AP Exams

[Lux Et Veritas Academy]

So what prep have you done for these- Have you taught around the test, or just prepared as normal hoping to pass the exam. I see a possibility of 5 tests my daughter could excel in, yet I hate to study to an exam- exactly like "no child left behind"......yet, I want to see her excel in these areas for the benefit of her college years.

 

Auughhhh this is tough- help:glare:

[Chris in VA]

Definitely recommend getting an AP test prep book and going thru it (actually one for each test). They are looking for specific types of info, they are not necessarily only testing content (you have to be test-wise to excel at these), and it would be unfair not to prepare dd. Remember that-- it is a test, and not the absolute best way to determine what she knows--it is also a test of how she can fit her knowledge into the little box marked Essay that they give her.

[Anne/Ankara]

Ask us again in ten days when it's over! I'm not sure we're doing it the best way, but my ds took a one semester course (Env. Science) at a local univ, and now is scheduled to take the AP exam next week. The course did not cover all the material in the test, so he's reviewing with some prep books.

 

These prep books seem to vary quite a bit in terms of depth, so it's hard to know how they match to the actual exam. Smartypants Guide seemed very concise, Princeton Review was rather easy/light, but REA was very detailed. It will be interesting to see what the actual test covers! The College Board website also has some examples of the Free Response essay questions, and answers, so that's helpful.

 

On another question-- do I understand correctly that the student can self -select which AP exam scores to include in college application (similar to ACT and unlike SAT)? Just wondering because I've heard different things about that...

[Ms. Riding Hood]

My answer is not too helpful because I'd say it depends! If you have a textbook that correlates well with the AP course description then your dc would naturally cover the same material that's on the test and it's that much easier to prepare for the exam. If your books don't correlate, then you'd certainly need to cover the material that isn't there. You can call that teaching to the test or you can look at it as covering good material that you might not have otherwise covered. Now, a different question might be, "What if my child wants to go really in depth on XYZ topic, and skim lightly over some other areas?" That's more when your child has to make a tough choice: to study what she wants, or to prepare for the exam. At any rate, you still need to plan to spend a week or two prior to the exam working through an AP prep book for your subject (unless you plan to work through it all year alongside your texts.) The student must really be familiar with the test format, types of questions, etc. For the history exams, this is especially critical because they have essay questions and document based questions that (IMO) need lots of practice beforehand so the student knows how to approach these. The AP website also provides old exams, with answer keys, and with sample student answers that have been critiqued. If you look at the section called "Courses and Exams" you'll find links to many helpful areas, including exam questions, teacher resources, and course descriptions--which are detailed outlines of what the test will cover.

[Gwen in VA]

"I hate to study to an exam- exactly like "no child left behind"......

 

Like you, I was worried that going the AP route would cramp our style and end up dictating exactly what we studied during high school. Then I actually spent some time poking through the college board website, really looking at the material covered for several exams. I was delighted!

 

The exams covered the type of material and demanded the type of skills that we wanted to develop in our children. For us, the AP route was fantastic because the AP exams dovetailed amazingly closely with what we wanted to do with our kids in high school!

 

Look very seriously at what the AP exams cover -- both the content and the skills needed to do well on the exams. (For example, writing essays based on primary source documents would be a skill that would be developed while taking an AP history class.)

 

If the description of the AP courses and exams don't match at least somewhat with your goals for your children, maybe you should find another route for high school......but I would be surprised if you didn't get pretty excited by what is expected of kids on those exams!

[Jan in MO]

Ditto to everything Gwen said. We've been very pleased with the rigor, depth and breadth of the material that is required to do well on one of those AP exams. My sophomore dd will have completed 5 exams (2 last year, 3 this year) and after doing so I am more than certain that she can handle onsite college classes this fall. Plus she will have earned nearly a whole year worth of college credit by doing those 5 subjects.

[Murphy101]

oh wow.

there's a LOT of info on college board and apcentral!

teacher guides, samples of tests and syllabi, subject info to be covered and lots more.

I'm seriously considering adding this as a goal for completion of our US history next year to see how it goes.

 

For those of you that have done it already - advice? How did your study in that subject change when you decided to make it an AP course worthy subject?