AP exams when have dual credit?

[Janeway]

Son is taking classes labeled AP, but they are also offered at dual credit. It is through a school. He is also thinking of applying to a couple more competitive schools that require the SAT subject tests, which he is already registered for. Should he take the AP exams? Or forget them? This year, he will have 3 credits freshman English, 3 credits history, and 3 credits government. His AP class is American Literature. Should he be taking the AP exam for that?

[alewife]

2 hours ago, Janeway said:

Son is taking classes labeled AP, but they are also offered at dual credit. It is through a school. He is also thinking of applying to a couple more competitive schools that require the SAT subject tests, which he is already registered for. Should he take the AP exams? Or forget them? This year, he will have 3 credits freshman English, 3 credits history, and 3 credits government. His AP class is American Literature. Should he be taking the AP exam for that?

If he is applying to competitive schools that practice holistic admissions, I would have him sit for the AP exams of the classes he is taking since an admissions office may question why an AP score is not listed for an AP class and then assume that the student scored poorly on the AP exam since a score was not listed.  (There is no AP American Literature class though, so if the school is listing that class as "AP" I would question that with the school administration since that would be in violation of the College Board rules.)

 

[Janeway]

16 hours ago, alewife said:

If he is applying to competitive schools that practice holistic admissions, I would have him sit for the AP exams of the classes he is taking since an admissions office may question why an AP score is not listed for an AP class and then assume that the student scored poorly on the AP exam since a score was not listed.  (There is no AP American Literature class though, so if the school is listing that class as "AP" I would question that with the school administration since that would be in violation of the College Board rules.)

 

I suspect it is supposed to be AP English Composition, but I looked at his class schedule and on his class schedule, it is listed as AP American Literature. When the report cards come out, or at least copies of transcripts, maybe it will list it as something different.

[kokotg]

So these are dual credit classes offered at his high school in coordination with a college? What I've gathered from the reading I've done is that selective colleges usually place more value on AP classes than on dual enrollment classes like that. Vassar's website, for example, has a section where they talk specifically about dual credit classes offered at high schools and how they "should be approached with caution." The thinking, as far as I can tell, is that there's no standardization with these classes and no way for the college to tell whether they're genuinely equivalent to a class taught at a college with other college students. So I would think that having AP scores to back up the grades he has from those classes and show that he's done college level work would be very helpful when applying to selective colleges.

[katilac]

On 1/4/2019 at 5:30 PM, kokotg said:

So these are dual credit classes offered at his high school in coordination with a college? What I've gathered from the reading I've done is that selective colleges usually place more value on AP classes than on dual enrollment classes like that. Vassar's website, for example, has a section where they talk specifically about dual credit classes offered at high schools and how they "should be approached with caution." The thinking, as far as I can tell, is that there's no standardization with these classes and no way for the college to tell whether they're genuinely equivalent to a class taught at a college with other college students. So I would think that having AP scores to back up the grades he has from those classes and show that he's done college level work would be very helpful when applying to selective colleges.

 

It seems this has changed and they just flat out don't accept any dual enrollment or any course not taken on the college campus: Credit will be granted only for coursework completed on a college or university campus along with other undergraduates, taught by a qualified college teacher, not taken as part of a dual-enrollment program, and neither granted high school credit nor used to meet high school graduation requirements.

They also take no more than 4 credits by exam and no more than 8 credits total. 

[kokotg]

2 minutes ago, katilac said:

 

It seems this has changed and they just flat out don't accept any dual enrollment or any course not taken on the college campus: Credit will be granted only for coursework completed on a college or university campus along with other undergraduates, taught by a qualified college teacher, not taken as part of a dual-enrollment program, and neither granted high school credit nor used to meet high school graduation requirements.

They also take no more than 4 credits by exam and no more than 8 credits total. 

 

I was thinking of it more in terms of what "looks good" to selective colleges than what they'll grant credit for. It seems like, generally speaking, most kids who have a good shot of getting into highly selective colleges are going to come in with more credit from AP classes and or DE than they'll actually be allowed to use.