My D self-studied for the BC exam using the Larson Calculus for AP textbook. There is a free online component that has video lectures that align with the example problems in the textbook and an online component that has full solutions to all of the odd textbook problems. (VidoeChat and CalcChat). I supplemented with AoPS Calculus. I had my syllabus approved by the College Board so I would get access to the teacher material and practice tests. This approach worked well. My D scored a 5 on the exam.

This didn't impact us either, and my family, thankfully is done with the SAT, but I feel terrible for the kids who took the June test with the version that had 4 questions un-scorable. I wonder if the College Board will decide that they shouldn't be writing these tests in-house and will rehire ETS to develop the tests.

Yes, but with the ACT you have to worry that if you have a big score improvement from your prior attempt or a poor performance compared to an earlier attempt that you will be notified months after you have taken the test, and months after you have been accepted to college with merit aid based on your ACT score, that your score is being cancelled because the ACT thinks you cheated. This was posted on CC yesterday in a thread that has over 22 pages of similar stories from other families: "I am looking for help please my son took his first ACT in Feb 2017 he received a 32 so when his high school told me that they were offering on in March 2017 I called his guidance counselor and tried to opt him out since he did so well in Feb. The school told me sorry it was a requirement at his high school for graduation that he has to take that one. He literally went in filled in bubbles and left by doing this he got a 14. It's 2018 July and we just got a letter about the cheating. He already graduated and leaves for college in 20 days . I've paid the tuition at his college and he has received schlorships already. It's summer and no one is at his school to talk to what evidence can I get to send in at this point . Why the hell wouldn't they have said something before he graduated and applyed to college and got excepted ? Help please this will ruin his future"

I can understand the difference in curves...the old SAT had those too. One test my yield a 760 for missing one question on the Math section, while on another test, one wrong might be a 790. What I can't understand is how the CB could release an exam that had 4 questions that needed to be eliminated. Makes we wonder what type of quality control policies the CB has? How was this exam ever approved?

I don't know about the June administration of the subject test, but my D had a question on her exam where she had to use the exponential regression equation to arrive at the answer, which would have been an easy problem had she known how to use her calculator. That is the only stats type of question that she can remember being on the test.

Or another scenario could be that high school students that now hire a consultant to write their college application essays will also have to hire the same consultant to write their essays for their English classes. That way, when the admissions office at Princeton compares the writing in the application essays to the writing in the submitted high school graded essay, the writing style will match.

I think this is the reason for the early registration. Notice that the deadline is before the vast majority of college release their decisions. My boys decided not to take a couple of AP exams their senior year of high school because by the March registration deadline for the AP exams, they knew which colleges they would be attending, and these colleges did not give AP credit for those classes, so paying to take the tests would simply be a waste of money. With a November registration deadline, some college seniors will pay to take all of their AP exams since they won't most likely won't know yet which college they will be attending and whether or not they will be getting credit for their AP classes.

Here is another data point for those of you planning ahead. My D received an email from Mr. Moskaluk at ChemAdvantage: Based on the chart he sent, about 45% of his class received a 5 on the exam and 29% received a 4. (The national averages were 12.6% and 17.3 % respectively.). The kids learn a ton of chemistry in his class and they are extremely well prepared for the AP exam.

I am not trying to be difficult. I did not bring the competitive schools into the narrative. Your post that I quoted was in response to another poster's question: "Do you think there is a big difference between mostly 4s or mostly 5s for a selective school? Assuming all else is there (GPA, SAT.....)." I thought since you quoted this question, that your answer was pertaining to selective schools. The purpose of my question was to ask what data you had seen that led you to your conclusion that test scores were becoming less important. I see now that you believe that UChicago going test optional is one data point you are using. Let's just agree to disagree and move on.

I guess I am confused by your post where you said, "Eta: Fwiw, I have seen a dramatic change in the face of admissions over the yrs. I see admissions' practices as in a constant state of flux. I do not see admissions' practices from 10 yrs ago as being directly translatable to tomorrow's admissions. Generalities, yes. Specifics, no. Many schools have shifted focus. Test scores, while being important, do not have the same weight at many schools as they did in the past. Many have currently shifted focus to more oblique assessments. I would recommend researching current admissions practices not more than 3 or so yrs old. Google articles on changing the face of admissions or turning the tide. Those articles discuss some of the current issues taking place under the surface of common admission practices." I agree with you that the coalition contains many of the top schools. That is why I assumed you were discussing these top schools, especially since these schools are typically the ones that use AP scores when evaluating an applicant for admission. I was wondering what you have seen that caused you to draw your conclusion that test scores don't carry the same weight at many of these schools as they did in the past? The data I have seen from the released documents from the Harvard lawsuit and the study that I linked upthread doesn't indicate that test scores have become less important. (Although that linked study is more than three years old.) Both the documents in the Harvard lawsuit and the linked study state that the highly selective schools , many of which are on the endorsement list that you posted, factor in AP exam scores during the admission process. I was simply asking what data you were looking at the caused you to reach a different conclusion about these schools than the one I reached? Upthread, someone asked if a student had mostly 4's and some 5's how that would be viewed by colleges. I have never found a straightforward way to have that question answered at the schools that practice holistic admissions. There seems to be a veil of secrecy surrounding much of this. I only found the info about how Harvard and Williams and peers factor in AP scores by killing time on College Confidential while I am waiting for my D to finish an activity. This info certainly isn't posted on these colleges' websites. After reading through this thread, I still don't know how mostly 4's and some 5's would be viewed and whether an applicant would be increasing or decreasing his odds of admission by reporting them.

I also don't think that the highly selective schools are the only schools worth discussing, but I thought you were discussing Harvard and similar schools since the video was from Harvard. AP scores are included in the metric when evaluating students at least at some of the schools that practice holistic admissions, so those test scores do come in to play which seems to be relevant to the topic of this thread.

I remember that there was quite a bit of buzz when that video by Harvard's graduate school of education came out. I am not sure that the admissions office at Harvard was in agreement with Its school of education, though. 8, what have you seen that leads you to believe that test scores don't carry as much weight as they used to? It seems that the highly selective schools are working to increase the number of 1st generation students and URMs in their student bodies, but I am not so sure that the admissions offices at Harvard or any other highly selective schools are putting less emphasis on test scores today than they did 10 years ago. In fact, if you look at the Common Data Sets of these schools over the last 10 years, the average test scores of the admitted students have increased.

My D took two APs this year: AP Calc BC (self-studied): 5 AP Chem (PAHS): 5 She felt very prepared for both of them and thought she did well coming out of the tests, but it is a relief to have the scores in-hand.

Here is an article that discusses holistic admissions at the highly selective schools: http://ephblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Academic-Rating-Details.pdf How to read this chart: Each reader is assigned an applicant's file to review. The scoring system is divided into several categories: Class rank, grades, course rigor, essays, school support (recommendations), SAT (or ACT), SAT II, and AP Scores. There are 9 tier levels, Williams has only published the top 3 tiers in the pdf link above. Generally 2 people will review your file and assign a number 1-9 based on the applicant's profile and the tier level's criteria. The average of the two people's "number" is taken, and if the average is 3 or higher, then the applicant at this point has most likely been rejected unless they have a hook (i.e URM/athlete/legacy). Quote From Williams Admission Committee: “In general, all applicants with a combined academic rating of 3 or higher are rejected at this point, unless the first and second readers have identified one or more “attributes” that warrant additional consideration.” Source: http://ephblog.com/2010/12/02/academic-rating-at-williams/

I think the answer depends on the college. For colleges that practice holistic admissions, AP scores are a factor in determining the academic rating of the applicant, so at these colleges, AP scores definitely matter for admissions.

My boys waive the university health insurance plan, but when one of my boys got sick while away at school, he was still able to go to the student health center for treatment. However, at both of my boys' schools they just couldn't simply waive the university insurance plan - they had to provide evidence that the insurance they did have met the university requirements stipulated by the state of Mass. I would definitely check the specifics with your child's college. It is possible that if your insurance won't cover services received at the university's health center, the college may not grant the waiver, especially if there are not in network providers in the vicinity of the college.

The PSAT tests are given during the school day, typically, at B&M schools, and the schools may not permit your son to take the exam since he is not a student at the school. If you don't have luck finding a school that will let your son take the PSAT 8/9, you can register your son to take the SAT without paying the extra fee of going through a talent search organization. It has been a number of years since I went this route with my kids, so the procedure for registering may have changed since then...but I had to send in a paper registration when my kids were younger than 13 years old. My public high school and the public library both had hard registration packets available. If you want your son to be able to participate in a class outside of the homeschool setting, in my experience, having SAT scores in-hand opened doors that otherwise would have remained shut. As far as your question, "what is the point of these talent search organizations?", I think these organizations are more beneficial when the students are in traditional school. The parents of these kids can use these test results to help advocate for subject acceleration, grade skips, etc. As a homeschooler, I didn't need these tests to demonstrate my kids' abilities as I knew where they were at by working with them day in and day out. However, since I don't give tests in our homeschool, I had my kids take the SAT from age 11 because I wanted them to have some experience taking standardized tests and this was the quickest way to achieve that goal as the on-level tests that were offered each year were given on multiple days and ate up more of our time.

I can't remember if they are on the CB site, but if he sent them to his college, they should appear in his college portal. In fact, if your son checks his college portal now, the scores may have already been posted since they are being released to the students in a few days.

My kids took the biology class. I think it was based on Plato at the time, but the class had a lot of extra material and labs and teacher interaction added. I felt it was a good class. I had heard negative reviews about the chemistry and physics wasn't available back when my kids needed it.

In my experience, the CTY humanities classes have not been worth the high sticker price. My middle kiddo took Crafting the Essay. I thought the instructor feedback and assignments were much better at Write at Home, for a fraction of the price. I have been happy with the CTY computer science classes and the CTY Summer Intensives, though.

In my opinion, I don't think an online outsourced class confers greater weight with an admissions office than a home-brewed class. Fwiw, I based my decisions on whether or not to outsource a subject based solely on which venue would provide the best educational experience for my kids. I tended to outsource English classes because my kids enjoyed discussing some of their readings with peers, and I preferred having someone else critique their writing. However, regardless of where the classes were taken, my kids had SAT, Subject Test Scores, and AP exam scores in their areas of interests to validate their grades listed on the transcript. My kids have AP classes in their areas of interest listed on their transcripts, but most of the AP classes were home-brewed. I got my syllabi approved by the College Board so I would have access to the teacher material and extra practice exams. I am only familiar with the APs in English, science and math, and what I am about to say may not apply to other subject areas....But for the APs we did, I felt the guidelines that the College Board provided helped me to develop a high quality class. I had complete freedom to choose the textbook and reading material I wanted to incorporate into my class. I do think it is important to make sure that your child has other adults that can write academic letters of recommendations when the time comes to apply to college. Some colleges require a letter of recommendation from a humanities teacher and another letter from a STEM teacher. However, these letters do not have to come from a classroom teacher. My kid at MIT had his research mentor write his science recommendation letter. Bottom line: I would base your decisions on which approach will provide the best education experience for your daughter. Not everyone agrees with me, but I also think it is important to have standardized test scores no matter what venue you choose. Good luck.

It has been a few years, but I had to send in letters to have subject test scores saved for tests taken in middle school

Some AP classes taken in high school may take twice as long for a student to complete when compared to the class taken on a college campus. However, high school students are typically taking up to twice as many classes per semester as a college student, so they have less time to devote to each class when compared to a college student. Even at the high school level, some AP classes are paced the same as they are in college: AP Calc BC, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics C (If both Mech and E&M are taken the same year) for example. Both of my college kids have classes where the final exam is a high stakes test. In some classes, the final exam is worth 40 percent or more of the final grade.

This is the approach I took with my daughter last year when she was the only one left homeschooling. My daughter is also extremely close to her two brothers, and it was exceptionally hard on her when my oldest son left for college. What made it even more difficult was that her closest friend since preschool also moved out of state. It sounds like your daughter has a lot of activities that keep her busy. My daughter is the same, and keeps in touch daily with both of her brothers and her friend who moved out of state. It is different dynamic being the only one homeschooling. However, like MerryAtHope, my daughter and I have some nice memories from last year and are looking forward to making more memories this year before she flies the coop like her brothers. Good luck in making the decision that is best for your family.

Quill, your OP described my book club to a T. We have one person who hosts a big dinner at the beginning of every December. No one misses when she hosts. However, I don't think the host has much to do with it. I think that gathering has become the one time all year when people assume that everyone else will be going, and as a result, we all make an extra effort to clear our very busy calendars to be there.