<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I’m new here and I’m not sure if I am posting in the right forum, but I’ll give it a shot: I’m thinking of having my son (9th grade, homeschooled) take the SAT-II and the CLEP in French at the end of the school year. I used to teach French in college, and I am very confident that he will do quite well on the CLEP. I also know he would not do that well on the AP French Language (a 3, certainly; possibly a 4 – but a 5, no way).</p>
<p>Next school year, he would like to take a class at our community college that has a regular and an honors level. To qualify for the honors-level class, he needs to have a minimum of 13 college credits. Currently, he has 3 (from an AP exam in 8th grade) and he is taking 2 AP classes this year, which (hopefully) will bring in additional credits. However, even if he were to get 5’s in both as he did on his first AP exam, he wouldn’t quite make it to 13 – hence taking the CLEP.</p>
<p>How bad would it look on his transcript if he were to take the AP French Language in 10th grade after earning college credits in 9th grade, and French Lit in 11th? Or would he be expected to “move” directly to an AP French Lit course? A major difference between the AP French Language and the CLEP is that students have to write an essay for the AP exam, and not for the CLEP. That’s why the CLEP is a better choice for my son:-). And that’s why I think it would be good for him to take AP French Language next year, when he has had more practice writing essays, instead of moving directly to French Lit.</p>
<p>And are CLEP exams typically easier than AP exams, or does it vary by subject?</p>
<p>Thank you for your thoughts!
Pat01</p>