FYI, MIT just dropped subject tests, but not because of covid. Others can’t be too far behind; check for changes on college websites this summer.
They were the last ones that required subject tests…it was only a matter of time after CalTech dropped the tests.
I appreciate that they are very clear…the tests will not be considered so don’t submit them (same as what Cal Tech said). https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/a-special-announcement-about-sat-subject-tests/
Yes, exactly. We’ll see what happens with the colleges that currently “recommend” them.
I don’t know what our days will look like - the teachers are still working on it. They can each decide if they want to go live or not so it could be a funny schedule.
@homerdog I think it will be a similar set up for some classes once we start going again, right now they are on an extended spring break. I asked D what she had to do this morning, it was just a virtual meeting with the teacher to talk about how his class would work and to let the kids ask questions, she said it wasn’t mandatory. After two weeks off it is going to be so hard to get these guys back into school mode!
D19 starts back up next week but at least she doesn’t have a class before 11am.
D21’s stuff is all online; no live class lessons at this point. This is for the 1st 2 weeks. At this point, looks like it will extend beyond that and the school is working to change things if it does in fact go beyond these 2 weeks. I’m letting her sleep in. Kids just need to check in on Genesis (our grading portal) for the day, then they can go into each class and do the lessons/assignments at their pace, as long as they’re submitted before midnight.
We need to check in with S17 - he’s home for regularly scheduled break this week, now next week as well. But anything that was due next week is now due the following week, along with whatever was already due the following week! Only one prof has contacted him about how he is going forward online. I’m hoping there is uniformity among professors, because he’s not the most tech savvy kid in the world and it will be very hard to keep track of 5 different courses on 5 unfamiliar platforms! He was already complaining about 1 professor who never responds to emails so I’m more nervous for him than D21!
AP info released by College Board https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/news-changes/coronavirus-update
That’s good for AP. Let’s get some news on SATs though. That’s a bigger concern for a larger number of kids.
While I appreciate the effort to motivate her, I simply don’t believe it makes a difference. Maybe set a “family rule” instead, i.e. you must complete xx minutes per day or week.
Hallelujah, the AP exams will take place, a piece of good news for us. . With the stock market crashing, this is real money savings for many of us. And I need every bit I can right now. Hoping news on the SAT comes out very soon!
I would hold on a bit about the AP news…if colleges aren’t confident that CollegeBoard has adequate anti-cheating measures in place (or if scores end up being higher than normal), colleges may not keep the same AP policies they currently have.
Good point @Mwfan1921 , eager to see what CB comes up with and how it compares to what universities are using.
Hoping Duke drops the “recommend.” Not sure when we will ge them in now.
As always, just stay in contact with AOs at your kid’s target schools.
I hope CollegeBoard figures it out, but they don’t even administer the SAT to the general public in mainland China any more (some private schools administer it) because they were never able to shutdown all of the cheating that was happening.
My D just reported to me that the AP U.S. History test will only cover material from Units 1-7 so that students not having covered modern history yet won’t be penalized. That’s nice of AP to do.
But:
My D’s teacher took a different approach to the class. Thinking that students have covered colonial through civil war history (however superficially) in 8th grade and elementary school, he began the school year at the the post-civil war Westward expansion/Industrialization and worked through the modern era in depth. Only recently did they go back to the colonial /early period and have barely scratched the surface. ?
What a crazy year! At least she’s a fast reader. No online classes here.
I think (1) there will be some cheating on the AP exams, perhaps widespread, but (2) all this will be glossed over with a “wink and a nod.” Colleges will accept AP credit according to their existing policies regardless whether they privately believe the testing was compromised. To do anything else would cast doubt on the AP program itself, and that has implications going forward. Better to simply let it all slide just this once 
Once I hear just one AO say something like this, then I might believe it.
^ Lol, you will never hear one of them say that, @Mwfan1921. But of course anything AOs say or don’t say should be taken with large grains of salt.
ETA: just noticed this in the College Board release today:
College Board has achieved “buy in” from the colleges, which will now toe the line with regard to score integrity. Anyway, that is my prediction.
I think during this difficult time schools and universities will be showing a great deal of empathy. Sure, policies such as grade floors, cancelled standardized testing in high schools and middle schools, and the flexibility of AP testing at home can some with unintended consequences. I think at this time the benefits outweigh the consequences. I suspect there will be an element of grade inflation across academic settings nationwide for the current class, as long it is fairly uniform then I think it’s the right thing to do.
I’m with you @OneMoreToGo2021 . Like everything else, it’s an irregular year and a blip. Colleges are just going to go with it. The same way they will accept pass/fail from some schools, few spring extracurriculars, far fewer state level prizes that happen during spring competitions, etc.
I see now that things are not as bad as they seemed here for the AP USH test. Unit seven goes to around 1945 so a huge chunk of what D’s class studied will be on the test. And (judging by the AP study-guides that she has) there doesn’t seem to be as much material on colonial through Civil War periods as I thought, and some of that was covered (indirectly) in AP US Gov, which D took Freshman year.