Anybody feeling the AP testing bill pain this year??
I gave D18 the last of her AP money to take to school this morning. $425 total this year for 5 tests. And that’s at a discounted rate for taking 4 or more tests.
As I recall from last year, some parents had it much worse than I did!!
@lmhs73 there is definitely some pain involved but you know what they say, “No pain, no gain”!! My D18 just has 3 AP’s (5 next yr) but paying for AP exams makes me very happy as our college list will be AP friendly.
Feeling it here. S is taking three APs this year. He did one as a ninth grader and will do two more (Lit and Calc BC) next year for a total of six. His school doesn’t offer AP Chem, and he’s in AP Bio right now. He doesn’t want to do AP Physics because he knows he’ll have to repeat it at whatever college he attends due to med schools mostly not taking AP credits.
So instead of an AP science next year, he’ll be taking Honors Anatomy & Physiology instead. He figures the foundation will be helpful as he goes forward in pre-med.
Just one AP here, as school does not offer many until senior year. So will have to save up for next year, when he will have four.
Wife just got a call from school administrator, making sure we bring S to awards ceremony in a few weeks, as he is to receive a “major” award. Most of the “major” awards go to seniors, so we are a bit mystified and excited. Probably some university book award or an award for one of his extra-curriculars, so trying to dampen expectations.
DS18 has 5 this year and DS20 has 2 so that’s 7 total for our family this year at almost $100 a piece (no discount for multiple test at our school) Next year it will be worse DS18 will have 6 and DS20 will have 3. @my2caligirls college credit is the only thing that consoles me though I know not all AP credits will be accepted or count toward their major.
S18 is planning to go to prom with friends. His friend knows S18 struggles with social anxiety and I think this is a way he is trying to get him to open up a bit. Good friend! It is unfortunately between AP exam weeks. Since it’s friends, I was tempted to just buy him a nice dark suit. Anyone go this route?
Found a great deal of info hiding around CC on the National Merit state funded aid (Benacquisto) which covers full COA to UF for in-state students! This was not clearly stated on UF’s site as it implied you have to earn a NM award to qualify. Turns out UF will award if you are NM and specify them as 1st choice. They should really spell that out more clearly. Anyway, its not a given he will be accepted but full COA was beyond my expectations!
Our county (possibly all of florida?) pays for AP exams. Nothing out of pocket as long as he takes the test. 5 tests this year. 3 already from past years and 5 or 6 next = big savings. His school takes practice exams seriously, which is awesome… so far so good on practice exam scores. He is hoping he gets national ap scholar this year to put on his application (that also gets his name up on the wall at his school 
). We will see!
He also has a Lockheed Martin Code Quest programming competiton this weekend…
Oh and I forgot to mention we went to a college fair/info session this week with UChicago, Brown, Rice, Columbia and Cornell. Decent info but not as much detail as you would get in a dedicated info session. S18 didn’t change his opinion of UChicago as a top choice of those present, but the others improved their standing with him. Not sure if any but UChicago will make the cut for applications, but it’s nice seeing them side by side for comparison to help figure out how they stack up. Rice at least takes into consideration your demonstrated interest, so if that is an option, I would suggest going if it’s close by.
It is going to be a crazy couple of weeks!
@Nameposter, my daughter just attended her junior prom. The girls were all in gowns, but the majority of boys had on suits. There seemed to be a lot of new charcoal and/or black suits. The moms said they used the opportunity to update to nicer suits. Senior prom seems to be when they wear the tuxedo. My daughter did not care.
3scoutsmom might win the prize this year - @$700!!! Can anybody top that before we award her 1st place?
Same as last year: my $425 seems like a bargain now!!
@Booajo The seminar is offered by the two AP English teachers and a guidance counselor at his school. Each seminar is 5 hours a day for a five days, with a limit of 12 students in each seminar. If the teachers can help him polish the essay, the seminar is worth twice what we paid for it. S18 and I have been butting heads a little bit over the college process - he feels like he has all kinds of time to get everything done, So my perception is that he procrastinates a little, while I feel like the time is flying so I’m a bit anxious to get at things. I’m sure reality is somewhere between our respective perspectives, but it makes for some clashes between us. The whole application process will just go better if they can get him through that part of it.
@3scoutsmom Wedding talk! I don’t know how I would have handled that! I still have a hard time referring to the girl my younger son dates as his “girlfriend,” and they’re going on 9 months. But sounds like your son has a good head on his shoulders. He sounds like quite the planner.
Re the AP fees, that is one place we’re lucky. Our sons’ school subsidizes much of the cost. We pay $10 for each.
Speaking of APs. We received an email today that due to my kid having 2 exams in 1 day it would be best for us to pay the $45 to have him take one late. Apparently, the US History one runs long and he won’t have enough time for the 2nd one. $500 down, $45 more to go. Ugh
@wustl93 it is in interesting relationship and I must say both he and his girlfriend are very serious students and planners! They have a master list of things they want to do for date nights. The first official date was to an art gallery downtown, the second was to go grocery shopping in China Town and then prepare an Asian picnic which they enjoyed at the top of a parking garage watching the sunset over the Austin skyline. They are both so busy with school and EC’s that they don’t really see each other much but the text almost non stop.
Next years she’s off to Stanford so we’ll see how things hold up while she’s in college and he’s still in high school. I actually hope it works out for them, I really like her but I’m not holding my breath.
Hey, all!
I just got off the phone with UNM and learned the following:
The dollar amount in the NM package ($18,337) is based on averages where cost of living is concerned. If the student chooses the cheapest dorm and meal plan and so comes in under the average, the student will get a refund check for the difference.
Gap years are not allowed with three exceptions: medical deferrals, religious mission years, and pre-approved study abroad trips through UNM itself.
Outside scholarships stack until the full cost of attendance is reached. In today’s numbers, that’s $21,360 - $18,337, or $3,023 worth of outside scholarship stacking per year.
The gap year thing is bad news for S, especially since Texas Tech doesn’t usually allow them either, though the recruiter is checking for me.
It’s bad news for me, too, tbh. 
I calendared S’s HS graduation yesterday, and I guess I’d gotten real used to the idea that I’d have him around for a whole year after that. Gulp!
@DiotimaDM Does OU allow a gap year? Might that shuffle the preference order a bit?
All of this AP talk has me wondering if D should register for all five exams her senior year. (She’s taking Lit, Physics 1, Chem, Calc AB, and Stats.) Her preferred college does not grant credit for AP Physics 1. The teacher for AP Chem is very nice but fairly new and by all reports does not prepare the students well for the exam. D has said that if she continues on in science in college she won’t use AP credit for Chem anyway. Maybe she should just register for the other three and skip Physics and Chem?! She won’t get weighted credit for those classes but I don’t think it matters much to her prospective colleges. If senioritis hits her hard, it seems silly to have all of that unnecessary pressure on her. I’ll pitch it to her tonight and see what she thinks.
We are in the same boat as @NamePoster re: AP tests. Feeling pretty lucky.
Also, very aware of the Benacquisto Scholarship for Florida residents. It’s good at several schools, including UMiami, though I’m not sure how, exactly, as it is a private school.
I am wondering if anyone knows about how the University of New Mexico National Merit scholarship works. I see online that the National Merit scholarship is “approximately $18,337 plus the Amigo Scholarship per year” The Amigo scholarship apparently is approximately $14,986 per year. Does that mean that those two stack and both are guaranteed if the student becomes a National Merit Finalist?
@ColoSky - Yep, for National Merit Finalists, they are guaranteed, and they stack. For high stats applicants who are not NMF, the Regents is competitive, so apply early.
The “approximately” part means that the student gets full tuition, which varies a bit even semester to semester. The rest is applied to room & board, and anything left after that is given to the student as a refund. The scholarship amount is intended to cover books, too, but I’m not sure if they pay for books out of the refund amount or some other way.
Wow! Thanks for the info! That is a pretty nice offer. We will have to go and tour sometime. Unfortunately, it seems like the schools in our state don’t have as generous offers for NMFs.
@ColoSky We toured UNM, UT Dallas, Texas Tech and U of Oklahoma - all big NMF schools - earlier this month, and I wrote up trip reports for all of them. The first one is here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20532531/#Comment_20532531
The rest are interspersed over the next several pages after that, including stuff I kept forgetting to put in each of the main posts. 