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My son starts 10th grade this fall...to date we have not undertaken AP designated courses...this fall I am probably submitting my writing course for AP credit, and next year he will take AP lit...this fall he is taking Physics having completed Biology and Chemistry. I do have an AP Biology text..if we teach this...can I claim it is an AP course? Have others done this?

 

Thanks, trying to avoid CC courses or online courses...Distance and scheduling issues..

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Remember that "Advanced Placement" is owned by the College Board. To claim that a class is "AP", one must seek approval of a syllabus by the College Board.

 

What many of us have done is covered the material in an AP course and had our students take the AP exam. The exam score is noted on the transcript with the implication that the class was an AP class.

 

That said, there is process in place for homeschoolers to have their syllabi approved. It does not seem to be terribly difficult. My greater problem was finding a school which would allow my son to take the appropriate AP exams. Some school districts are more open minded than others.

 

Jane

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Thanks Jane!

I have spoken to the college board about my English composition class and feel it would get approved...I am doing this for a class of 16 students, but the AP Biology course would just be my son...so would I have to create a syllabus/course description for that course? I guess I could just put the text down as AP Biology and list the course as Advanced Biology? Since he has already had Biology I was trying to figure out how I distinguish this from his first year. He will take the placement tests, they allow that at our local schools.

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Thanks Jane!

I have spoken to the college board about my English composition class and feel it would get approved...I am doing this for a class of 16 students, but the AP Biology course would just be my son...so would I have to create a syllabus/course description for that course? I guess I could just put the text down as AP Biology and list the course as Advanced Biology? Since he has already had Biology I was trying to figure out how I distinguish this from his first year. He will take the placement tests, they allow that at our local schools.

 

Using the label "Advanced Bio" sounds like a plan! On my son's transcript, I listed assorted test scores (ACT, SAT, AP, SAT subject) in a side box. I think Colleges Admissions people will have no trouble connecting the dots!

 

Jane

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Thanks Jane!

I have spoken to the college board about my English composition class and feel it would get approved...I am doing this for a class of 16 students, but the AP Biology course would just be my son...so would I have to create a syllabus/course description for that course? I guess I could just put the text down as AP Biology and list the course as Advanced Biology? Since he has already had Biology I was trying to figure out how I distinguish this from his first year. He will take the placement tests, they allow that at our local schools.

 

I have waaay less experience than Jane, so take this for what it's worth. :001_smile:

 

I am doing the audit process for courses I will just teach my own dc. :001_smile: I am submitting my Computer Science syllabus this week, and the process of preparing the syllabus has truly prepared me for the course. I owuld probably have gone through much the same process if I had just planned it on my own, so I might as well sumbit it. :001_smile: I will likely submit some for group classes, too, but I'm not sorry I did it for just my own dd.

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I went through the College Board approval process for both AP Psych and AP English Lit. Psych was much easier than lit because we had a great textbook and it was easy to lay it all out and show how it fulfilled each necessary point. Lit was definitely more time consuming, but still very worth it. And it forced me to be more organized earlier on that otherwise would be. ;)

 

But maybe not listing an "AP" course on a transcript could also show more self-motivation?? Just a thought....

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I went through the College Board approval process for both AP Psych and AP English Lit. Psych was much easier than lit because we had a great textbook and it was easy to lay it all out and show how it fulfilled each necessary point. Lit was definitely more time consuming, but still very worth it. And it forced me to be more organized earlier on that otherwise would be. ;)

 

 

Looking ahead for my oldest, I am planning on putting together AP Physics C Mechanics for his junior year (he is a rising sophomore). How far in advance can the paperwork be submitted for approval?

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Looking ahead for my oldest, I am planning on putting together AP Physics C Mechanics for his junior year (he is a rising sophomore). How far in advance can the paperwork be submitted for approval?

You could submit your syllabus now. It would be authorized for 2011-2012 and then all you have do is hit the "resubmit" button (so to speak) in the spring/summer for you to be reauthorized for 2012-2013. ;)

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You could submit your syllabus now. It would be authorized for 2011-2012 and then all you have do is hit the "resubmit" button (so to speak) in the spring/summer for you to be reauthorized for 2012-2013. ;)

 

This, unless they make substantial changes in requirements like they did with world history, then every single world history syllabus has to be re-submitted. My 2010-2011 syllabus got approved in May, then I had to re-submit for next year. Blech.

 

Edited to add: they have 60 days to make a decision, and sometimes it takes every bit of 60 days. Then if they ask for revisions, they can take another 60 days. The secret, though, is that you can be teaching it while revising. It just has to be approved for you to write "AP" on the transcript.

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This, unless they make substantial changes in requirements like they did with world history, then every single world history syllabus has to be re-submitted. My 2010-2011 syllabus got approved in May, then I had to re-submit for next year. Blech.

 

Yikes! Good point! Here is info about revisions for the next two years: AP Changes

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Sorry for being such a "noob" on this topic, but..... I don't understand how AP works. :confused: I understand that the course must be approved by the college board in order to list it as AP on a transcript; however, must a course be approved in order for a student to take the AP test?

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Sorry for being such a "noob" on this topic, but..... I don't understand how AP works. :confused: I understand that the course must be approved by the college board in order to list it as AP on a transcript; however, must a course be approved in order for a student to take the AP test?

 

:lol: noob. Had to think about that for a minute. Ask away! I think we are all about not reinventing the wheel.

 

The class and the test are two separate things. You can take an AP class, and not take the test. You can take the test, without taking a class. Lots of students self study or take the equivalent of an AP course at home (without the teacher going through the College Board syllabus audit process and having an "authorized" course). So no, you don't have to take an AP course to take an AP test.

 

I hope this helps. :)

Edited by Brigid in NC
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Thank you, Brigid! I'm sitting in a Starbucks as I type this (and my previous post) while my ds studies statistics with his tutor using an "AP" book. The fact that ds wanted to study stats during the summer was pleasantly surprising, but learning that he might be able to take the AP test is a real bonus. :)

 

 

Do you have a dc who plays video games? I think that's where I picked up the term "noob." Maybe I get called a noob too often! :tongue_smilie:

 

Thanks again for your response!!!

 

~Karen

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Thank you, Brigid! I'm sitting in a Starbucks as I type this (and my previous post) while my ds studies statistics with his tutor using an "AP" book. The fact that ds wanted to study stats during the summer was pleasantly surprising, but learning that he might be able to take the AP test is a real bonus. :)

 

You're welcome! Here's one more site that will be helpful to your ds if he chooses to take the AP Statistics exam next May: AP Statistics Sample Questions

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