The high school does something similar for science here, cannot take the AP level without completing the honors level prior, only exception is for seniors. D26 took AP Bio sophomore year and AP Chem junior year, decided to end on Honors Physics and not bother with AP.
And neither of my girls would touch AP Chem, because an older theatre kid that my D22 revered once told her that taking AP Chem was the biggest regret of his life. So she never took it, and she in turn warned her sister.
Theyāre so funny with what they get in their heads!
Very similar at our HS. Must take the honors class 1st before taking its AP version the following school year.
So if oneās goal is to take AP Bio, AP Chem, and an AP Physics class, you end up having to take 2 science classes for 10th and 11th grade. D26 chose to just do honors chem & physics based on the teachers for those subjects and took 2 AP electives in other things instead.
Honestly, I think that she didnāt bother studying much because she knew she wouldnāt do well. She got a good grade, but she works so so hard for that grade. Total uphill battle. It does not come easy to her. And I think by the time she had that test she was just toast. She studied an insane amount for the AP US history test. And her physics test was dead last.
We were hoping for three, but we knew she would not get a four or five.
The results are all posted on college board.
We knew physics was going to be a challenge. I looked over the content they were working on and the amount of curving that was being done. I did speak to the teacher and he was not confident in how the class would do as a whole. So Iām not surprised she didnāt do well enough to get credit, just shocked at the one lol. We just laughed this morning when she saw because it is so her to get an excellent score in the humanities and abysmal score in science. Iām the total opposite. And I think that she basically checked out of the test after the first few questions when it was super challenging. She was burnt.
My D26 stayed up until 12:30 last night hoping to get her scores went to bed disappointed because the site would not retrieve any data! But woke up a happy camper she was worried about AP lang
5 AP Lang
5 AP Chem
5 pre- calculus
I have to admit- I have her email password too so I can erase the notification. So yes- I snooped!!! Helicopter mom FTW!
Hahaha, an older swimmer that D26 revered told her the same about AP Physics
That is GENIUS!
I donāt have D26ās email password. She wanted to handle recruiting on her own without my meddling, so I have no access. She forwards info that she thinks I need to know. I guess sheās prepping me for college and info on need to know basis.
Waiting to hear from D26 about her scores.
I usually do not her from her each day until her evening time (1-2 pm here)
She took Physics C and Calc AB this last year. After the test she felt pretty positive that she got at least a 4 on them. Hopefully she was correct on that!
It is so wild how each school handles APs.
And as for honors: Her school does not have those- a few classes that they call ācollege prepā but not exactly the same thing
Look forward to getting these scores in regardless of outcome. It fills like this is the last piece of the puzzle that we are waiting on for college applications. All the rest is now writing essays and filling out forms!
Even with her C- in honors physics, D26 has met U of Aās core competency requirements for admission. So we are pretty happy campers at our house today!
D26ās schoolās GPAs are calculated only once a year at the end of the school year and if you take an AP class AND youāve taken the AP exam for that class, your final grade for the year is adjusted up or down based on the AP exam score you earned.
In D24ās case, this benefitted her a lot and a couple of times, hurt her GPA when she didnāt pass a couple of AP exams.
In D26ās case, it changed her 11th grade grades like this:
- AP Calc AB: was a B-, now is an A-
- AP Lit: changed from A- to A
- AP Human Geo: changed from B+ to A
- AP Psych: changed from B- to A-
- APUSH: changed from A- to A
Same policy helped her to get a B in AP Precalculus and an A in AP English Language (up from a B+/A-) last year.
Iām hoping that sheāll be able to test out of 1st semester Spanish at least, so that would eliminate having to take 2 semesters of college foreign language.
I wonder if your school is unique in doing this? Iāve never heard of another school where AP exam scores influence grades.
But yay for your kiddo because this system seems to be a net positive in her favor!
I think probably yes.
Our high school also adjusts grades after the AP scores come out, and Iāve heard others on CC mention that their HS does it too.
Thatās so interesting ā maybe itās a regional thing.
Donāt think so, tamagotchi is not far from us and our school doesnāt do that.
Our school also does not offer honors in any subject where there is an AP option - itās either/or. So C26 did hons precalc this year, but the school is moving to AP precalc next year and there will be no more honors precalc as an example. Similarly, no hons in any of the sciences as they all have AP options.
D26 is a pretty average student in all of the core classes except English- she was talked into AP Seminar instead of AP Lang and regretted it. I wish we had done more research because most colleges that even take AP Seminar for credit only give a general elective. At least her score was enough for that.
Our school does this only in social sciences ā D26 took APUSH because there was no honors option. Sheāll take the standard semesters of Gov and Econ because she isnāt interested in AP for either.
I think science, math, English and languages all have standard, honors and AP sections, though, if thereās an AP available. Except they havenāt offered AP Pre-calc yet. Iām not sure whether itāll show up next year.
My D26ās school doesnāt offer any AP, just IB. So no AP scores to report, but she did get her IB French score yesterday and it was a 6, which is great! I guess equivalent to a 4 in AP? (Itās a 1-7 scale).
The IB diploma program has all the tests at once, but sheās a year ahead on foreign language so she has that one squared away and will have one less test to take next year when she does the exams for the full diploma.
Will she take AP Research senior year? My D22 did both Seminar and Research, but now her school tries to combine Seminar with an 11th grade honors English class ā she had it independently as an elective, though.
She didnāt love the assignments in Seminar, and then the AP exam was a disaster because it was modified for Covid. She did luck out into a great topic for her Research class and wrote a killer paper which I think partially helped her get into a selective school.
She pulled her hair out all year trying to get it done, though ā and now as a senior in college, sheās planning to do an honors thesis. I think sheās forgotten how painful it was, LOL. She does say that the research skills learned in AP Seminar and AP Research were probably the most useful things she got out of high school.