AP courses and AP tests question

[housemouse]

At what age/grade can a student start taking AP courses and AP tests? Almost everywhere I read, it is recommended to wait until 11th/12th grade to take AP courses and AP tests? Can student take them earlier- 10th grade or 9th grade or earlier?

 

Thank you.

[MarkT]

I have a friend whose daughter started taking APs in 8th grade at a public school.

Many start in 9th or 10th.

 

Some courses are easier.

[Arcadia]

If the student is ready for the course and exam, why not?

 

Basis has students taking their first AP exam in 8th grade. Private schools here let heritage speakers take the AP in their heritage language in 9th grade e.g. AP Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese. One of the private school I toured allow AP Calc in 9th if the student is ready.

[rlestina]

Any age, if the student is ready for it.  I currently have an 8th grader who will be sitting an AP exam this year.  My current 10th grader is taking 2 APs this year and took 1 last year.  There's no stated minimum age from the college board, so it's really just about whether the student is ready for it.  Note however some AP classes from some providers may have their own policies about minimum ages or grades -- but that applies only to that school or provider, not to AP classes/exams generically.

[Baile]

Students can take AP exams as early as they would like. I know of a student who took AP Calculus as a homeschooled 5th grader last year, and AP Human Geography is offered to 9th graders in our local public school. 

 

Except for foreign languages, you cannot use the AP label for a course before 9th grade. There is some info here. 

Edited April 18, 2016 by Baile

[DebbS]

If your student knows the material, why wait? If you plan all of your AP tests for 11th or 12th grade, you're either going to limit the number of that you take or your going to cram a lot of tests into a two week time period which can be really stressful.

[counselinggirl]

On a side note, does anyone know if the AP Test scores are automatically sent to the colleges your DC applies to automatically or do you get to choose which scores are sent to which colleges or if at all? Thank you.

[Luckymama]

No, you'll need to pay to have them sent. Most send them after admission; scores are generally self-reported only during the application process.