M/-y son is taking 5 AP classes with 6 tests but if he goes where he currently plans to only 1 of the tests would be beneficial to him to skip a lower level class. The rest would only count for elective credits.
@dcplanner He would still benefit from elective credits which would reduce the number of classes he needs to take.
My son will have 8 AP exams this year. We wonāt know before AP signups if he will attend a school that will accept credits so he will probably take all the exams. Our district, last year, paid all but $5 for each exam. I assume they will do the same this year.
@texaspg @dcplanner Thank you! I think weāll just make sure his other accounts are used for computers etc. and leave the Janus alone.
"@fretfulmother I am under the impression UTMA accounts can have a name change if you dont want to spend the money assuming your in laws have other grandkids? On a side note, do I have it right that you attended MIT but teach at a school? It would break many an engineers hearts! 
"
Yes Iām a high school teacher (19 years!)ā¦I did a visiting math teacher thing in grad school (after a brief stint as a computer engineer) and never left, though switched to science a couple years later for the most part. I found that it suits me, and honestly for the past dozen or more years, Iāve almost not had a bad day at work! (Sure there are challenges, but I always know Iām in the right place.)
I hope I broke the hearts of some engineers heh heh, but probably not because of teaching. Once every few years, some wiseacre kid says to me, āHey, how come youāre just a teacher if you went to MIT?ā And I say, āOh, because until this conversation, there was never bad feeling about teaching!ā
I wish for my students, and my kids, and all the CC community and everyone - that they find a path in life that feels so right to them, that they know in their heart when it matches their temperament, skills, lifestyle/money needs, etc. For me, for example, when I worked briefly in computers, or when I was doing research, I found that the lack of temporal structure was really hard for me, along with the submersion into one deep subject. It turns out that when I have high temporal structure and wide variability in what life throws me in each structured hour, that works great! Iāve also been lucky enough to pursue some of my social justice goals in terms of URM honors science recruitment as well.
A couple things about AP testsā¦ our school will refund all but 13 dollars of the test fee up until just before the actual test date. My understanding is that is the cost of each actual test booklet orderedā¦the rest of the fee is for administration day of the test, scoring, etc. etc. So, for us it is worth scheduling all and then cancelling individual ones if needed last minute.
Also related to college credit/benefits of AP scoresā¦personal experience with D14. She opted not to take one (or two?) last minute senior year because she couldnāt use the credits in her āmajorā at her college choice. Fast forward to second semester freshman year (when she switched majors at the university) and for her new major she would have been able to use those credits. Oh wellā¦
@dcplanner and @lvmjac1 Please tell me more about the Calc AB vs BC exams. My DS took the AB class and test last year and got a 5. He is taking BC this year and now Iām wondering if it is worth it for him the take the AP exam. He wants to major in math, but i"m not sure he can get credit from most colleges for both AB and BC. Heās also taking AP Statistics and Macro and will sit for those exams.
As to the subject if whether it is worth having a some extra general credits from AP exams, I think it is a good idea. My DD had a few college semesters where she took a little more than required, but having a few AP credits came in handy the semester she got mono (fall of junior year) and she needed to drop a 3 credit class. It also allowed her to take one less class second semester senior year. And for some kids, they can use those credits to graduate a semester early. I know some kids who have done this, one at an Ivy, which saved her parents quite a bit of money. For my DS, heāll have 6 AP classes when he graduates and if they allow him to graduate a semester early, he could possible take some graduate level classes senior year. Iām not going to push that - or even raise that as a possibility for some time, but I do think about it now and then (like when I think about the cost of college!).
Our tests are free so mine will take them but effort may flag. He can only get 6 elective credits from his APs and he already has 6-5s so the only one that would help in his current situation would be chem to get out of the basic chem and get to take a higher level. Even if he changes major in 2 of the 3 schools that are still possible it would be the same. He wasnāt taking the classes for the credit anyway just because they were what he was interested in learning.
@PAO2008 At one of the schools my son is looking at he would be expected to retake Calc AB for his major , but would not be expected to retake Calc BC for major credit.
@PAO2008 Every school handles it differently but a 5 for AB usually gets a small amount of credit and a 5 for BC gets credit for a year of calc. Stats typically will only be an elective credit for someone seeking a BS. My son is taking a dual enrollment class through a 4 year college for multivar and matrix algebra this year and even with that some of these intense math/STEM type schools will still be making him repeat a bit of what he has already learned but I guess classes/teachers are inconsistent. Some schools do offer an honors alternative for kids who donāt really get sufficient placement based on the math content they have taken which is what my son will probably end up taking so at least if there is some repeated content it will have greater depth and challenge.
Another plus for taking the AP course and being proficient even if you have to āretakeā freshman year in collegeā¦performance in that freshman course should be higher since much will be review (and hopefully will mean you end up with a good grade). Starting out with a high GPA first semester freshman year can be a blessingā¦
I paid $455 for five AP tests this spring and I doubt my daughter will end up using any of them for credit. Placement, possibly
Iām aiming for a 4 on my AP Lang test(not sure if Iāll get it but a girl can hope) because thatās the score you need for credit at my college. But Iāll be happy with a 3 and wonāt beat myself up over it- itās what I got on AP Lit last year and itās a good score.
@labegg I concur on AP Music Theory. The aural part seems to be what kills most of the kids I know whoāve not done as well as theyād hoped. S managed a decent score, but his music teacher is really hard on his AP students-- it stands as the lowest classroom grade heās ever gotten and he had absolutely tons of listening homework.
What are flipped classes? Iāve never heard the term.
Flipped classes require students to watch lectures on the computer, then discuss what theyāve learned and apply things practically during class time. At least thatās how our school does them.
@PAO2008 Calc AB is the equivalent of Calc 1 and Calc BC is calc 1 & 2. You get a BC score and an AB subscore.
For us the computer part might mean reading, or demos or research, then doing lots of hands-on or group projects in class. The labs are done in school, of course, often after research and some in-class lecturing, but there seems to be a whole lot less of kids just sitting taking notes than how things were done when I was in school. An example is the upcoming winter āexpoā the kids are doing. Since all the kids take the same classes, the expo is science-based, but they also have a math, writing, reading and social studies component. So D and her partner are designing a sustainable school for a specific developing country village. They are working with a foundation already doing work there. They will built a model and a hopefully working prototype for water filtration and living roof. That will cover their physics and math (calc or pre-calc), thereās college-level/type research and citations involved, reports and so on. Nearly all of the background work goes on in computer time, either at home or school (theyāre given computer time in school as many kids donāt have computers or possibly internet at home), but the actual project happens in class.
This seems different from the more traditional flipped classrooms I hear about, which are more likely found in the middle school, but even they start projects in 6th grade. They do have more to do at home though.
I can see why this wouldnāt work well for everyone, but I canāt say enough about how itās worked at this school.
Most colleges give more credits for completing calculus BC vs just AB. If someone takes just BC without taking AB first, they get an AB subscore which by itself can get some credits in case one flunks BC but has a passing AB score.
"I hope I broke the hearts of some engineers heh heh, but probably not because of teaching. " 
āIt turns out that when I have high temporal structure and wide variability in what life throws me in each structured hour, that works great!ā
Iāve kind of been figuring that out about your mind, @fretfulmother. Sometimes Iāll get to a thread where you are leaving chalk outlines in the road and Iāll say, āWhat?!? She thought of that response before the internet even warmed up this morning?!?ā
Thanks for all the responses about Calc. AB and BC. I agree that repeating some of an AP class content in a freshman college class can be good for the GPA and for confidence in a new learning environment.
@lknomad - yours and your childās journey to success was amazing to read, thank you for sharing! And thank you to the many other folks who shared about your childrenās ups and downs. It is very encouraging to me as my D20 struggles with memory recall, executive functions, and MATHā¦ugh. I sometimes feel alone going through this with herā¦how to help her and comfort her when she gets frustrated that she feels so ādifferent.ā It kills me when she cries about it! But hearing ask your successes reminds me that she can do this and be successful in whatever she sees her mind to do! Thanks again.
To the person who asked if I decorate cakesā¦ I wish I did! I would love to do this. In reality, I just love to eat them.