@BingeWatcher You can also google “AP student score distribution” to find out how many students get each score nationwide. Here are the results of the 2017 exams:
According to that chart, 10.8% of kids in APUSH got a 5 last year, with 17.8% getting a 4. Obviously that doesn’t give you info on your particular school and teacher, but it does give some insight into which tests are harder than others.
My D13 took five AP classes and got 5’s on all of them (Eng Lang, Eng Lit, APES, APUSH, and Gov). She had an outstanding teacher for APUSH, but a poor one for AP Government. Since Gov was one of her main interests (she was a PoliSci major in college), she self-studied for the APGov exam to get that 5. (We joked that her score saved his job, since it was his first time teaching AP, and he was desperate that SOMEONE in the class would do well, LOL.) So it’s definitely possible for a motivated student to enhance their classroom learning and do well on AP tests.
My S19 is taking APUSH now, and I’m just hoping he gets a 3 or a 4. Ironically, while the APGov teacher has apparently grown into his job, the fabulous APUSH teacher my daughter had moved on to another district, and the new teacher is ineffective. The test is in about five weeks, and they have yet to take a single practice test or DBQ in class. I bought my son a book to help him self-study, but he’s a very different student than his sister, and I’ll be shocked if he opens it before early May.
(To the rest of the group – hello! I’ve been lurking for awhile on these boards and decided to finally make an account to participate. Thanks for all the information you’ve shared so far. I’ve learned a lot from you all. )
Sounds like you’re fortunate to have your kids in a high performing school @homerdog (BC Calc actually has the highest “5” rate out of every AP other than Chinese and Japanese tests). AP Calc AB has much lower pass rates, but it may be because many of the students who take it aren’t as strong at math to begin with and don’t need to be taking calculus at 16 or 17.
I don’t know if parents can look at a test that has a low pass rate nationwide and just demand that the school ensure that everyone passes it with a 4 or 5. I know DS’s school usually beats those nationwide averages (not sure about Physics 1, oof), but there are definitely still a cohort of kids who score in the 1-2 range, and a few teachers who aren’t great. For the most part, I think they do pretty well. This year, for the first time, the AP tests aren’t mandatory so it will be interesting to see how the results change.
Our school does pretty well as it relates to AP scoring. You need to be a fairly strong student to even have access to many of the AP classes offered.
The school does not require kids to take the exams, but if they don’t take the official AP test than they need to take the teacher’s final exam the last week of school. I think most kids take them for that reason alone.
Our school also does pretty well in AP testing, but I have heard from my older D that many of her friends go to schools that are not so good. She was very surprised last year to find that several friends who had taken multiple AP courses in high school received no credit from the college for them because they had scored 2s and 3s. They were equally as surprised to find out that she got credit for every AP course she had taken. I always wonder about schools that push kids into AP classes as freshman and sophomores. Obviously some kids are ready for it, but when you look at scores distributions you see that there are a lot of kids that are failing the AP tests.
@eh1234 I had no idea that schools would have AP classes where kids get a 2 on the exam. Just being honest. Kids at those schools would have the same AP class on their transcripts as our kids but I’m assuming our AP classes are harder. How do AOs know that? Guess S19 should report his scores if they are good.
Makes sense about BC Calc has high scores. I get that those are the “math” kids.
The downside to our nutty school is that 90 percent of the kids get 4s or 5s on every AP. I just found that info broken out on the school profile. If your student gets a 3, that would look pretty bad since they would be in the bottom 10 percent of test takers from our school!
(Apologies in advance if this double posts — my first attempt included a link to the CB site, and I think that put my post in moderator jail. Reposting without the link.)
@BingeWatcher You can also google “AP student score distribution” to find out how many students get each score nationwide. According to the 2017 College Board AP chart, 10.8% of kids in APUSH got a 5 last year, with 17.8% getting a 4. Obviously that doesn’t give you info on your particular school and teacher, but it does give some insight into which tests are harder than others.
My D13 took five AP classes and got 5’s on all of them (Eng Lang, Eng Lit, APES, APUSH, and Gov). She had an outstanding teacher for APUSH, but a poor one for AP Government. Since Gov was one of her main interests (she was a PoliSci major in college), she self-studied for the APGov exam to get that 5. (We joked that her score saved his job, since it was his first time teaching AP, and he was desperate that SOMEONE in the class would do well, LOL.) So it’s definitely possible for a motivated student to enhance their classroom learning and do well on AP tests.
My S19 is taking APUSH now, and I’m just hoping he gets a 3 or a 4. Ironically, while the APGov teacher has apparently grown into his job, the fabulous APUSH teacher my daughter had moved on to another district, and the new teacher is ineffective. The test is in about five weeks, and they have yet to take a single practice test or DBQ in class. I bought my son a book to help him self-study, but he’s a very different student than his sister, and I’ll be shocked if he opens it before early May.
(To the rest of the group – hello! I’ve been lurking for awhile on these boards and decided to finally make an account to participate. Thanks for all the information you’ve shared so far. I’ve learned a lot from you all.)
@homerdog going to school in the Northeast means the kid has to endure a lot of crappy weather. The Fall is great until November. Then it get’s cold, the leaves fall off the trees and everything looks dreary. You get an occasional sunny day, but still not ideal. Then when you come back from winter holiday break the kids have to endure Jan. Feb and March. The snow adds up, it’s often cold and windy. Occasionally you get a nice sunny cold day. In April things start to warm up, but not really shorts and t shirt kind of weather, you can have a weird 80 degree day or snow. By the end of April things start to bloom and grass is getting greener, but then the kids head home for the summer. The best months in NE are May 20th thru Nov 1.
That was one of my reasons that I wanted to leave for college. I’d miss the worst weather of the south in the summer and I’d miss the worst weather of the north during winter. I really enjoyed this. I have not been able to convince either kid that this is something to consider. I
My friend’s daughter took BC Calc as a junior last year. She got an A in the class and a 2 on the exam (All of her friends in the class also received A’s in the class and either a 1 or 2 on the exam). She and her friends are taking mulivariable calculus at her school this year. Her transcript will look very strong, but I don’t think that a student who scored a 2 on the BC exam has the knowledge base to actually succeed in multivariable. The high school class, while having an impressive name, must not be that rigorous. My friend’s D did not report her AP scores, so I would think it would be difficult for an admissions officer to know that the school’s calculus program is not up to college level standards.
@shuttlebus Just wow. I don’t get that. How can they even do Multivariable? Somehow the AOs must know because I’m assuming those students don’t have as high ACTs or SATs. And I’m guessing the school profile does not call out how the school’s kids do on APs like ours does.
@homerdog. Yeah, the school profile only lists the AP classes that are offered, while neglecting to list the scores or the fact that not every AP class is offered every year.
I don’t think that these students could succeed in a legitimate multivariable class, but the class name looks impressive to the parents, kids, and admissions officers, though.
@homerdog They are not applying to schools that are selective by CC standards. We are in the rural Midwest. It is very laid back and healthier, I feel, compared to some of the areas I see mentioned on CC. Few people could name the schools in the Ivy League. None of my kids’ friends had heard of Williams where my college freshman is attending, which didn’t surprise me. However, I was surprised when a couple on my kids’ friends had never heard of MIT and thought it was a school similar to ITT. I thought just by watching various tv shows and movies they would have been exposed to that name.
It snowed again here in PA too. We were in t-shirts and jeans for the college tours two days ago.
@shuttlebus Things are laid back in my part of central PA as well. My sons’ small, Catholic school has a kid go to Hopkins or Villanova every now and then. But finances are the priority for most families. Lots of kids live at home and attend our local private college. Lots attend state-related and state schools. And lots get scholarships to smaller Catholic colleges in PA. The school likes to promote how much scholarship money each class is awarded, not the caliber of school the kids’ attend.
My sons are not familiar with many of the schools favored here on on CC. Ivies, yes. The LACs, no. I am because I grew up in an affluent New England town that was like CC in real life. Heck, I remember being aware of the Claremont colleges and wanting to attend Pitzer during my “I’m going to Cali” phase in high school. But I ended up attending a lesser known (at the time), regional Catholic college outside of New England and loved my experience. So I am rolling with the vibe here in my area.
I’m really thankful for CC because here I have learned about the CTCL schools and how to chase merit. As a family that will have an EFC we consider too high, CC has been invaluable at helping me help my son target the right types of schools. My son hasn’t even met with the guidance counselor but he already has a short list because of what I’ve learned here.
@Curiosa I knew I would screw up writing my thoughts… my son is looking for diversity in fact he chooses to attend an extremely diverse public school in our county over his home high school. I also teach in the same environment. So if I could delete my words I would. This is why I rarely comment on these topics because I didn’t convey properly what I was trying to say… so disregard that part of my post. Thanks
@RightCoaster Does that weather pattern hold true for New York - Binghamton area? Son has said he wants to stay mid-Atlantic or south but is making exception for SUNY BInghamton…
@Kona2012 that is kind of the general New England/NY state weather. There is less snow at the coastline usually, so Boston, NYC Southern CT usually are a tiny bit milder and less snow. The further inland you go it gets colder and snowier.
Some years, the cold and snow are worse than others. Sometimes it’s just cold and no snow. Sometimes it’s snowy but not particularly frigid.
But I still stand by claim that Sept up to the first week in Nov you’ll find some nice weather patterns and pretty leaves.
The weather is also nice in May and June. It gets hotter and more humid away from the coast in the summer, but the coastline and islands have fantastic weather mid June until Sept 1.
Some people can deal with the cold and look forward to it. I don’t love the cold weather but I love outdoor winter sports, so you need cold weather for that. There are a lot of people that gripe about being stuck indoors all winter, but that’s because they don’t find anything to do outside. It’s the same with people in the south, they complain about being hot all summer and never go outside. I’m a big believer in getting outside and dealing with what Mother Nature is providing, not whining and complaining about it.
Famous saying heard around ski country: There is no such thing as bad weather, only just bad outerwear.
Her two good friends and closest peers at schools must have just got their March SAT scores back. 50+ points higher than D19, so that does suggest she could score higher with some prep on round two…
… which she’s tentatively decided to take in August…
… without the essay, probably, because we think Caltech’s the only school on her list that requires it, and she’s not that keen on the school now… [nor does she have the scores]
We were talking about our possible Fall Break trip to Massachusetts which could include stops at Smith and Mount Holyoke, at which point she said, “it’s more than an hour and a half from Boston.” Turns out she’s more definitive about going to school in or near a big city. (Northfield, at ~45 minutes, is probably just in under the wire, and maybe because she has other interests.) That’s too bad, IMO, but… it’s her choice.
We’re trying to figure out if it’d be better to visit Reed later this month or in fall.
So, maybe we’re at: ASU, Macalester, St. Olaf, Carleton, Haverford, Reed (?), Bryn Mawr (?), Harvey Mudd (? - scores), and… ???
I’d love to get one or two more schools on there, all of a sudden it seems a bit small. Lawrence is also 90 minutes away from Milwaukee, but their Physics program is well known. She’s not a big fan of women’s colleges, but I’m trying to keep Scripps and maybe Agnes Scott on her list to explore… In any case, the list is a little top-heavy, which is why it’d be nice if her SAT score got another 50-point boost.
DD’s “Spring Break” is pretty full of AP Lit homework (online, no break), soccer practice, prom committee, and vocal solo/ensemble practices. She did get to spend time at her sister’s this weekend, and have a friend over last night. She was happy to have gotten a Varsity jersey at soccer (and a JV jersey). Was probably too much to hope for only Varsity. Plus on one of the nights where they were deciding she wiped out on the turf 5 minutes into scrimmage and spent the rest of the time getting bandaged. Felt she redeemed herself a couple nights later though.
Weather is crummy here, no snow but too cold for April Guess that gives her an excuse not to pick up sticks in the yard on break!
MIT visit was this morning, it was cool to see it in the snow (better than rain). A bit chilly, but S19 was fine in just his hoodie. He loved it, while keeping in mind it’s a long shot, he’s decided to apply so we’ll be scheduling his SAT subject tests and the ACT when we get home. Harvard tour tomorrow! Note we did make him put another jacket in his backpack but he didn’t need it.
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