closed threads on the parents forum in the past 10 years, has degenerated into a pissing contest between parents who think they know more than other parents and need to prove it…</p>
<p>I doubt there can be anything else learned by participants who are unwilling to listen…
:-S </p>
<p>Topic for new thread:</p>
<p>How have pissing contests between parents changed in the last 10 years?</p>
<p>“They ask parents education to understand the education support the child received and will continue to. The context.”</p>
<p>You think that colleges gather information, but don’t use it? Doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>“Context” doesn’t fly. Especially for foreigners. If, for example, I have completed BS in Chicano poetry, how does it affect my kids ability into get into premed? What “context” does it provide? Chicano poet may have a marginal knowledge of math and Physics, for example. How would it provide “educational support” above elementary school level? BTW, when college asks about educational pedigree, they don’t ask about majors. </p>
<p>"And, how can this ever become transparent when people argue back with misinfo? "</p>
<p>Just make college admission transparent. Objective. Then, there is no place for misinformation. </p>