<p>Talking to a friend who S is a freshman at Lehigh. He is in the honors program with scholarship. They recently got his grades for 1st semester and although they aren’t bad, they don’t meet the 3.25 min gpa to keep his scholarship which he needs to stay there. He has one semester to get his gpa up. His Mom told me he can do it, but only if he gets mostly A’s and 1 or 2 B+'s. I know this has been mentioned before, but keep in mind that merit scholarships that have min GPA requirements need to be looked at closely. My friend told me she now wishes her S did not pass out of 1st year calc and one other class because he scored so well on the AP exams. She said he could have used an easy class to help ease him into college life. </p>
<p>We have already told S that he will retake calc and economics despite what he scores on the AP tests. History and english he can pass out of but not math and economics. He plans on majoring in finance so math is important.</p>
<p>That’s an interesting point that I haven’t gotten around to yet…for me, I can only see saved $$ in those AP tests. Ds only has the 2 humanities ones so far but possibly could have AP credits for calc and chem, and psych. Since he would be initially entering pre-engineering, maybe it isn’t wise to use the AP result for calc or chem (if they are good, which for chem is not likely, but for calc is pretty likely)?</p>
<p>It is so tempting to take those AP scores “to the bank,” but I’ve heard too many stories like this to think that’s a good idea. My feeling is that if 1) your kid would use the AP score for anything but a distribution requirement/elective; 2) the school only requires 5s and again it’s a subject that matters to your kid; and 3) it would bump your kid so far forward in credits that they “can’t” take courses they feel they should, DON’T DO IT.</p>
<p>My D1 happily took a semester of English credit for her AP score, but while she wished at point she’d had the Bio score that would have placed her out of Intro, she knows now that nothing could have replaced that class as a foundation for her major. And we know kids who got so many AP credits at state U’s that they HAD to become sophomores and lost all kinds of benefits, such as supports to freshmen, scheduling options, even important course selections in their major. And they couldn’t go back - even if the class they were placed into felt wrong to them. </p>
<p>D2 will have four potentially useful AP scores when she’s done with HS - a couple will hopefully give her some elective credit at some of her schools, and the one she might get a 4 or 5 in is a subject that matters to her (duh), so she’ll make a decision about credit for that one based on the specifics of the school she ends up going to. </p>
<p>Some kids are AP aces and get scads of 5s across all subjects, and people know at what level their high school really teaches the AP material, so my opinions aren’t “rules.” But I do think those issues should be thought about, because they question the general “Yay, APs get you out of college classes!” mentality.</p>
<p>Tis the season that the companies are sending out new medical and dental insurance cards. Don’t forget to request a card for your covered dependents who will be going off to college. Seems like the insurance company would automatically print cards for every covered person over 18, but I have to ask for extras each year.</p>
<p>AmandaK: I doubt that your son will change his habits in college. He seems perfectly content with his procrastination. If he always pulls things out, I wouldn’t worry too much. It will be easier next year, when you don’t have to witness it.</p>
<p>I agree that you need to be careful about taking AP credits. Unless your kid is an absolute math or science whiz, it’s usually best to repeat the same level in college. Those classes tend to have brutal curves, and most of the other students will already have AP background in the course. AP credits in the social sciences and humanities can be useful, especially if you can use them to fill a core requirement or for elective credit. This really varies by school. Once your kid knows where they are going, it’s probably a good idea to try to find students of parents who are familiar with the situation at that college.</p>
<p>My daughter’s problem with procrastination is that she is so lucky that she never suffers consequences.</p>
<p>If, for example, she learns that she is a semifinalist in a scholarship competition and has 6 days to write two essays, she discovers a summer opportunity to which she’d like to apply and her four essays about which she’s known for months are due at the same time, it will snow, she will have no school for three days AND some of the deadlines will get pushed back!</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the advice about whether to use AP credits.</p>
<p>missy - thanks for the heads up on insurance cards. I know we picked a plan that he could carry with him where ever he ended up but I didn’t think to ask for an extra card.</p>
<p>Schokolade: Remember that Napoleon would only ask one question about a potential general. Not ‘is he winning?’, ‘is he tough?’ He’d ask ‘Is he lucky?’ and if the answer was yes, that guy would get the promotion.</p>
<p>^ Thanks, Novelisto! I had actually never heard that. She would definitely get the promotion, then! </p>
<p>I appreciate any bit of levity I can get during these times. I am very glad that my D has a safety we can afford, but I would also like her to have some affordable choices!</p>
<p>Seconding all those who advise against using AP credits for classes that may be foundational.
I’ve heard too many kids who place out of Calculus and Physics who regret not retaking the basics in college. If you know that you’re going down a particular path and want to use credits for distribution that’s one thing, but be careful when using credits to place up in subjects that you will likely be pursuing.</p>
<p>thanks everyone for the AP advice – it’s something i’ve been thinking about too. my S will be a science major in college and has a 5 in US history and Bio from last year, and will take calculus, and potentially physics and comp sci this year. i guess the best thing for him would be to use the US history as a distribution/core requirement if allowed and just retake the other classes.</p>
<p>also, you guys are making me LOL w/ the procrastination descriptions. i have one of those too but he’s my youngest. my oldest starts things early but sometimes he’s still working on it late before it’s due. i think that’s probably for two reasons: he might be mismanaging his studying and he’s a perfectionist.</p>
<p>S1 has his last mid-term tomorrow in comp sci. can’t believe it. he still needs to perfect his letter to his ED school where he was deferred. it’s so hard for him to write b/c he wants it to come off very heartfelt but doesn’t want to sound like he’s begging to get in. wants to sound like he’s certain he can make a contribution there and will thrive. argh…</p>
<p>My husband has returned from his convention and my guest/caretaker has left. Time for me to catch up on emails and my stuff. </p>
<p>OWM - thank goodness for seat belts. I hope all the kids are doing okay.</p>
<p>Is procrastination a teenage ‘thing’ that they will hopefully outgrow? Or is it something they learn to modify when it is a boss not a parent they need to keep happy? My son can start studying for a math competition well in advance, but on a three-day weekend, he prints out his homework 10 minutes before he has to catch the bus. I’ve stopped getting upset with the last minute homework stuff b/c his grades are great. It’s all these college deadlines that make me cookoo.</p>
<p>I agree the AP credit question really depends on the major. An engineering major testing out of composition or humanities is fine, but I too have seen issues with skipping the first year of calc. I’m nervous about my D, who as a junior in college is jumping into second semester calc, 3 years after taking calc AB in high school. However, she is taking it with Econ majors and not engineers, so keeping my fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Aaargh! Remember the horror stories a few months ago with sending scores to schools?</p>
<p>I was determined to get D’s scores over to the schools ASAP. I did send them to all her RD schools back in Nov. Well, D added one school in Dec to her list. So, send out the scores to this school on Dec 17th. Logged in earlier this month to check and the school’s portal didn’t list the scores as having been received. Figured it was just the backlog. Well, this week H has been calling the school - they claim they didn’t get the scores. Called ACT, they sent them - they gave us the tape id. H called the school back and gave them this tape id to look for. We need to call them back on Monday to make sure they’ve gotten the scores. Ugh! I am thinking that if they still don’t have any info on Monday (not very helpful in the front office according to H), we’ll just send the scores again anyway…</p>
<p>So, just a reminder to everyone - please make sure you (or your student) logs in and checks that everything needed has been received!</p>