Not really sure…..but from what I understand; they have LIII courses which are considered regular courses and those are graded at A=4.0. Then they have LIV courses which are accelerated courses which covered a bit more work, move at a faster pace and they have more homework/tests and those are graded at A=5.0. Then they have LV courses which are Honor or AP courses and those are graded at A=6.0.
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How is everyone feeling on AP Score Release Day?
Both S27 and I forgot that today was the day, and he didn’t check before work. He just got home and let me know that he had three 5’s and one 4! And the 4 was in AP Lit (definitely the weakest subject for him of the four he took), so he is pleased by his results!
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For better and for worse, S27 was very aware that AP scores got released today; it sounds like some of his friends stayed up until 2:30am until the scores were released. But honestly, hearing the scores and his response to them made me really sad for him and for all these kids that feel so.much.pressure. He got 5s on four tests and a 4 on one. His immediate response was not “Hurray! I did really well! And that 4 was on a known hard test (AP Physics C Mechanics)!” Instead, it was “Can I send that score to my schools?” Yes, yes you can, love. And then he proceeded to ask whether he was cut out for engineering if he only got a 4. I’m left with a lump in my throat, and my protests that a college board exam should not dictate his future were (at least initially) dismissed. “So and so got 5s on all 9 exams he took.” (So and so is probably a certifiable genius who was taking Calc BC in 9th grade. Taking nine exams in one year is unheard of in our high school. Why is this kid the litmus test?)
A friend of mine at a different school told me her kid woke her up at 2:30am, sobbing that she got a 2,3, and 4 when she thought she did well.
So today feels different than the celebration I thought we’d be having. Sigh.
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Wow. The pressure is intense. My son just had one AP score to check (due to caps that the school puts on the AP classes for just this reason). He got a 4 in APush and was happy!
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Not too bad. D27 did not believe she did well, 5 in AP US History and 4’s in AP Physics and AP Language & Composition. D29 scored a 5 in AP Human Geography. So overall they were happy.
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So much pressure on kids these days. If this was the case when I was in high school, I don’t think I would have gone to college. I stumbled my way through high school and somehow became an engineer without any AP or honor classes.
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very happy my kids school doesn’t offer them:)
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I actually took a lot way back when…APs have existed forever, just rarer. I took 6 (over 2 years). I think my partner took like 3 (and at least 2 DE classes too, as they had a CC really near their HS)….I had 5 5s and a one 4:) I still remember, I was such a dork.
Worse, we had SAT II subject tests, too. And I took a bunch of those, though don’t remember how many exactly.
We were both totally burned out in college, though, and just had fun there! (Both have had great careers, though, so no crisis that we had middle-of-the-road grades in college after super amazing ones in HS:) I care not at all about As in college. (I also wasn’t on a direct-to-grad school path, though I did eventually go).
My S27 also got four 5s and a 4 in AP Physics C-Mechanics. He seemed to expect the Physics score (which was reflected in his lower grade in that course as well). He is also a hopeful engineer but he seemed pretty happy with his results overall. Luckily none of his friends took 9 AP exams in the same year though-that’s crazy! He’s been in a pretty good mood lately thanks to some vacation time and getting some positive pre-reads for his athletic recruiting in the last couple of weeks!
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I didn’t have AP courses at my small rural high school, but I do remember taking several of the subject tests - maybe biology and math? I don’t remember those very well either!
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I also took a ton of APs and remember those subject tests. I wouldn’t have taken them, but I needed them to apply to my Early Decision school so I did. I took three - two in a foreign language and one in math/science. I don’t remember the math/science because that was not my thing and I just had to take it because the school required at least one from a humanities subject and one from a STEM subject. APs I took AP French Language, AP French Literature, AP English Language, AP English Literature, AP Calc AB, AP US History, and AP Latin Literature. Guess which one I got a two in? 
One of these things is not the like other ones. . . 
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I went to a selective private school - the local public school in my town only had like 1 (2?) APs, which I think were much more standard for an average suburban public school at that point….I think a lot of schools in coastal urban/suburban areas had Calc AB, USH, and maybe Lang/Lit, and that was about it, based on my college peers. My friends from places like Stuy, TJHS, very rich towns in the northeast, prep schools, etc. maybe had more. And there were fewer APs in existence then too, of course. That said, believe it or not, one of my kids’ GRANDparents took an AP test in the 60s! i about fell off the floor when I learned that recently.. had no clue it went back that far. I think it was vanishingly rare back then, though. They lived in a major metro area and went to private school, too.
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That is way too much, I wish schools didn’t allow that honestly.
I am glad that near me, the public schools that I know of limit it. (And say so on profiles so colleges KNOW it is limited)
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I lived in a small city (but large enough for 2 public and 1 large-ish private high school), and in the mid-90s my high school “officially” had zero AP classes, but the calculus teacher arranged for the Calc AB exam to be offered at our school, because he said what he covered in class basically matched the exam anyway. I think I got a 3 on AB calc, but that was with no “test specific” preparation or study. I don’t think I even reviewed the topics we had covered earlier in the year! Weirdly the high school on the other side of town apparently offered several AP classes. I wonder if the admin at my high school just didn’t want to go through whatever administrative steps it would have required to officially offer the AP classes.
I’m happy my kids have had the option of APs…none of them have really felt pressured by it TBH, though I am sure some kids do. My kids have each felt the freedom to pick and choose the number of AP classes that made sense to each of them, and to select which exams make sense to actually take. I AM very thankful that our school doesn’t force all AP students to take the exam for every class they are in. My S25 and S27 both felt like the credit for the Physics 1 exam wasn’t going to be very useful to them, so they didn’t take the exam. (My S25 self studied for Physics C-Mechanics instead after taking Physics 1, and got a 4! Our school doesn’t offer either of the Physics C courses).
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Reading how many AP classes some students take makes me anxious. 
. Our district is based off of grades and recommendations and they only really want you to take what you are interested in. They do not allow re-takes either so no grade inflation. With that advise we didn’t take all the APs and was able to focus on the two they did take. They passed both exams and should have a scholar award (D27 is away at summer job). SAT didn’t go as well as the AP exams. At this time they are burnt out and will go test optional. I feel their score would fall in the 50% of schools pre-Covid but thee scores are so skewed now, it’s not really a fair comparison.
Now to focus on essays and application season!
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My HS in early 90s had Language (French or Spanish), English, and Calc AB as only APs. I only got a 3 on Calc AB but I’m pretty sure it was enough to get me out of a math requirement (for a non STEM degree) and my 4 in English (Comp? Lit? Who knows) got me out of ine semester of a freshman writing class. I remember being amazed that there were lots of kids there who had 5s on Calc BC. Not even an option at my school.
I’m out of town and so not sure what my kids (S27 and D29) got for scores. They didn’t reach out to say and may not have even checked. This is the first year freshman had an AP option at the HS.
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My kiddo took two APs and ironically got a 4 in the harder class and a 3 in the easier class (for her). But, her HS is on a block/semester schedule, so it had been half a year since she was in the easier class. So, not overly surprising to me. She’s not T20 (or even T50) chasing, so not too big of a deal for us.
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APs went great, June SAT did not. ACT this weekend, D27’s hoping it’ll be a better fit for her and I’m cautiously optimistic as a couple of the differences between it and the SAT (faster pace, slightly higher level math) work to her advantage. I think the SAT leaves a lot of room for overthinking and then her anxiety gets the best of her. Her current score is fine for one of her top two choices but low for the other, but that one is test optional so I give a big side eye to their published 25th-75th percentile.
My suburban public high school offered a few APs back in the 90s - English lang, calc AB, gov - and I took the classes but not the tests. I was first-gen and had no idea what APs were, no one really told me, I just took the hard classes at school, and no one pressed me about the exams. I think only the lang test would have gotten me any college credit because I had no business being in calc AB so absolutely would not have cleared a 3 on that exam! Relieved my kid is having a different experience in that regard.
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Yeah, I don’t think I even I had any test-specific book or exam prep materials…My teachers did “teach to the test” to a great extent, I believe…I think they told us formats for essays so I wasn’t surprised by that… I studied for it, but using class materials, I believe, not books I purchased or anything!
And the big difference now is comparing oneself to others! I certainly, during the year, had no idea what people were doing 3 towns away never mind across country.
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Right? We must have received the scores after graduation and it was NOT a topic of conversation at all (except apparently among the kids in my dorm who got 5s on Calc BC bit tbf I was impressed by them!)
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