<p>My son, also techy but not that hot in math, is looking into Information Science, Information Systems and Technology and Software Engineering. He’s done great in programming classes and got an A in AP comp sci, and two other programming classes but has had very uneven performances in math classes. This year he did very well and finished College Algebra with an A and will take Calc in the fall, but the reason he took College Alg was because he got a C the previous year in honors Geometry and didn’t make the pre-rec’s for Pre-Calculus. (I’m crossing my fingers on Calc) </p>
<p>The colleges that he’s looking at are ones that offer a few different computer science majors, including those listed above. So far he’s really liked Hartwick College in upstate NY, Drexel in Philadelphia, Florida Institute of Technology, in Florida and Elon and Guilford in NC. We’re going to look at Pitt and Drexel later this month. In the fall we’re hoping to visit Champlain College in VT. Champlain has an excellent game design program that is not for programmers.</p>
<p>Son is signed up for a IST class at Penn State (local satellite campus) this fall to see if he really likes it.</p>
<p>mosb and apollo - I’m sorry this was a blow. These tests are rough on kids, in many ways, particularly because the outside world seems so arbitrary. I guess this will be part of this year’s process, all of these strange little details, and the “what ifs.”</p>
<p>My D1 got two 3s (Calc and USH) and two 4s (English and Bio) on her APs. She would have been a semester ahead at our state school; at her university they gave her 1 semester of English only. But she’s a Bio major and would never have skipped the 1st year Bio, even if she’d had a 5. We all feel that unless it’s for elective credit, an AP shouldn’t take a place of a college course. I know some HS’s give better quality classes, but I sure hope our AP classes bear little resemblance to real college work. Basically, I believe that if the course is important to you, you might as well just come into college better prepared than jump ahead.</p>
<p>D2 took Bio and USH this year; will take Calc, English and Gov next year (they didn’t offer Gov when D1 was there). We’re not in a hurry for scores - she got what she got, I figure. Hopefully at least 3s, for the schools that take 3s. Otherwise you’re shooting for 5s, and we won’t stress over that (they’re not typical at our school, anyway). </p>
<p>That story about failing a class at one school and getting AP credit for it at another just shows how incredibly random this process is. I keep telling my D she needs to make her own meaning … here is just another example.</p>
<p>The teacher may not be imcompetent. Both of my sons took AP computer science. They both placed well in competitions against college students. They told me that their teacher taught a more rigorous program that didn’t include very much time spent on Java. Apparently the AP test focuses on Java.</p>
<p>Like everything it seems, APs are a mixed blessing. Adcoms use AP scores (in aggregate) to help them understand the context of grading at a given HS. Many A’s with low AP scores sends the message of less rigor in teaching or grade inflation. A majority of B’s and C’s with high AP scores tell the opposite. Highly selective universities will (supposedly) take this into consideration when viewing GPAs across sending schools, as they do when factoring low SAT scores vs. high GPAs. If there is a pattern, it may indicate grade deflation. </p>
<p>There is no requirement to report AP scores on college applications. In fact, 2 years ago when S1 was applying, there wasn’t an explicit spot to list them on the common app. That may have changed. At that time, one could self-report in a section that called for “other honors and awards” or something like that. </p>
<p>Good luck to all who are awaiting scores. Like many parts of this process, no one thing is the “end of the world” or “a sure thing.” S2 was interested in his AP score (to my surprise) and checked early. Good news on AP Bio and also his SAT 2 subject tests. Yay! However, even with the best scores, kids may face unsettling surprises come next April. My mantra is–stay realistic.</p>
<p>Thanks, EmmyBet, CIA, and others for support and empathy on the AP score. A 3 certainly is nothing to be ashamed of, though it’s not what we were hoping for.</p>
<p>One lingering concern…the AP Chem teacher is one of two my D asked to write a recommendation for her (last week of school). Teacher said she’d be glad to, but wanted to wait until July so she’d have the AP exam results.</p>
<p>Uh-oh. Do you think the letter will still be strong? Teacher likes songbird very much and really respects her work ethic. She knew how hard songbird worked for the A’s both semesters in Chem Honors
last year, and she knew it was only because of her encouragement/urging that songbird took AP this year.</p>
<p>The teacher felt songbird was very well prepared for a 4 or 5…in fact, the last opportunity she offered for kids to voluntarily come to school early to take “one more practice exam,” she said to my D, "You don’t need to do another one…you’ve been scoring really high on the others. But D took nothing for granted, and did it anyway. Scored well again.</p>
<p>So, I think the 3 will be just as unexpected and disappointing to her as it is to us. How do you think that will influence the letter she writes?</p>
<p>And…should we go ahead and self-report the 3 to schools that DON’T give credit under 4 or 5, just to disclose what she got? (I certainly don’t want them to think she got a 2 or a 1.) Thoughts?</p>
<p>My opinion is that for a kid who isn’t planning on majoring in Chem, or science at all, telling them she got a 3 isn’t going to hurt her, and will show them she did respectably on the test.</p>
<p>I’m sure the teacher will give a glowing recommendation - she knows your D more than the test. Probably she just felt knowing she got a high score would give her some extra “frosting.” But it’s small change compared to the rest of what she will write.</p>
<p>Our experience has been that the practice tests always were a point higher than the ultimate results. I don’t know why that happens, but it does. Luckily at least for them those 4s and 5s were used as finals! But this is also why I come to this with a healthy dose of pessimism. D2 got 100% on MC on the practice USH, and great essay scores from her teacher - but I’m still preparing for a 3.</p>
<p>My son got a 1 on the AP Comp Sci exam and and A in the class. It wasn’t that the teacher was incompetent…he just didn’t teach to the test in the least. Son learned how to program, but not how to take tests on how to program.</p>
<p>This is actually pretty easy for me to understand. For those of you who sew (or used to)…I could totally pick out a lovely, apropriate fabric and pattern and construct a very nice garment, but I can’t imagine taking a test on textiles, pattern measurments, etc.</p>
<p>I hope I didn’t imply that all mismatched grade/scores are the “fault” of the teaching - I tried to say “if.” Some AP classes are just wonderful - even if they don’t prepare for the tests well. </p>
<p>I do think those test are looking for something very specific, and you just don’t know. One thing that affects AP scores at our HS is that most of the AP classes are very new. Schools where they’ve been teaching to the test for 30 years probably have higher score results. I would think colleges understand this, just as they understand that there are “ACT” kids and “SAT” kids.</p>
<p>Thinking about damage control… I looked up my son’s computer science teacher’s teacher’s license. It turns out he was on a two year initial practitioner’s license and his area of licensing is business education. Mostly he teaches computer applications, web design and digital communication tools. I thought you had to have special training in order to teach an AP class and have that class given the AP designation. What do you think I should do next? Should we write a note on his college application explaining that he has a strong interest in comp sci but that his teacher was inexperienced? He’s got a 32 ACT composite so far and 3 AP scores of 4 so far, will that help? Unfortunately his verbal scores are significantly higher than his math scores but I still think he would have done better with a more experienced teacher. He will be doing a year long internship in computer science at a medical products company during his senior year in addition to his AP courses. We are really hoping to put the right spin on his application so that he will qualify for merit aid at some large public universities. He’s the oldest of 6 so our college savings will go quickly.</p>
<p>No. If your son feels like he needs to explain, make it terms of what* he *could have/should have done differently. Unless the teacher does something like never holding class all semester, I would not think blaming the teacher would be a good idea on an application. Remember that there are kids who self study for AP exams…so if some kids can pass with no teacher, it won’t boost the application to say there was a bad teacher.</p>
<p>Hmmm, this is a tricky one. It will be difficult to explain his AP score without sounding like you are making excuses and bringing even more attention to the score. Do you know what scores the other kids in the class received? </p>
<p>With the 10’s of thousands of apps the larger public U’s receive, they most likely don’t have the manpower to dig into the details and instead focus more heavily on ACT/GPA.</p>
<p>I realize that he wants to go into computer science. As I read your posts your concern seems to be that the AP score of 2 will draw negative attention when matched with his desired major. Would it be better for him to write down a different major and then switch later?</p>
<p>Wow 6 kids…by the time you get to #6, you will be a total expert at this college stuff!</p>
<p>D completed her first college app last night… University of Alabama has their online app up and its a pretty simple app, no recs or essays required. And they will let you know decision as soon as they get all your info. We have to wait on transcript which she won’t get until next week but within a few weeks we should have our 1st decision in hand. Great to go into senior year with one acceptance which barring some major snafu’s she will get accepted since the admission requirement in 21 ACT.</p>
<p>gamomof3 - Last year S1 did an application in July and got this acceptance in Aug/Sept. It was such a relief to have an acceptance in hand…just in case.</p>
<p>Hi, all! Returned yesterday from our big East coast college tour. It was a huge success.</p>
<p>We covered 1,600 miles and 7 states, toured/visited 11 schools and my son had 6 interviews along the way.</p>
<p>His top choices were Wesleyan and Bard, with Bates/Hamilton/Skidmore/Vassar right behind. He did not like Cornell, Colgate, or Connecticut College at all (something about scnhools beginning with a C or strange coincidence?). He liked Trinity’s interdiciplanary science program (but they only take 20 studfents) and is still trying to process his thoughts on Bennington. He liked Syracuse as a safety.</p>
<p>SO…he has a list of 11 schools overall that he wants to apply to at this time, LOVES several of the schools (some are going to be quite challenging for him to get into, of course).</p>
<p>Logistically, the trip went very well. We were late for only 1 appointment (at Bennington; took longer to get there from Skidmore than we thought). The GPS was a total life-saver, and our Avis rental was fantastic. The 2 school days were tiring but doable.</p>
<p>GreatKidsMom, If you could do visits reports here [CampusVibe</a> - Recent College Videos, Photos, and Visit Reports](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/]CampusVibe”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/) that would be so helpful to the whole forum. I also found it helpful at application and decision time for son to re-read to remind him of the college.</p>
<p>kathiep - how did the senior portrait session go? Trying to decide which photographer and what session to do here with D. I love pictures - we take lots ourselves. We’ve done the yearly school pictures - primarily a way to ensure a quick portrait every year of the kids. But the prices on the senior portrait packages/sessions are close to outrageous.</p>
<p>I broke down and called for the AP scores last night.
They were totally flip-flopped from his grades.</p>
<p>Here’s my take, however flawed… AP Language isn’t a kicker at his school. It is a class that many students add to show they have taken an AP class, but they are not your serious students. The school no longer requires them to have taken ‘preAP’ english 9 & 10. The material wasn’t ‘dumbed down’, but it wasn’t as hard as he had experienced in ‘preAP’ classes. I think for what was expected in the class, the A was fair. If more was expected, I believe he could have achieved the higher level necessary for the A. Based on his aptitude for English and what he was taught, I think the 3 on the AP exam is fair. I have NO idea how the adcoms will view an A vs a 3. He did earn a 710 on SAT1CR, so I think he’s fine there.</p>
<p>Chemistry is a much more interesting story. He worked his tail off for a very difficult teacher. 90% of students in the class cheated. He earned a B/B+ (two classes lab/lecture). He earned a 4 on the AP exam, and a 740 on the SAT2 subject test. We pointed out that if he had taken the easy road and cheated, the chances of earning that AP score and SAT2 score would have been very slim. It is none of my business, but there is a small part of me that just can’t help wondering what the kids who cheated all year got on the AP. No matter. S2 is going into engineering and may have just saved himself 4 credits and never have to look at chem again!!! :)</p>
<p>I have no idea what the adcoms will make of this. I think the Chem is fairly in line. I don’t know what they will make of the english. With a respectable SAT1 CR score I think he’ll be ok.</p>
<p>Both scores are ones to be proud of. He is generally not great at standardized tests. If a student scored lower…they could have just been having a bad day…</p>