Students under the age of 16 taking AP/CLEP/DSST exams

[Sandra in NC]

I'm curious as to how many students under the age of 16 have taken AP, CLEP, and/or DSST exams.

[danielle]

Dd took AP Human Geography in 8th grade (14) and AP US Government this year--freshman (15). Her birthday is in November, so she's always on the older end.

 

I may be a minority opinion, but I don't think AP is all that hard. If you get on the College Board listservs, the teachers are doing all kinds of projects and discussing supplementary materials endlessly. I think a lot of it is busy work. For Human Geo, basically dd read the book (de Blij) then read a test prep and did the exercises, and I had her practice for 3 mornings writing short essays from previous exams, then comparing them to the scored exams available on the AP website. For US Gov, she watched the videos from NROC, read the text assignments, and never did any of the written work. Again, she used a practice review book, but didn't even practice the essays this time.

 

Dd is disorganized and both times had to put a full court press on studying--did very little (like, read 2 chapters) until about 6 weeks before the exam, then had to spend every afternoon working on it. Both times she scored a 5, so I blame AP for encouraging this bad behavior:001_smile:

 

The only thing I see as difficult about AP is the prodigious amount of reading (maybe 1,000 pages for Human Geo). The tests have multiple choice, and as dd says, they give you the answers (ah, the joys of hsing, where Mom makes you write papers instead).

 

I think as hs-ers it's really worth taking these tests early--if you wait til senior year, college admissions teams never see your scores. It really adds credibility to the grades I give.

Danielle

[AnitaMcC]

I'm curious as to how many students under the age of 16 have taken AP, CLEP, and/or DSST exams.

 

 

My son has taken the SAT in 6th and 8th grade, and COMPASS so he can take courses at local jr college as a 9th grader (14yrs old).

 

Currently the plan is for our twins to take the AP exam for World History when they are 15 (end of 9th grade). Since their goal is to attend CC full time when they are 16 and earn AS degree with their high school diploma, they won't be taking many credit earning exams. Just a few probably.

[KAR120C]

I'm curious as to how many students under the age of 16 have taken AP, CLEP, and/or DSST exams.

But we might be doing the AP Stats exam next year before 13, and my tutoring kid might be joining us (at 13). My syllabus has been approved, and DS isn't having any trouble with the book or the homework. I have a test prep book he's working through and an official practice test (that came with the syllabus approval), plus old questions from the College Board website...

 

It's half multiple choice and half written (calculations and explanations - not essays) and looks just like what we've been doing all along. Also they give you a formula sheet, AND you can bring a graphing calculator that does statistical analysis... so with enough preparation on DS's part (which is part of our course -- statistics on the TI-84) the test looks pretty straightforward. Not that I'm promising a five or anything (LOL) but I think he can do well enough to establish that he really did AP Statistics. ;)

[Starr]

I didn't vote because we haven't taken any of these tests. But at 14 dd did well with one university class a semester.

[Sandra in NC]

I found that the most difficult part of the AP exam for my son was the physical demand of handwriting the essay. Being a child of the 90's, he is more comfortable typing everything on the computer! I hope all CollegeBoard tests will become computer based exams.

[yeongil]

Technically, I was still 15 when I myself took the AP Music Theory and AP Chemistry exams. (Exams are given in early May, and I turned 16 at the end of May. ;))

 

The AP Music Theory was easy, because I had studied music outside of school since I was 8, so I got a 5. But I don't even know why I took the AP Chem -- I was way over my head and had only taken the required chemistry course in HS (ie. I didn't take 2nd year of chem), and of course, I got a 1. :D

 

 

01

[iluvmy4blessings]

I am new here. Can someone please tell me what the advantage of taking the AP exam would be. For example, my dd is 13 and wants to study environmental science. I found a link on here for a NROC AP Environmental Science class. I know it says AP but don't courses have to be taken through some official place in order to be AP? Also what does it mean when she is finished and takes the exam? How does this help her? Does it just look good on transcripts? Does it transfer anywhere? I am having a hard time figuring it all out right now.

 

Also, normally 8th graders in school would not take a class like this. So am I getting her off track?

[Greensa]

What does NROC stand for? I didn't find that on the abbreviation list.

Sara

[KAR120C]

What does NROC stand for? I didn't find that on the abbreviation list.

Sara

http://www.montereyinstitute.org/nroc/

[KAR120C]

I am new here. Can someone please tell me what the advantage of taking the AP exam would be. For example, my dd is 13 and wants to study environmental science. I found a link on here for a NROC AP Environmental Science class. I know it says AP but don't courses have to be taken through some official place in order to be AP? Also what does it mean when she is finished and takes the exam? How does this help her? Does it just look good on transcripts? Does it transfer anywhere? I am having a hard time figuring it all out right now.

 

Also, normally 8th graders in school would not take a class like this. So am I getting her off track?

It depends on whether they've had their syllabus approved. AP courses can be done without an "official place". They only need a College Board approved syllabus. I'm not sure what NROC does, but if they don't have an approved syllabus they could still be billing the class as being appropriate material for preparing for the exam. If that's the case, you couldn't call it AP on your transcript, but she could take the test.

 

The benefit of an AP exam is that it's a well-known test that high schools and colleges understand (substantiation of more subjective grading). Some colleges will give credit or placement based on AP scores, although I'm not sure if there is a time limit -- that is, whether they'd consider AP scores earned before high school. It would depend on the college I suppose.

 

There is plenty of other science to do, so I wouldn't worry too much about her getting too far ahead. She could still do biology/ chemistry/ physics and/or the AP versions of the same in the next four years... and if she has a particular interest in any one of those you could do something more specific (like a biology interest could go on to botany, marine zoology, etc.) But yes, it is uncommon for an 8th grader to do an AP science, just as a general thing.

[AnitaMcC]

I'm curious as to how many students under the age of 16 have taken AP, CLEP, and/or DSST exams.

 

Neither of our twins have taken AP, CLEP tests yet. Ds took the SAT end of 6th grade and again end of 8th grade. They both took the COMPASS placement test at CC at 14yrs old (this summer) and placed in the college level courses (Ds with flying colors, Dd just squeeked by).

 

We are planning on doing dual-credit courses starting either winter semester or next fall. Depends on if I think they are mature enough to do college courses and if we have enough money saved up for tuition.

 

Not sure if they will CLEP or AP any courses. We are considering this route along with dual credit courses.

[MomsintheGarden]

My two oldest have self-studied for and taken some AP exams, at ages 16+, because I didn't know enough to have them take them at an earlier age. They felt their AP exams varied in difficulty. Here are their opinions on the ones they took. FWIW, all 5's were received except one of them got a 3 on the Chemistry exam.

 

Microeconomics: Easy (for an AP test).

Calculus AB: Middle-range difficulty. If you can, plan to take the extra time to study for the BC exam because you receive more credits for your money & time. BC is not harder; it just covers more topics.

English Language and Composition: Middle-range difficulty. Writing 3 insightful essays in 2 hours is arduous.

Chemistry: Challenging. From what I have heard when talking shop with AP Chemistry teachers at the National Chemistry Olympiad exam, this is a hard test. It is difficult because of its depth, breadth, and the time allowed - there are a lot of multi-step problems on the MCs.

 

I have heard that Biology is difficult, too, because of the amount of memorization involved. I have also heard that World History is more difficult than European or American History because it covers more material, and so on. YMMV depending on the talent and interest of the student, and the preparation materials and methods used.

 

GardenMom

[OLG]

DS did AP Biology at 13. i was in shock when he got a 4 on the exam. We thought it would just be a good experience to "see how he did". I also didn't think his handwriting would do him any favors but I guess these readers are very forgiving!!

 

Once the pattern of learning and then studying for these AP is down, it makes the next ones easier or at least less stressful because they know what to expect. They drive me crazy though!

 

Mary