AP tests taken in 8th grade

[Chez J]

If a student were to take an AP exam at the end of 8th grade, does that count for college admissions? Does it count for the "scholars" level recognition? How does a parent get this to count?

[Muttichen]

Yes, it counts for admissions and for scholars recognition. You don't need to do anything special. It stays on their record and is just listed along with everything else.

[AngieW in Texas]

I know that for the SAT, you have to request in writing that they save the scores or they will be purged.

http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/register/special/8th-grade

 

I couldn't find anything about the policy for AP, so you should call them and ask.

[Muttichen]

You are right about SATs, but it is not the same for APs. Three of my kids have taken them in 8th grade, and they stay on the record. You don't need to do anything.

[snowbeltmom]

You are right about SATs, but it is not the same for APs. Three of my kids have taken them in 8th grade, and they stay on the record. You don't need to do anything.

 

:iagree:

The APs taken prior to high school automatically remain on the record.

 

If your child takes any SAT II's or the SAT prior to high school, you need to send a written request to the College Board to have those scores remain on the record.

[quark]

If kid takes the SAT or SAT II in say 6th grade, do you write to the CB to ask them to keep it even if kid decides to take that SAT II again later to improve the first score? If kid does better the first time vs. the second time, do you request for the better score to be kept on the record or will all scores requested to be kept be automatically kept?

[snowbeltmom]

If kid takes the SAT or SAT II in say 6th grade, do you write to the CB to ask them to keep it even if kid decides to take that SAT II again later to improve the first score? If kid does better the first time vs. the second time, do you request for the better score to be kept on the record or will all scores requested to be kept be automatically kept?

 

All scores will automatically be kept on your child's testing record. I had my both of my sons' middle school SAT's retained because they met the cut-off scores for our community college. However, most colleges participate in Score Choice, so they won't be submitting those scores when they apply to their four-year colleges.

 

As long as the colleges on your child's list participate in Score Choice, you can also pick which SAT II's to submit.

[plansrme]

I was told by UNC Chapel Hill that pre-high school APs do not expire for credit purposes. I don't know about any other school's policy. My guess is that most schools never thought to have such a policy, so as long as there is nothing saying APs expire, they don't.

 

I have not pursued this with other schools because it is looking more likely that my student will graduate early, so the APs she took in 7th and 8th grades will not be as old as I expected them to be.

[quark]

All scores will automatically be kept on your child's testing record. I had my both of my sons' middle school SAT's retained because they met the cut-off scores for our community college. However, most colleges participate in Score Choice, so they won't be submitting those scores when they apply to their four-year colleges.

 

As long as the colleges on your child's list participate in Score Choice, you can also pick which SAT II's to submit.

 

 

Thank you!

[Chez J]

Thanks, ladies! We are unsure at this point if we will let dd graduate early. If we do not, then we don't want to lose an AP. It's only one, but still!

 

Some of you mentioned SATs. She took the SAT in 7th grade for Duke TIP and qualified for state recognition. Do I need to keep that score on the record? Is there a different way to show that without requesting that score remain? I'm sure she will better the score in the future.

[Luckymama]

Jumping into the conversation---

 

Which APs have your students done before 9th grade?

 

Dd may do Physics B next year as an eighth grader. It won't count for college as she'll be going into math or a science field. I want her to have another data point, in addition to AMC and SAT scores, for competitive summer programs.

 

I had been planning on APUSH her freshman year but that exam will be new for 2014-15 (!). I might might might consider it for next year...or go with Human Geography as planned.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Thanks, ladies! We are unsure at this point if we will let dd graduate early. If we do not, then we don't want to lose an AP. It's only one, but still!

 

Some of you mentioned SATs. She took the SAT in 7th grade for Duke TIP and qualified for state recognition. Do I need to keep that score on the record? Is there a different way to show that without requesting that score remain? I'm sure she will better the score in the future.

 

You do not have to keep the score but you might want to. I chose to keep scores for my kids because they were pretty strong. Even if a college sees them with all their other scores they will also see the year they were taken. I also assume that their scores will rise as they complete algebra and geometry.

One reason I kept them is that some of the competitive admissions summer programs ask for PSAT or SAT scores. In the absence of class rank or gap a score is one thing we can provide.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Oh one other thing. You can request a copy of the SAT essay if it wasn't included in the score report. I think 13 yo is the linage to get them automatically.

[snowbeltmom]

Which APs have your students done before 9th grade?

 

Mine took AP Physics B and the Physics SAT II exam. He is not planning on using any of his AP credist at his four-year school, but none on his list awards credit for the B exam. Imo, it is still a great course to take because it provides a strong foundation for chemistry and calc-based physics.

[plansrme]

Jumping into the conversation---

 

Which APs have your students done before 9th grade?

 

Dd may do Physics B next year as an eighth grader. It won't count for college as she'll be going into math or a science field. I want her to have another data point, in addition to AMC and SAT scores, for competitive summer programs.

 

I had been planning on APUSH her freshman year but that exam will be new for 2014-15 (!). I might might might consider it for next year...or go with Human Geography as planned.

 

World History (7th)

Macroeconomics (8th)

Microeconomics (8th)

Calc AB (8th)

Chem (8th)

 

She got 5s on all.

 

My experience has been that the APs have been accepted as pretty powerful evidence of the rigor of her homeschool studies. Before she had taken any AP exam, I asked at the STEM magnet we were considering if they would give her credit if she made a 4 or 5 and was told absolutely not. Once she actually entered as a freshman with a boatload of 5s in some hard APs, however, they did an about face. I didn't even ask--they volunteered that she could graduate early, and "of course" we will give her credit for her APs.

[Barbara H]

This should not stop anyone from taking exams earlier, but just a note: after four years AP scores are now "archived." The College Board then charges a fee to retrieve them from the archives. I strongly advise that you encourage your student to keep their AP number in your files because without it no guarantees they will be able to retrieve the score. Here's the form for archived scores. http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/Archived-AP-Scores-Request-Form-2010-11.pdf

 

I have heard that there are college that won't give credit for older scores, but I can't say I've ever encountered one. If anyone has examples of this happening I'd love to hear about them. Again, I don't think that should stop anyone because in reality if your child is taking APs before 9th grade you probably don't need to worry about whether your student will earn enough college credit.

[Muttichen]

This should not stop anyone from taking exams earlier, but just a note: after four years AP scores are now "archived." The College Board then charges a fee to retrieve them from the archives.

 

I think this only applies if you take time off and then apply to school. It must be that four years after your last test the scores are archived. Tests my ds took in 8th grade were on the report that went to the colleges along with all the others. I didn't have to pay a fee or make a special request or anything.

 

In 8th, my kids took one of their languages (either French or German) and dd14 also took computer science.

 

We only saved exceptionally high (over 750) subject test scores. We did need scores for DE, but they didn't need to stay on the record for that -- we just took the score report into the CC.

[Barbara H]

I think this only applies if you take time off and then apply to school. It must be that four years after your last test the scores are archived. Tests my ds took in 8th grade were on the report that went to the colleges along with all the others. I didn't have to pay a fee or make a special request or anything.

 

 

I believe there has either been a policy shift or they are selectively enforcing a policy they didn't use to enforce. In our homeschool we also did not have to pay to retrieve older scores so I was surprised when two students I counseled this year ran into this and had to put in archive requests. They were regular homeschoolers, traditional age and no breaks from school, though I don't know that they took APs every year in high school. In one case it was a major bureaucratic headache because they didn't have the AP number and the College Board had difficulty finding the score (as though they were rooting through a musty basement instead of clicking a mouse - weird.). As I said I wouldn't let this stop anyone from taking APs prior to 9th grade, but keep your numbers on file and if you run into any difficulty sending scores know that there is this archive process you can access.

 

Really, for anyone always good advice to keep your test records. A homeschool mom friend who went back to community college this year was able to put in a request with ACT and get her records found because she had dates she'd taken the test. Even those 25 year old scores were able to get her out of a couple of requirements so that was pretty great.

[Joan in GE]

I strongly advise that you encourage your student to keep their AP number in your files because without it no guarantees they will be able to retrieve the score. Here's the form for archived scores. http://professionals...orm-2010-11.pdf

 

 

(as though they were rooting through a musty basement instead of clicking a mouse - weird.).

 

Really, for anyone always good advice to keep your test records.

:iagree:

 

Yes, we had a number of problems, first due to a double last name so some scores got "lost" temporarily, even though SS# was on all docs...

 

Second, they didn't take note of ds3 testing outside the US, though it was clearly on record, so they didn't give the International Diploma until we called and insisted.

 

You do have to keep track yourself and that AP number is important.

 

Joan