No APs here, D is doing IB so she’ll have that testing gauntlet to run this May and as noted somewhere above, we’ll be getting a very unfriendly looking bill soon. I’ve charted out what to expect credit wise from all the schools she is applying to and it’s not much. But honestly, she isn’t doing IB for credit, mostly doing just for the street cred. B-) =))
Thanks for the intel @CatBee ! My D doesn’t have college classes, but she does have middle school classes that appear on her HS transcript. There was no way to even put the school she did the class at in the system and the transcript just lists it as “out of district” anyway. In the end since it’s on the HS transcript and the HS granted her credit for it, I just used the HS name for the school, and put the appropriate years. Since this is all new, that seems good enough to me. She only has one school looking at this, and I’m not a huge fan of this school anyway so I don’t feel like she should be jumping through hoops on this one. >:) (And yes I was the one who completed that section of her Common App. It was rote data entry, I asked her if I could help her in any way, she asked me to do it, I did it. She’ll still be responsible for reviewing my work before submission. Teamwork ftw!)
Thanks also to @AmyBeth68 for your thoughts on my question about timing of counselor/teacher recs. That makes sense.
Edited to add: @DiotimaDM 100-105 on graduation! My D would be begging me to skip the entire thing! This girl cannot do heat! [-X
@1822mom LOL! I’m glad you mentioned the temp because it gave me time to edit. The expected temp is 105 - 110!
If you’re adapted to the desert heat, 105 and dry is not that bad when you’re out and about, sitting on the patio, etc., especially if there’s a bit of breeze and/or some shade. 105 wearing your Sunday best sitting on hard chairs in the direct sun for three hours is asking for heatstroke, and one set of grandparents won’t be heat-adapted.
Well – what an interesting discussion about the college board today…
@gclsports, your post #6928 was a great summary of all the frustrations I’ve felt with the CB process over the years.
I can just see some upper-level manager at the annual strategic off-site asking the mid-level managers, “So, what are you doing to generate money this year?”
Then, I can see some bright-eyed new hire (right out of college) bringing-up some possibly helpful points based on research he/she has been doing: “Did you all know that lots of our customers are basically forced to register for the next SAT exam because our score reporting process is so slow that they don’t get to see their scores from the previous exam until after the deadline to sign-up for the next test?” “Also, a point about the free score reports: wouldn’t it be wise to let the customers actually see their scores first before deciding whether they want to use their free score reports?”
I can then see the office manager giving that poor kid the evil eye.
@DavidPuddy, Defender of the College Board today!! – I also agree with you. Lots of flaws in the process, but what out there is better? I believe we actually need this process, but I also agree with all of the nickel & diming comments about CB’s seemingly insatiable appetite to generate income & their unwillingness to retool many of the processes their customers are concerned with.
@DiotimaDM Last night D and I were discussing colleges, safeties, applications and I mentioned UNM Lobos and all the great things you’ve talked about for months, including the location. Her response: “What’s a Lobo?” =))
Oh Lord, had to talk my daughter down from the ledge today.
Long story short, she came home in tears wanting to drop CCP Physics. We went to the high school to make an appointment with the guidance counselor, and actually ran into her Physics teacher in the hallway. He took her in his room, handed her a box of tissues and talked to her about the class.
I asked him about the rumor that “82 percent of the class failed last year” and he laughed and said the lowest grade was a C, and there was only one of those. He talked about how different his class was - not just memorizing but applying - and how the process was going to help her in nursing (one of his daughters has her BSN). He also has a free period the same time she has a study hall, and he will write her a permanent pass for it. Apparently it’s the Physics Club. Plus he gave her an extension on her upcoming test, which is what created all this drama.
It was definitely a Holy Spirit moment - not only did the guy really talk to her about how to approach the class, but his one free period is her study hall. Now I see why the kids who make it all the way through really love him.
I’m still going to talk to the assistant principal about her options this far into the school year, in terms of getting into any other classes. I don’t think it will be necessary. She’s still a little weepy and emotional, but I think she will stick with it.
Mine, as of now, will be taking all of her senior AP tests: AP English Lit, AP Calc AB and AP Euro. All of those will = some amount of college credit if she receives 4 or above and at several schools she will only needs a 3 to get credit. If she can get out of some college math she will gladly take that!
Right now if she decides on LSU (24 credits) or TAMU (21 credits) in her pocket, if she gets just a 3 on her APs this year she will have 30+ credits and that would technically make her a sophomore. When we discovered that last month that really lit a fire under her butt.
@bearcatfan I mentioned many pages ago that last year my D had an awful and new Physics (honors) teacher. She hated the class. And one reason why she didn’t take AP Physics this year. Fortunately, she got an A in the class, but a TON of extra effort had to put into it to get there. Caused her much anxiety.
Of course, I don’t like all of those fees – but agree that it can be less costly in the long run if the student gets credit for the class & doesn’t have to pay for that course in college.
I like the fact that AP classes can be challenging & give the kids a feel for college-level work; again though, I’d like it much more if those challenging classes came without the fees.
I don’t like the pressure that is now put on kids to take as many AP classes as humanly possible in order to make them more competitive for the top colleges.
I like the fact that some kids can skip a bunch of their college’s core requirements based on the AP tests they’ve taken, but caution (depending on the student of course) about using AP credit to skip some of the more important courses in their chosen majors.
Example:
My son (going into mechanical engineering) took AP Calc BC in HS & his college counselor and he decided that it would be a good idea for him to start college in Calc III. Now, I know my son like a book I’ve read over & over, and he’s the book definition of the “bright slacker,” who took that Calc BC class the same way he took just about all of his HS classes – he rarely cracked a book!!
I expressed my concerns in a meeting with the counselor & my son where the counselor basically said “I understand your concerns (translation: you foolish parent), but we know what we’re doing and we won’t let your son fail.” But I persisted & questioned how much of HS Calc BC my son really mastered while giving the class about a 10% effort. I advocated for the college to start him in Calc I (or whatever that class is called in college) and we finally all agreed on Calc II. Long story short: He crashed and burned even in the Calc II class because he didn’t even have a clue how to study properly. And as for the counselor that wouldn’t let him fail? He changed jobs about 2 months into my son’s freshman year & I never saw or spoke to him again.
With all of that said: @suzy100, D is taking 6 AP classes this year
8-}
Taking APs also shows rigor and that counts for some schools. They don’t want to see slacking off in the senior year. I think the rigor thing is also in the context of your own HS. If the school only offers 3 AP classes, no biggie to take just one. If the school offers 30, taking just one would be considered slacking off.
The other thing, according to S’18, is the AP classes are where the best teachers are and that the other classes are boring.
@sushiritto This guy has taught for years. It is a ton of work, and she has been very stressed about it. Everyone feels the same way, though. I think she needed to hear - from someone other than me - that she needs to go in and ask for help, even if she thinks she doesn’t need it at that moment.
Luckily she doesn’t have a really crushing schedule this year - the next hardest class is AP Calc and she’s doing great in it.
I took physics in high school and I don’t remember it being this bad.
Whether my D takes the actual AP exam depends on where she goes to college and what its policies are. Maybe that’s short sighted because you never know if your kid will want to transfer, and maybe the new college would have a different policy.
@bearcatfan Brief digression. The only time I’ve ever felt a bit uncomfortable at a back-to-school night in all my years was last year with this physics teacher. Just the other day, my D remembered or reminded me that this physics teacher called me out in front of all the other parent’s (class size of around 30-35) for being late to his 10-minute nonsensical parent presentation. In a school of 2,400 kids across a large sprawling campus, sometimes a 5-minute passing period isn’t enough time to get to class. And I’m in good shape.
I’m not one to keep my mouth shut, but I had to adhere to my D’s Golden Rule No. 1: Do not embarrass me (her)! Otherwise… [-X
@sushiritto I didn’t mention that I took my crying daughter by the hand and walked by the physics room, just to see if he was there. I kind of dragged her - there still some people in the hallway, and she was just bawling. She refused to come down the science hallway, and I went in by myself. I mentioned that she was in the hallway and HE went and got her.
I have probably the biggest mouth of anyone I know, lol. We’d be great friends.
@melvin123 I originally thought he was an ass, but that was only from what I’d heard from my daughter’s perspective.
She’s two points away from a B, and not everything has been entered yet (and on one assignment she was the only one to get a 100!). She failed this particular quiz in spectacular fashion, and only got it back today because they were waiting on one person to take it. The test is tomorrow. That really freaked her out. She is going to go over the quiz tonight and see if she can’t figure out the issues - my husband took physics in college along with other scary science classes. He will try to help her, and then she can go in and ask specific questions.
A piece of advice my D received from a department chair who had recently sent his son to college was to consider repeating a course you may already have credit in like Calc or Physics important to your major simply for an easy A to buffer your GPA, make an impression on faculty as an outstanding student and be the person classmates turn to for help to secure a prominent role for study groups. Looking back my D would have had a much better experience if she’d heeded that advice.
I’m not so much concerned about the easy A part of taking college classes for which the student has credit. I just want to make sure S really gets the pacing and expectations of college courses and isn’t left behind in a key foundation for his CS major. He got a 5 on the AP CS exam but I believe even his college encourages such students to still take the honors section of the intro CS class instead of skipping it altogether (I might be wrong about that but too lazy right now to go look it up). Similarly even if he gets a 5 on the Calc BC exam I’ll encourage him to take honors Calc first semester. If he were majoring in chem or bio I’d advocate for him taking those intro courses in college but just taking the credit for Calc and CS. An 18-year-old living away from home for the first time is dealing with a lot already; I don’t see anything wrong with taking a few classes first semester that will cover familiar material in the faster-paced college setting. I’ve seen plenty of comments on CC calling it “grade-grubbing” to take any college course for which the student qualifies for AP credit, but I guarantee in my case it’s not about him padding his GPA. I figure his first semester will be challenging enough just figuring out his new living situation.
@bearcatfan – we were on the ledge with AP Physics C and D18 last week. She got a 55 on her first test, which was curved to a 75. I think only one kid got a natural 80+ score. Anyway, we said D18 should drop the class if possible because she’s overloaded with the other classes (and a procrastinator, poor studier, etc.). She doesn’t need physics in HS or for her intended major in college. Plus, you can’t BS your way through physics … simply being smart isn’t enough, you actually have to learn and apply the concepts.
Anyway, DW and D18 went to the GC and she said that it was possible to drop at this late date but they’d need to get approval from the teacher. They went to the teacher and she talked D18 into staying in the class … she said she wants her students to actually learn the material and not worry so much about grades so she offered D18 the opportunity to re-take the test (new problems, more problems). D18 spent quite a bit of time on physics over the week and said the re-test went well. I hope this shock doesn’t wear off and D18 stays on top of physics. She’s certainly smart enough to handle it but she’ll have to apply herself more than she has had to in any of her previous classes (AP Calc would be a close second).
I’ve noticed with the hard AP classes that the first test is usually a big wake up call, sending many kids into a panic. The teachers pull the kids back from the ledge later by replacing their lowest test grade, usually the first, with the midterm test grade.
I went pretty far down the AP credit rabbit hole today, had a brief discussion with DD2018 about possibilities/options…and now being a transfer student is looking more and more appealing to DD2018. It looks like she could knock off one year of undergraduate with AP credits, which of course means there is more money available for graduate school. l need to look up some transfer statistics now.
I agree with @LMHS73 about being careful with using your AP credits for classes that are vital or fundamental for your major (in fact some schools limit taking AP credit for your major basics, like where my DD2016 at Marquette) It works for DD2018 as a psychology major, her AP credits would really just knock out her core/general ed requirements. I could see where it would not be such an appealing avenue or even that much of an option for a STEM major.
Well said. Specifically, I would be caution any Engineering major not to use AP credits for Math or Science classes. Even those with relatively easy A’s…
My husband - with an undergrad in chemical engineering - agrees with never skipping the courses fundamental to your major, even if you do have AP credit that will cover it.
He said science and math is much different at the college level, and is taught differently everywhere. And if you end up taking an introductory course in math or science, it will be that much easier and prepare you for the harder stuff down the road. “Never give up the opportunity for an easy A” is his mantra, especially in the hard sciences.
