The pressure on teachers to grade generously is going to be immense. 4.0 will be meaningless.

For me, it's the 1980s Carnation breakfast bar 😉

I wasn't thinking about homeschoolers so much when I made that comment. But the reason many take APs in the public school is to have the "most rigorous" courseload, compared to peers. The college credits in that situation is often a secondary consideration.

I keep thinking about the shy kids too. Testing is an area where one can demonstrate strengths without...leading a club, for example.

It might be fine. My daughter (zero comp sci experience, so probably needed a "dumbed down course") took AP Comp Sci A her senior year of high school through AP Homeschoolers. It led to her rocking lots of comp sci at Princeton and TAing many classes. 🙂 She's currently working a remote comp sci job while waiting for grad school apps to process.

The public school system here has created an entire "school" where high school students take college classes exclusively. It's very popular, but my observation is that it really has not improved the reputation of our local university. It's not like it's the most brilliant kids who can't get their needs met in a traditional school are taking the classes. It's more like regular high school classes on an alternative schedule.

I don't think any Ivy League universities even have that requirement

I tend to agree. It seems to me that among the various things used to flesh out a student's application and help a student stand out, test scores are one that is more cost effective and generally accessible. Sports...expensive, especially if done to the level that one stands out among peers, and high risk of injury. Volunteer hours...awesome character development, but can be tricky for a kid without reliable transportation and heavy duties at home. Essays...seems you will run into the same "prep" issues that people complain about with standardized tests. Dual enrollment...free in some states b

It's a really atypical requirement.

I think the vast majority of college bound kids are not taking AP classes for the credits so much, but for meeting the standard of taking the most rigorous courses offered at the school. The Common App asks a question about rigor specifically, and how the student's rigor compares to others at the school.

Yikes, that is quite the requirement. Not sure I have heard of that level of required validation anywhere before.

The redundant exam did help my daughter the year that we absolutely could not find a World History AP testing location without flying a couple thousand miles. I get what he is saying, because the number of tests a top student typically has to undergo is silly. But, ugh, the logistics of AP exam location. Editing to clarify, my daughter took the World History SAT subject test instead of AP exam, because it was absolutely not available in our area the year she took the course as a homeschooler, and we live in a geographically remote state.

Lanny, I am sorry to hear the start of semester has turned out to be so complicated for your daughter. I know she is grateful to have you supporting and helping. I was glad to see you post! Was hoping Covid had not hit you in Colombia.

I'm guessing it is not super common to be officially diagnosed as an adult. That said, there are certainly many many undiagnosed adults out there. I wish it was easier to get information and help. I had never thought deeply about my father's brilliant but...difficult...personality, until his psych nurse wife mentioned that he was almost certainly on the spectrum. Lots of things made sense to me at that point. I see it all over the family now, including two of my daughters (mild, and to different degrees).

Ha, we literally received one just last week!