<p>Last night my daughter told my husband we would soon need to write a check for $504 for her AP tests. This just seems like too much money. I’m sure there are waivers for low-income families, and it’s not as if we will be missing meals or mortgage payments to pay for these tests, but geez, College Board is making some money.</p>
<p>Her school says there is a new policy that everyone who takes an AP class is required to take the AP test for it.</p>
<p>I hope these classes are helpful to her in the future. She has learned a lot from the classes, anyway.</p>
<p>College Board is AWFUL! I don’t know at what stage your family is in the college process, but if you are new to it, welcome to the CB bank account drain! They are really horrendous: applications; except for the ACT, all the standardized tests; even applying for Financial Aid, which is quite the paradox! All of these cost a lot of money. I think I have personally paid the mortgage of someone at the College Board for several years. At least a dentist’s bill-- for major dental reconstruction!</p>
<p>I am writing the check this morning as well…most of the schools D will be applying to will only take credit for a 5, and most won’t take credit for the AP in the student’s major, just maybe place the student in a higher level class, so she won’t benefit much. However - many students here still do well even with paying so much since they start with soph status at SUNY schools that will take a 3 or above with all their AP credit…</p>
<p>I agree about the College Board nickel and diming, all the way down to the fee to get the scores over the phone if you can’t wait for the written report…</p>
<p>My kids’ Catholic school required us to pay for AP’s, too, while the public school kids got them free. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the teaching was so poor in a couple of the AP classes that no one – not one kid, including the valedictorian – got higher than a 2, most got a 1, although most of the class got A’s or B’s in the class. It was taught by a football coach who didn’t have a clue about economics or US government. But colleges don’t know that when looking at a transcript. If AP classes are offered but not taken, it reflects badly on the student. So even though we knew about the poor AP pass rate of kids in these 2 courses, my kids felt like they still needed to take the courses so they could show that they took the most rigorous courseload available.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that with AP credits in college, that means that they reach “upper division” tuition that much sooner. With the higher cost that goes with it. I know CB tells us we save money because they get college credits, but it sure didn’t work out that way for us.</p>
<p>Not that I wouldn’t have had them take the AP tests and get the credits, but NOT as a way to save money. It did allow them to take fewer credits and still graduate on time, but it ended up costing MORE in the end.</p>
<p>my daughters school also has a new policy that everyone has to take the AP tests.
Even if their college doesn’t give credit- even if they are already accepted to their college & even if they have a disability that makes the lenghty tests a huge PITA.
:p</p>
<p>At our local high school if you do not take the test they do not give you the extra weighting on your GPA for having taken the class. Which by the end of senior year I guess does not matter too much.</p>
<p>We paid for 6 exams but they allowed our son (who got 5’s on all) to get credit for 9 courses at college. Some of those courses met curriculum requirements and others just counted for general credit. But it essentially ensures that DS will be able to graduate in 4 years, and allows him flexibility in scheduling courses so he doesn’t have to “max out” in any term. So even though the cost of the exams may not save us tuition, it certainly saves us (DS) stress.</p>
<p>I certainly agree with the last two posts. Our s will be entering college with soph+ standing which will also give him an opportunity to take graduate classes by the time he’s an upperclassman and will make registering for classes a lot easier.</p>
I wasn’t aware of that. As an undergrad 30 years ago, we weren’t charged at a higher rate if we took grad courses. I just assumed that was the case today. Thank you for pointing that out.</p>
<p>Do other posters have experience with the grad courses taken as an UG being charged at the higher rate?</p>
<p>APs don’t really count for much where our daughter will be going to college, so she chose just to take one, in Calculus. That will be used for placement. </p>
<p>It is one thing if students choose to take the tests. (My D CHOSE to take three last year but will take only one this year,) but I have a philosphical problem with public schools requiring students to take AP tests, if they take the course. Seems to me that is one more barrier to education excellence for less financially fortunate students. </p>
<p>Don’t know about your schools, but there is a huge quality difference between our AP classes and non honors level choices.</p>
<p>patsmom: The college board also makes $ selling high school profiles to colleges. This profile includes the # of AP tests taken in each subject and the aggregate of scores earned. So if everyone does poorly on an AP test, the colleges which buy the school profiles will know this.</p>
<p>You can look at it this way- if you are going to take advantage of the credit in college, then you’ve essentially paid $84 for a college course.</p>
<p>In a perfect world, AP classes SHOULD be college level/college quality experiences. Unfortunately, like patsmom, my kids have had classes that were anything BUT. And in this age, they are pushed into taking all the APs they can, whether the teacher/class is worthwhile. Quantity, not quality, is what counts.</p>
<p>My big gripe is this- not all AP classes, at least at our high school, are equal in terms of rigor, yet students are judged only on the <em>number</em> of AP classes. I’d say that out of the classes my son took, half of them were truly college caliber. When only 20% of the class passes the AP test (meaning a 3 or above), with a grade distribution in the A through C range, there’s something very, very wrong. Juxtapose this with other classes where the grade distribution was in the B-D range, and all the students score 5’s. </p>
<p>This kind of relates to another thread discussing math/science preparation in high schools. It happens that at our school, the maths and sciences were backbreaking, yet the scores (100% scored 5’s in the sciences when S was there) reflect the quality of training. We’d have only 5 and 6 person classes in those subjects, because students didn’t want to take the risk. That’s a sad state of affairs- too much emphasis on grades and not enough on preparation.</p>
<p>I do like the idea of having to take the AP test, though, because it definitely sheds light on which classes/teachers are effective, and which are not.</p>
<p>Totally agree with you Mallomar that schools should not force students to take the AP exam. Our school district “expects and encourages” students to take the AP exam after completing the course but does not mandate it. My daughter will be attending a college that accpets only a 5 on the language exams for credit. D feels she is not well enough prepared to attain this grade and has opted not to take the test. She will instead focus on Calculus and Physics where she believes she has a better chance at succeeding. I would be really angry if school tried to force her to take the test. I feel she has made a mature decision by focusing on the areas where she will most likely be successful. Forcing her to study for an additional exam that she will most likely not get a 5 on takes away from her concentration on the other exams and will probably frustrate her to boot. Plus, it saves me $85. Why pay $85 if she will derive no benefit from taking the test? Some school districts in our area pay for all students taking the AP exams, most do not. BTW, the districts that pay for the exams are also the ones who have the greatest number of students taking AP classes and are also some of the wealthiest in the area.</p>
<p>The College Board reduces fees for students with financial need. That doesn’t mitigate the whole cost, but does help.</p>
<p>My son attends a public school; the cost of AP exams is covered by the school. I thought this was only for students in an AP course, but he is self-studying for an AP test this spring, and I was told the school would cover that fee as well. I’m very grateful. This may change; funding for AP tests is uncertain from year to year.</p>
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<p>You can probably thank the “Challenge Index” developed by Washington Post education reporter Jay Mathews for that. Butts in seats is all that matters for the Challenge Index, not how well the students actually do.</p>
<p>I do think schools who require the exam should pay for them. Most of our AP teachers are wonderful at our public HS. Three of the four AP courses my son took really enriched his Jr and Sr years. The French one was obviously college level, because when he got to college, he tested into a 300 level French course and did great with it.</p>
<p>What I’ve read about on CC suggests an escalation of the numbers of AP courses offered at some schools, so the kids feel they have to take more and more in order to do the “most rigorous” coursework offered. It’s gotten to a senseless level if kids feel they need to take mostly college level courses to get in to college. Stop the madness, is what I say.</p>
<p>the trouble is, if your kid attends a HS with lots of AP’sand you choose not to take them then the GC can’t mark that box stating “student took most rigorous curriculum offered”…no matter the quality of the AP’s offered.
S was pleasantly surprised to be given credit for all his AP’s (8) hes a 2nd semester soph with 1st semester senior status (he also had summer college study he got credit for).It helps with housing lotteries,registration times,freeing up academic schedules for more varied or rigorous coursework.
S was able to start his departmental reqs earlier because he had the gen ed reqs finished with the AP’s.Hes had much more flexibility in his schedule,been able to take some "fun"classes.
Our districts HS requires the AP test be taken if the class is taken,and its self pay.</p>