<p>But IP, some school districts force the students to take the test. They will not give them the high school credit unless they’ve taken the test.</p>
<p>So some school districts have a higher educational standard. You know where I stand on this. I am not going to rehash that debate. If someone wants a lower standard of education for their kid they should move. Financially that is easier, of course.</p>
<p>My parents do not pay for any of my AP exams. I have been able to speak to my guidance counselor and get a discount on a few exams, but I paid for everything else myself.</p>
<p>On the one hand, it is quite frustrating to know I’ve paid a large sum of money to take AP exams, and I have scored 4’s and 5’s, but I may have to retake the class in college and pay even more money.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the AP classes have prepared me for college academics more than any other level class could have. Even studying for the AP exam with individual initiative and practicing time management is something that I would not have if I decided not to take the classes and exams. My brother is in standard and honors classes, and he usually finishes his homework within an hour and earns A’s with very little studying. For the final exam, his teacher basically gives him the questions in class and works through them, but with slightly different examples. As much as I would love for high school to be this easy for me, I know I wouldn’t be prepared for college.</p>
<p>I know it will all be worth it in the end, but it still hurts to write that check every year, uncertain of whether I will get the concrete prize, which is college credit.</p>
<p>My DS took 5 AP classes in hs and earned 4’s and 5’s on all of tests. His college would only accept his Calc AB, yet DS is choosing to retake this course in college. I think this is a wise choice for him. The value of these classes was to prepare him for college and show course rigor to the ADCOMs. Taking the tests was optional in our school district so the money for the tests was wasted in our particular case. My observation here in California is that starting public college with AP credits can help students graduate in 4 years as it is difficult to get all your classes. Private colleges are not as accepting of AP credit, but they virtually guarantee a 4 year plan to graduate.</p>
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<p>That’s exactly the opposite of what happens. The teachers then take a very narrow approach to teaching the class, as they feel they must teach to the test. How is that a higher educational standard? To me, it’s a cop out.</p>
<p>I went to three different high schools. I took 2 AP’s. Each time scoring a 2. One at the first high school, and the other at the last (graduated from) high school. If I would’ve stayed at my second high school (went for health reasons) I would’ve took 3 AP’s my senior year. My senior year was the first year this school had AP for awhile. They where only approved for two courses. I was recommended by guidance counselor to take both. After January I dropped one AP because I felt I was not learning the material at the pace that would be required to know enough knowledge for the exam. Only 2 people ended up taking the test for that AP. The other AP I took the test. More students took this test because the teacher begged them too. She was able to convince the principle to pay for the test for the students who didn’t have free or reduced lunch. That was three students. Myself being one, I know I didn’t have the money so if he wouldn’t have paid I would not have taken. Although the teacher told me not to worry because she would pay for the three of us. I would have felt horrible if she paid knowing that I scored a 2. I held an A in her class, and one college recommended me to take CLEP (composition) because of placement test.</p>
<p>To be honest none of the students would have paid to take either AP’s. They rather spend their money on other things. They knew they could not afford the test, and in fact most could not afford the ACT. Although the school district provides one free ACT for all high school Juniors. After that one test you have to pay, or get a waiver. I think only one retook her ACT with a waiver. I think the value of AP/IB depends on the school district. There are about 3 high schools in the school district that require entrance exams 2 out of the 3 are IB, and the other is AP. I couldn’t tell you how many high schools are in the school district total, but I think those 3 schools had the best program, and reputation in the district for students who perform well for ACT, SAT, AP, and IB. I felt the material in some classes was lower than what I had at my first two. I only went there because they had some health care field courses, and if I wanted I would have taken a CNA course (paid for by district) I ended up deciding that nursing is not what I wanted to do, but I did still want to be in the health care setting. I would have not learned that until college, or if I could’ve gotten a job shadow.</p>
<p>In the end I do wish my parents would’ve held their ground, and said no to switching schools for a third time. I wouldn’t have been prepared to deal with students in a normal setting, but I would’ve taken more challenging courses. I may have studied smarter for ACT, SAT, and AP. My parents felt that AP would have been a good value if I would’ve gotten 3’s, or if I would’ve taken my placement test and scored well. I do think that I should’ve taken the CLEP version of the one AP, but the recommended CLEP was not accepted at the school I will be attending. I guess you could say it depends on the school district if AP, or IB is valued. Surrounding school districts in my area I think push the value of AP, or IB programs more than the one I graduated from.</p>
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<p>I have heard this so many times on CC - teaching to the test. What does that mean? Somehow there is a feeling that if classroom materials help with a test, then the materials must be inherently bad. In my experience in STEM and Finance, that is not true at all. At the end of the day you will be solving problems. So you better learn how to solve problems in class, and be evaluated on your problem solving skills in tests.</p>
<p>I took three AP classes and scored high enough to fulfill core requirements in their areas. My college doesn’t give any actual credit for AP or IB scores. They just fulfill core requirements and can be used for placement (policy varies by department). My mom thinks that’s their way of getting more money from tuition. In my case it doesn’t matter much. I fulfilled the natural science requirement, but I will be taking more science classes. I also fulfilled the math requirement, but I will be taking further math classes (using my AP score for placement was helpful).</p>
<p>It doesn’t seem like taking the AP exams really gave much return in terms of usefulness to my school.</p>
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<p>There are various reasons why a student may choose to take an AP exam, however.</p>
<p>1) Proof of mastery – for oneself or adcoms.
2) If it’s required by the student’s high school.
3) In hopes of advanced placement in college courses.
and/or
4) For college credit (to graduate sooner, to save money, or to have more leeway to take other courses of interest).</p>
<p>“I honestly had no idea that AP credit was given by colleges when my first went through so it was a bonus when he started with some gen ed credits checked off because of AP”</p>
<p>They gave AP credit at universities back in the early eighties, when I was going through!</p>
<p>I guess I don’t understand why anyone would pay the $87 per AP test or $92 plus other fees for IB tests unless they want college credit. Why bother to take the tests?</p>
<p>I would think passing the class and getting an A on the class final would be proof that you mastered the course.</p>
<p>Admissions don’t see AP scores, so the tests don’t make a difference is admissions. They only count for credit.</p>
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<p>The Common App has spaces specifically for AP scores under Academics.</p>
<p>I guess I don’t understand why anyone would pay the $87 per AP test or $92 plus other fees for IB tests unless they want college credit. Why bother to take the tests?</p>
<p>My daughter’s high school required the tests if you took the class. They don’t weight, so it wasn’t going to increase class rank. D wasn’t going to use the tests to place out of any classes in college & we didn’t qualify for FRL, so we had to pay for the tests ( which is more expensive than a college app)
I imagine the district wants students to take the tests because that is what the Newsweek ranking goes by. How many students in each school take AP tests.
Not what score they received, or even how many students took SAT/ACT tests, but how many AP tests were taken.</p>
<p>[Newsweek’s</a> Annual List: The Best High Schools in America - The Daily Beast](<a href=“http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/06/19/the-best-high-schools-in-america.html]Newsweek’s”>http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/06/19/the-best-high-schools-in-america.html)</p>
<p>They have since broadened their criteria for their list.</p>
<p>Admissions see unofficial AP scores, teacher and GC recommendations may also mention them. An A in the class does not always correspond to a 5 on the test. My son got a B in World History, but a 5 on the exam while most of the A students did not get 5s. (My son really disliked that teacher, but he did learn the material!)</p>
<p>I got credit for the APs in the early 70s. (Or at least I could have, decided I didn’t want to rush into sophomore standing and figure out a major on day 1.)</p>
<p>I thought there was a place for AP scores on college applications but some other guy on cc board argued that adcoms don’t see AP scores. I didn’t fill out the college applications for my dd so I took his word for it. I think AP scores are more meaningful than just grades in AP courses.</p>
<p>AP scores can be reported in the “Honors” section of the common app.</p>
<p>S took 8 AP exams–six 5s, two 4s–without any expectation of getting college credit. His school encouraged kids to take the exams, but didn’t require it. They also did not weight grades and did not give kids any kind of a GPA boost for taking AP courses. He wanted to take the exams. I think he regarded it as a matter of principle. (Including the ones he took senior year, when it made no difference to admissions, either.)</p>
<p>We paid for the one he took sophomore year and the two he took junior year, but the school paid for the 5 he took senior year because it was difficult for us to afford it. All I had to do was mention it to the G&T coordinator, and they took care of it.</p>
<p>There were some courses at our HS in which kids typically did very well on the AP exam. The average score for his MEH class, for example, was over 4. On the other hand, there was one course, Macroeconomics, where kids historically did very badly unless they studied a lot of their own. This definitely reflected a huge difference in the quality of the two teachers. (S’s GC actually advised that if he took the course he should not plan on taking the exam, but he ended up not taking the course at all.)</p>
<p>My daughter was in an IB program. My son was not.</p>
<p>I was fine with paying for AP tests for both of them and IB tests for my daughter. </p>
<p>In several cases, the tests got them college credits or helped them place out of courses they did not want to retake. Perhaps more important, in one instance, a poorer-than-expected score on an AP test convinced my son of the wisdom of re-taking a certain subject even though he had gotten an A in it, and that decision turned out to be a good one.</p>
<p>The grade you get in a class is based on the school’s criteria. There is additional valuable information to be obtained from taking a national or international test.</p>
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<p>In the case of IB, taking the tests is part of the diploma program. Even if your IB scores won’t get you any college credit (my daughter got none, although she got 30 credits from AP scores), you need to take the tests to get the diploma.</p>
<p>I had never heard of AP until D started high school. I attended HS in the early 70’s and in college was only familiar with CLEP tests. By the way the HS I attended offers only 4 AP classes now. Probably not unusual outside of cc land.</p>
<p>As for D graduating a semester early because of her AP credits, that was neither planned nor anticipated. We were very surprised that her school gave her so many credits.</p>
<p>Both my kids had some sort of AP Scholar Award before senior year which was official recognition from the college board of how many APs they’d scored well on. Neither of my kids knew junior year, or at the time they paid for tests senior year where they’d be attending so they didn’t know how much credit they could get. My older son got credit for everything, my younger son got a maximum of five APs.</p>
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<p>That’s good. I would hope it’s the norm, not the exception, since, after all, it is the student applying. ;-)</p>