<p>Thanks guys for all the input. We are not low income and would not be eligible for a fee reduction. Our school district subsidizes the test for all students. That’s why it’s $54 for us. I’m just feeling a little tapped out at the moment with so many senior fees due at once and the knowledge that the first tuition bill is just months away. I’ve decided to go ahead and pay for the other test. She says she doesn’t expect to do well on the Spanish test and is really only taking it because the teacher is bullying them into doing it. There are no waiting list for the AP classes, so it’s not like she took someone else’s spot. Especially in Spanish. There’s so little demand that Spanish 4 and Spanish 5 students share the same class. This test is Spanish Lit, which she doesn’t plan to pursue in college although she does want to take more Spanish. I also feel like three big tests will keep her busy enough. A fourth one will just make her stressed out. The college has its own language test. It’s UT Austin, by the way, and not UT Dallas.</p>
<p>Write the checks! If she does well she’d have credit for 4 classes - that is almost a full semester! It’s a bargain!</p>
<p>This is such small change compared to what you’re going to be paying for tuition anyway…</p>
<p>Texasmama, I know how you feel… a few days ago we wrote a $400+ check for my DDs 5 AP tests. It was annoying to write so many checks.
One good thing is that we don’t have to pay after school care for my second one starting next year. Hooray!!</p>
<p>My son did not take AP English Comp his junior year, but his english teacher recommended that he take the AP exam anyway. We did not encourage him or offer to pay for it (because we didn’t understand how he could achieve a passing score without taking the actual course) and so he did not take the exam. It’s my one regret of his pre-college prep. He scored 5s on all exams for AP courses his senior year and probably would have scored well on that english exam. I concur with all the opinions re achieving soph status as a college freshman. It was a definite advantage for him to register for his 2nd semester courses ahead of his peers and he’s way ahead on the courses he needs for his concentration in AE. It was given him much more flexibility in planning his shedules.</p>
<p>Spanish may be the only one to reconsider (the “curve” for that test is very tough) …but even then, a “3” gets her credit at UT-Austin.</p>
<p>[University</a> Testing Services - UT Arlington](<a href=“http://www.uta.edu/uac/testing/ap]University”>http://www.uta.edu/uac/testing/ap)</p>
<p>Archimom—due to scheduling conflicts this year, D2 (as a jr) ended up registering for Honors English instead of AP. Her sister really felt that little in the class prepared her that much for the test…she went through the AP Review guides and got a “4”. She entered school with 58 credit hours…extremely convenient when registering 2nd semester (and will be throughout her college career), as she registered about 3 weeks ahead most of her dorm-mates…</p>
<p>To the OP: If your daughter is a senior, there is absolutely no reason for her to feel stressed out over AP tests.</p>
<p>They won’t affect her college admission. Colleges do not rescind admission offers to seniors based on their AP scores.</p>
<p>Instead, she can consider the AP tests to be diagnostic tests. Is she ready to go on to more advanced work in these subjects in college? Or are there gaps in her preparation, suggesting that she would be better off taking these subjects over (if she ends up taking them at all)? </p>
<p>I don’t even see any particular reason why she should study much. She can just take the tests and see what happens.</p>
<p>My son took AP AB Calculus, and when he came home after the test he told me, “Mom, there were whole topics on that test that we didn’t cover in class. Even if I somehow get a good enough score to place out of first-semester calculus at college, I’m taking it over. I don’t really know the material, and I’m going into a major where I really need to know this stuff.”</p>
<p>I think that was $75 well spent.</p>
<p>On the other hand, my daughter took both the AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics tests, got 5s on both, and felt so confident in her knowledge of the subject matter covered on the tests that she accepted the advanced placement offered by her college and took two junior-level economics courses intended for economics majors in her freshman year. We don’t know how well she will do in this semester’s course, but in last semester’s course, she got an A+. Again, I think our money was well spent because of the diagnostic value of the test. She would have been bored out of her mind taking introductory economics over. </p>
<p>Whatever happens in terms of scores, your daughter will learn something important by taking those AP tests.</p>
<p>Texas – I hate to tell you – this is just the very beginning of writing checks…</p>
<p>I know! Katliamom, I know! I’m so not ready!</p>
<p>With the class sizes of intro courses at UT-Austin and most flagship schools, it is a BIG advantage to be able to skip over them and go on to smaller, more advanced classes. Take the AP exams.</p>
<p>Just restating the obvious here. Your $216 is a drop in the bucket compared to the upcoming fees you will be spending , and will save you much more if she gets college credit for the classes. Have you ever spent $200 on an outfit, shoes, a trip, a HS ring, a haircolor/cut/highlights, a day at the spa, car repair, a nice meal, etc? Think of this $216 as money much better spent. You are fortunate that your dau will be attending an excellent instate school. Your costs will be comparatively low. Don’t nickel and dime over $200. I am assuming your post was really a bit of a joke, and that you are not seriously thinking of refusing to pay for the exams. Your daughter’s education is a good investment. Pay the fee without blinking an eye. And skip the next hair color/highlights/haircut. It’ll all work out in the end.</p>
<p>yep, pay for them. You never know when you might need a few extra credits due to illness, dropping a class, etc.</p>
<p>Oh, about the AP Scholar award. It arrived about 3 weeks after son started college, so it didn’t mean much at that point.</p>