Please help with AP classes at home

[lamolina]

My son attends a local homeschool hybrid program but it does not offer any AP classes. I am interested in learning how to go through one at home with him.

 

I saw you can get a syllubus approved, is this the best way to go about it? Or is it better to simply go through the information and take the test without having the actual class on the transcript?

 

He is our oldest so I am completely new to all of this.

 

thanks!

[snowbeltmom]

In my experience, the colleges care more about the AP score than whether or not the class has an official AP designation.

 

My oldest son had a mixture of official AP classes and "home-brewed" classes that I did not have approved by the College Board listed on his transcript.  In the case of the home-brewed classes, I listed the classes on the transcript as " X with AP exam" in order to easily convey to the admissions staff that the course was at the level of the AP classes.

[lamolina]

That makes sense and is what I would like to do. Is there a good place to find help choosing the curriculum that is most likely to help him achieve well on the test?

[mumto2]

If you look at the the Collegeboard's teacher pages for the AP you sre interested in suggested textbooks are listed near the sample syllabus section. It's a good place to start. Here is the teacher section for AP Macroeconomicshttp://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/2120.html.

 

Whichever exam you pick to work towards I recommend getting a copy of a good AP review book to use as reference. Libraries frequently have them.

[MarkT]

My son attends a local homeschool hybrid program but it does not offer any AP classes. I am interested in learning how to go through one at home with him.

 

 

Anyone else at the homeschool hybrid program interested in doing APs?

Might be worth asking to share the effort.

 

For homegrown AP courses - I think that LuckyMama has the most experience.

[lamolina]

That is a great idea to ask at the hybrid. I can't be the only one wishing they had APs!

[Harriet Vane]

I didn't bother getting my syllabus approved by the AP. I responded on another thread about how we studied. Dd scored really well on every AP she took, and we are really proud of her.

 

On her transcript, I listed the classes by name (such as World History) and then added AP score right next to the name of the course, like so:

 

World History__AP score: (number)

 

(Yes, I bolded the score because I wanted to make sure the college would take note of it.)

 

So, the front of her transcript is a list of her classes, grades, and credit hours by subject. The other side of the transcript lists schools (because she took a chemistry course at a private high school and took a few dual credit courses at community college), test scores. employment, internships, achievements and awards, activities, and volunteering. So, the AP scores appear in two places, next to her classes on the front of the transcript and also in the section for test scores (included there are AP, CLEP, SAT, ACT).

 

Dd's Spanish teacher did get the syllabus approved by the College Board, so that one is listed as AP Spanish, with the score right next to it as I have already described. 

 

My take on this is that getting the syllabus approved by the College Board is a real pain. Simply taking the tests and showing the score seemed to do the trick for us. This was also a relief in some ways, because if dd hadn't scored well on the AP exams, I could have chosen to never disclose that she took the tests. We don't have to report them unless we want to. (But she did wonderfully, so we were proud to report.)

[Luckymama]

My take on this is that getting the syllabus approved by the College Board is a real pain.

Homestly, I have not found this to be true. I spend just as much time developing an AP course and writing the syllabus as I would if I were designing a high-quality, non-AP class for dd.

 

When getting a syllabus approved, you need to note the specific curricular requirements as specified by the AP people. I mark those in bold next to that portion of my description or listed activity or reading assignment, like [sC 1] for the first requirement.

 

I have waited between two hours and a week for syllabus approval.

 

I have had syllabi for science (the old AP Physics B, Environmental Science), math (Calc AB), and social sciences (Human Geography, Psychology, Comparative Government and Politics) approved.

 

I know my limits and outsourced English Language! Dd's language does not have an AP exam. She does not want to study Bio or Chem. I am a little nervous about Stats but am going to spend the summer refreshing my memory.

 

Dd is heading toward potential government work abroad. We are using APs to demonstrate rigor, validate her grades from me, and for potential college credit to faciliate very advanced language study, a possible double major, and extensive study abroad. (Almost all of the 23 schools on The Big List grant AP credit. The ones remaining are super duper selective.)