<p>Happy Mole Day, everyone. :)</p>
<p>Good luck to your S, seiclan. And welcome fourkidsmom.</p>
<p>seiclan, Hope your son is doing well on the test. DB, What is Mole Day? Am I the only one not knowing?</p>
<p>Before this semester, I had thought that we could use my son’s spring break week to visit colleges too. Unfortunately, my son decided to add AP English Language to his schedule. AP Lang has a third quarter HUGE research paper due on March 31 and my son’s spring break week is March 14-18th. He will need the entire week, and then some to get this assignment completed. I spoke with no less than three parents whose kids had this assignment last year and they told me it was the biggest nightmare of their child’s hs career. Two of the parents admitted that they had to call their kids in sick a few days to get the project done by the deadline! My son has a history of procrastination. I am already twitching!</p>
<p>So, I am guessing we will have to visit schools in June after his testing is complete. This is not optimal but all we have. Remember, we live in South Florida where every school (that he has not seen before) involves airplane tickets and a hotel stay.</p>
<p>Just got home from picking up my son from ACT test. He got out at 12:55 pm. He said that he did not do well. He hated the test. His timing was all off. He says that the SAT is the test for him and he is never taking another ACT. Guess I should have read the signs. He wouldn’t study and didn’t want to take this test in the first place. Oh well. This score will just sit in a file somewhere.</p>
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<p>You’re probably not the only one. It’s only relevant in our house when one of the kids is taking Chemistry. </p>
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<p>Ah yes, Mole Day. D spent a couple of hours sewing and stuffing a mole in golfer’s garb for “extra credit” And then she made cupcakes w/a crumbled oreo cookie topping for their “celebration” in chem. Tomorrow, we will attend a school drama performance. She gets ec APUSH points for that. (But none of that tops the bags of plastic bottles that S collected for extra credit in AP Bio that raised his grade from C+ to B-)</p>
<p>Old Fort, our D is in the full IB program…the kids tend to take the AP tests in the courses they will do SL, not for the HL courses. Most colleges will give credit for the HL courses (with appropriate scores), not so much for SL courses. Our high school has an excellent IB program that incorporates the AP’s, so it’s common for the kids to do well on the corresponding AP for their SL courses. Some take APs for the midpoint of the HL’s, depending on the subject (ie AP USH and History of Americas HL). They have all taken their first AP as sophmores.
By the way, double check the IB testing with the school. Of course it can vary, but the kids take their SL exams this year, getting some of the testing out of the way while the information is fresh. (It also offers the possibility of retesting, but I don’t think anyone has done that).</p>
<p>Ah, It’s that Mole. My initial thought was the animal, as in Groundhog Day. I don’t think it came up in my D’s chemistry course.</p>
<p>Mom2M - thanks for your reply. Our parent/teacher conference is coming up. I am going to ask if the school gives SL test after one year. D2 is taking Physics and Math SL, but I am not sure if they are equivalent to AP classes. She doesn’t seem to think they are very difficult, so I wonder if she would be ready to take math IIC next spring. It was a lot easier with D1 when she was just taking APs at their old school. This whole IB program is new to me.</p>
<p>OldFort Feel free to pm me re IB, I love this program, and I’ve really tried to learn as much as possible before our D joined the program. I would be happy to ask our director about physics, she’s wonderful and we have had students in the physics course for the past couple of years. Of course, your school may not cover the material, which could be a problem
As far as MathSL goes, D is taking CalcAP this year, and will take MathSL next year with he other HL courses. This is progression recommended at her school for her math track (the middle school is a nightmere in math). She will take the AP Calc exam.</p>
<p>I’ve been studying the IB programs at various schools for the last couple years and have come full circle on my opinion of the program. I was originally concerned because IB results weren’t available until the summer after senior year and felt that they wouldn’t carry the same weight in admissions as AP exams taken prior to senior year. Now, I think the opposite. Colleges seem to be very interested in kids with IB diplomas and they assume that any IB candidate will receive an IB diploma - which really isn’t that hard to get, considering that you only need 24/45 points to receive the diploma. So just being in an IB diploma program carries weight, while taking AP courses probably won’t help as much if the results aren’t 4s and 5s on the exams by the junior year. Yes, colleges don’t usually give credit for standard level courses, but I expect that most kids who take many AP courses don’t use the credit to graduate early, just to gain admission to more selective colleges and/or to place into higher level courses as desired. I also think that the IB higher level courses are more demanding and more similar to college level courses than the AP courses at many schools and it is easier to score a 5 on an AP exam than a 7 on an IB exam. My daughter scored a 5 on AP psych in 9th grade after taking a psych class at CTD and self studying. She then talked her way into the HL psych course for 10th grade and scored a 5/7 on the IB assessments. She wasn’t a senior and wasn’t doing the whole IB diploma so they gave her a certificate in HL psychology. She felt that the IB course was a great experience and much more stimulating than any other course she had taken at that school. Now she is at our state boarding school for gifted youth which doesn’t offer the IB diploma but she is considering applying to the United World Colleges that do.</p>
<p>I suspect we will be seeing far more students who bring multiple APs into college graduating early in order to save money and minimize debt. This economy is tough.</p>
<p>Getting the IB diploma is not a given, the top programs have diploma rates in the 90%…and those are the top programs. Some colleges will only give credit for exam scores at a certain level. They have to write the Extend Essay, participate in Theory of Knowledge and CAS hours (which seem very minimal to me at 150). But I think the overall program is wonderful option for the right student. It seems to prepare the students well for a positive college experience and D loves her IB classes. It certainly answers the “most rigorous curriculum” question, at least at D’s school. In the end they have learned a lot, are well prepared for college, and tend to have a lot of college credit.</p>
<p>“I suspect we will be seeing far more students who bring multiple APs into college graduating early in order to save money and minimize debt.”</p>
<p>I think you are correct Glido. This not only applies to APs, but to “college-in-the-high school” courses as well. We’re seeing a quite visible increase in kids taking SUNY and CC courses offered in the high school who then apply ONLY to SUNYs with the intent of graduating in 3 1/2 or 3 years. </p>
<p>Some of these students also take APs, but they are less popular overall because you have to score a “3” on the exam in order to earn credit at most SUNYs. [As an aside, I know that at some of our area public HSs the local CC uses this against the AP program in their marketing efforts to increase the number of students registering for CC-in-the-HS courses].</p>
<p>VH51: That is a really good point. We are seeing more and more kids sign up for the CC/h.s. dual enrollment classes for exactly that reason. Not all of the colleges take the community college credit courses if they were taken in the high school, but our state universities do.</p>
<p>There is a big push in our HS for this as well. We’ve decided not to pay for the CC credit in AP Bio as this is most likely my DS’s major. However, if he can fit in Spanish 5/CC Spanish 201 we will pay for that so that he can get the college credit. Somehow, I just think this erodes the whole “college” experience. College is to get an education, but it can be so much more! I want my DS to go to a school for 4 years and learn and enjoy himself. I have no problem with testing out of an intro class so he has the opportunity to take a higher level course. I am uncomfortable with the taking less credits per semester in college b/c you have HS credits or graduating “early” b/c of HS credits. Especially if you are going to go to grad school. Everyone should do what they see fit for themselves, I just don’t like it for my kids.</p>
<p>To be blunt, why would I want my kid to take courses at a CC, especially introductory courses? I believe introductory courses are foundation to higher level courses. I would want my kid to be taught by the best and have same level of students in the class.</p>
<p>Micro/macro economics 101 could be taught very deep or just on the surface, same could be said for calculus.</p>
<p>To be equally blunt, Why not? My D took an Introductory Chemistry course at a CC over the summer. Someone on this board suggested it a few months ago. That was one of the most helpful comment I got here.</p>
<p>Iglooo.</p>
<p>We had discussions at two seperate colleges last week and had two different professors tell us that they really didn’t like the dual enrollment courses. Seems that they have had quite a few kids come in to their schools and skip the intro courses due to dual enrollment only to find out that they were not properly prepared for the second level courses.</p>
<p>Causes a lot of strain for the kids and the professors and can kill a GPA early in the college career.</p>
<p>For the record I have discouraged my kids from taking CC classes during HS. However, I do see value in it for some kids. </p>
<p>For example, if one KNOWS he or she will attend a state school where the credits are accepted, it’s a great way to save money. Further, it’s a good way to complete Gen Ed credits in subjects that will never be taken at a higher level. Want to major in English at the flagship? Then why not get your one and only math credit out of the way at CC? </p>
<p>Seems perfectly logical for some people.</p>