<p>From what I have been told by several guidance types, AP scores have no bearing on admission, which is a good thing, but may be used in a tiebreaker situation (comparing one student to another). In some rural areas, kids cannot take AP/IB, so why penalize them? I knew of a young man who attended a rural HS in VA who was an Echols Scholar at UVA. His HS offered no AP/IB/DE classes, but he had a 1520 on the SAT (CR and M) and a perfect GPA. Son #14 listed his AP scores on his resume, so his teachers can refer to them, if needed, when doing a recommendation.</p>
<p>Well, y’know Classof2015…I tried to be stealthy when I let myself in. What gave me away? ;)</p>
<p>Congratulations to all of the wonderful AP scores!! Having the option to use those to take care of early gen-ed’s is really a blessing. Option being the operative word. Those that have older kids will also share that using the credit can largely depend on the school they attend, and the program they are headed into. For example, S2 (2011) is mech’e. He used the credit for calc and chem (gladly!), but not the physics (despite a high A/5) knowing they’d only covered half the book. He was right. In college they had blown past everything he’d learned in hs by midterms and were on to new material. As a mech’e having that solid base for physics is essential. It’s not a matter of how good a student he was, it’s a matter of making sure you’re prepared to succeed in subsequent classes. If he’d attended his second choice school his approach would have been different. He would have used the physics credit as it’s a massive weeder course and they don’t cover any new material (as evident by prev finals posted online). He also would have used his Lit/Comp credit here. At his current university e’school students have a unique set of writing requirements that you can’t use AP/IB credit for. So, it really depends on what you’re studying and where you end up as to what is going to be most advantageous.</p>
<p>As far as reporting, as others, S2 self reported AP scores, ultimately sending them to the university he matriculated to. They were in line with his academic record (4’s & 5’s). I don’t know if there is anything to be gained by sending scores through CB if the scores are ‘above the transcript’ so to speak. This is certainly a good question for individual schools as it can get quite costly, however if there is benefit you don’t want to overlook it. </p>
<p>I do know that momreads is correct in that many schools (IME, specifically UVa) read your application in context of what was available, what top students at your school typically do, and what you took advantage of. If your school has 5APs and you take 4 (generally you don’t take both AP Spanish AND AP French) that’s considered a rigorous course load. Compare that to the student that took 5 APs but had 17 available and typically top students take 7-8, you begin to see within context why one might be chosen over the other (not considering other variables). You can not take what was not available.</p>
<p>So glad twinson’s interview went well! I think a lot of the prep work is not necessarily about the exact question but getting them used to talking about themselves. Some kids have this ability naturally. If you don’t it’s something you need to get comfortable with. S3 is one that needed to prep. Through his EC he speaks with a lot of adult mentors, gives judges presentations, etc., however that is much different then speaking about yourself, which if you haven’t done may not come smoothly. S3 didn’t go overboard, but the prep he did seemed to make him more comfortable. He also had his first interview this week. He met us afterwards seeming very relaxed and smiling, saying he felt it went very well. We didn’t drill him but what he did share seemed to indicate he had a good connection with the interviewer, was able to handle unexpected questions well, and came away still feeling very positive about the school (after all, they are also trying to sell). So, all in all a positive experience.</p>
<p>We were due to tour an instate school today, however I checked the forecast about 5am and it had changed from 40% chance of rain to 70% chance of thunderstorms. For a school that is about two hours away I don’t see going on a rainy day when we can grab another day in between his work schedule where it’s nice out. For a longer planned trip sometimes you don’t have a choice, but we really do here so why not go on a nice day? I slipped in and turned off his alarm. He’s still dead out. Oh, I don’t think I shared that a pt job S3 plans on keeping until he leaves for school finally got the rubber stamp. Three interviews and FIVE weeks. It’s a great co to work for so worth the wait, but a little frustrating. If he hadn’t gotten the job it is very late in the season to be looking for something else.</p>
<p>My DS’14’s class had some extenuating circumstances with physics and calculus last year that the guidance department has promised to explain in their recommendations, and his counselor can certainly mention his AP scores in that context, which is probably the best way to share them and should obviate the need to spend $$ sending official score reports before matriculating. But he may ask a few places anyhow, where he can use it as an excuse to start a conversation with an adcom who wants to get to know the applicants more personally (and an excuse to draw attention to some good scores). </p>
<p>He will almost definitely NOT take the credit for physics (mechanics) since he is also planning on studying mechanical engineering and wants a stronger foundation, particularly given the issues that impacted his physics class this year. What he does about calculus will probably depend on the school and what his options are. Most likely he will take the credit from AB and not BC to give him a chance to “ease into” a college-paced calculus class with familiar material. But some of the colleges he is looking into have an optional enriched/honors level calculus stream, and if he has that option, he may start from scratch in that stream. Not a decision we need to worry about until after he knows where he’ll be attending.</p>
<p>Congrats on the good interview and to all with the good scores! A good score certainly can never hurt IMO.</p>
<p>My guy just got hired! He’ll be working for a newly opening Chick Fil A starting the end of July. The good thing is this also means he’ll have Sundays off for both youth activities and last minute school projects (the only type he ever has). After a couple of months of submitting applications and not even getting an interview (I think he applied to late for summer work), it was nice to get a call, interview, and job! They plan to give him as many hours as they can until school starts, then will adjust to what he needs. It sounds great… Now to get him to save a good portion of the $$ for college.</p>
<p>fantastic, Creekland! That sounds perfect!</p>
<p>momreads is right that students aren’t penalized for taking AP or IB courses they don’t have access too. However, for those who do have access, it is pretty much expected that the students will take a typical number of them, and for who do take the courses, getting 4’s is undoubtedly better than getting 2’s. So I would not say that the scores hold no weight. They ask for them, and if they ask for them, it’s because they want to see them when they’re available.</p>
<p>I do think that the scores hold the most weight for home schoolers and in cases where the school gets few applicants from your HS, so they don’t really know what your grades mean or how well prepared you are for the rigors of their school. They help fill in the picture when they don’t know what an 85 in AP Physics, say, from your school really means.</p>
<p>Creekland…congrats to your son on the new job…my son started at Chick Fil A a couple of weeks ago! It was quite a process of paperwork after two interviews but finally in and working. Great company for young people who need flexibility. It is the first one in our area so the place is mobbed daily and has two drive thrus!</p>
<p>Congratulations to Creekson on the new job! That does sound ideal. 
It is also very hard in our area for young people to find pt jobs. So many adults going back to work/taking a second job to help pay for college, Sr.s trying to make ends meet, etc.</p>
<p>I think that’s good insight mathmomvt. It can help fill in the picture and add context. I think it can also help if your school doesn’t have a particularly high pass rate/history of high scores, as is the case at our hs. The county pays and students are required to take the test if they take the class so you don’t get the same motivation as you do when the student/family is paying and only a % of the class may be taking the test.</p>
<p>Funny AP motivation stories: our district pays for the tests and one has to take them if one takes the class (might explain why there are just 8). D’s got a friend who scored a one. He didn’t know the free responses, so he drew a duck. Her lab partner got a two. He drew a giraffe. I would say neither one were terribly motivated. Too bad for the teacher, as she does early morning exam prep sessions starting in March. Those who want it typically do really well.</p>
<p>^ Yes, sadly drawing pictures is not uncommon here either despite after school and in class prep in every AP course my kids have ever taken. My boys have supplemented with prep books and at home study, but the teachers make every effort to make sure the students are ready.</p>
<p>Congrats on the AP Chem score ordinarylives!!</p>
<p>Thank you, I’ll need to remember next year when AP stat comes out. The teacher’s not that good and doesn’t run any prep sessions. I also don’t think all the material gets covered. Only score reports I’ve heard from that class are ones and twos.</p>
<p>Our school does not pay for the AP exams (I wish!) but does pretty much “require” the kids to take them. They won’t list the course as AP on the transcript or weight the grade if they don’t, and the course description says that students are expected to take the exam. That said, I think the (relatively few) kids who bother to take the course do seem to be fairly motivated to do well on the exams. </p>
<p>I just happened across this but apparently U of Rochester does require an official AP score report if you want them to take your scores into consideration, according to their CC rep <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13244693-post8.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13244693-post8.html</a></p>
<p>Finally got the AP scores (APUSH, PSYCH and ENGL COMP) - kid did a very nice job. Don’t know how much bearing they will have on admission, but he will get some college credit out of it most likely.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son, glido, and others who did well! </p>
<p>Our school doesn’t pay for AP tests but they are a required part of the class. Teachers often give a practice version of the test, which counts as the final examination grade, the week before the actual AP test. The rest of the school year is another graded project. No bump when the actual AP scores come out.</p>
<p>tpdrc66 - glad to know there’s another out there! I had heard that Chick Fil A typically doesn’t hire many high school students, but I encouraged my guy to apply there anyway. I think I might have heard misinformation (typical hearsay). The one restaurant the next town over is always busy, so I think ours will be too when it opens. We’re going to head to the next one for dinner tonight as a mini celebration - plus - he can more closely check out “the job.”</p>
<p>mathmomvt - URoc does appear to want scores sent to them for consideration. We actually didn’t do that and I never knew I was supposed to. It could be because my guy was a homeschooler, so they didn’t think to ask him. He only had one AP from junior year - we did put that score (5) on the transcript - but with his DE courses and high ACT they could have just overlooked it or figured it wasn’t worth the effort in his case. None of his other colleges asked for it either, so nothing was “triggered” elsewhere to check on it.</p>
<p>Creekland, I don’t think they “require” it or would bother to ask a student for it if they didn’t send it, it’s just that if you want them to consider it among the optional information you may provide, you apparently need to send it formally. They have a “test-flexible” attitude which seems to be that they want to see some standardized tests, but it can be whatever combination the student think shows them in the best light. If he already had a high ACT, it probably wasn’t necessary in his case.</p>
<p>This was the first year go2girl’s advanced chem class went AP and the results were not pretty. We had an inkling based on her SAT II test that perhaps something was amiss and it was confirmed. She had a low A in the class and the AP and Subject test score certainly did not corroborate it. On the other hand, 5 on the AP English. go2girl was not feeling very good about all of it but had a bit of a pity party and picked herself back up. It is what it is. Yesterday she got on the horn to call our upcoming visits for interviews. She ended up having a 30-minute conversation with her local adcom at one of the schools today. He told her–“You’re in! And we’ll give you $20K because your GPA and test scores are fabulous!” It put a big smile on her face. Not bad for a day’s work. </p>
<p>We’ve been running the financial aid caluclators and we’re really going to have to revisit any school that only offers need-based aid. The good news is that we’ve all been working hard and it’s paying off. The bad news is that it puts us out of the running for need-based aid. I only went back to work ten years ago and since I’m self-employed, there are good years and there have been some not so good years. It certainly doesn’t mean we’ve put enough away to shell out $50K-$60K a year. But that’s okay. </p>
<p>Anyone else struggling to figure all of this out?</p>
<p>Congrats to all who did well on the AP’s and those who have landed a summer job in this tough economy!</p>
<p>So sorry for go2girl’s frustration over her chem scores. Being the first year of anything can be very difficult. It sounds like she hit a home run on the connection with the admissions rep, scoring not only an admissions commitment but money to boot!! Hopefully that gives her confidence headed into her coming interviews. She sounds like a self-starter and will be well prepared and do very well.</p>
<p>Creekland - Congrats on the Chick-Fil-A job for DS.</p>
<p>go2mom - Very mixed AP results here. AP Chem was not pretty here either. She also had a average score on the SAT II (600) and ended up with a high B in the class - her first B in high school. On the other hand, she got a 4 on the AP Government test (A in the class), and this is a subject that is not her favorite. The saving grace on the chem score is that the entire class had problems with the chem teacher this year and the CG’s have all but publically stated that they will explain the problems with the AP Chem program and grade/test issues in their LOR’s. We (all AP Chem parents) were even been contacted by the administration over the second semester and asked to complete a very detailed survey and evaluation of the teacher, teaching methods and material. They are obviously taking a close look with regards to this teacher and her future. While this is a good thing, it won’t help the students who survived her class this year.</p>
<p>D arrived home from Ecuador late Sunday evening tired and hungry but otherwise OK. The trip and experience were great for her and really opened her eyes to the less developed parts of the world which she has seen very little of compared with her experiences in Europe, Canada and Australia. It also fired her passion to continue working in the volunteer and service activities at school this coming year. She also said it helped her Spanish as there was little to no English spoken outside of their retreat compound where they were based for the week.</p>
<p>Now she is working on a study plan for the AP in the fall and looking forward to several college visits and a week of vacation fun in early August.</p>