Calling it AP on a transcript…

[BlessedMomto3]

I am just checking to make sure I’m correct in this…

My son has taken AP classes through providers (PA AP for example) and so on his transcript I have them listed as “AP US History” or whatever.

He is self studying for two AP classes next year.  It is my understanding that I cannot list the classes on his transcript as AP, because I haven’t had a syllabus approved by the college board - is this correct?  For those who have self studied and not had the course approved, did you note it as a credit in any way for the year, or was the AP test and score only listed under test scores?  I was planning on giving him a credit for the class, but I am wondering how to label it.  I also don’t *need* to list it as a credit if listing the test score is enough I guess…

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[cintinative]

Somewhere on this board there is a thread about getting your syllabus approved by the college board. It kind of sounds like there are suggested syllabi you can use. In that case, you should still be able to have something approved for him, and call it "AP _________________."  If I remember correctly, the people who posted on that thread indicated there is some leeway to deviate from the syllabus you said you were going to use.

The other option is to call it "history with AP exam" or something like that, assuming he is taking the AP exam.

 

ETA: Here is the thread

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by cintinative

[ScoutTN]

Our umbrella school lists such classes as Honors —— with AP exam.

[Miss Tick]

5 minutes ago, cintinative said:

It kind of sounds like there are suggested syllabi you can use. In that case, you should still be able to have something approved for him, and call it "AP _________________." 

The year we were scrambling for physics I got myself approved as an AP provider. I picked a syllabus and textbook from the suggested lists and it got done in a week. I think the only hang-up was that I had to provide a picture of a signed statement that I was planning to teach AP Physics. It wasn't a hardship to choose from their syllabus list, because clearly you want to cover the topics that are going to be in the test, and that's what those list. They don't dictate time spent power topic, and shuffling the order is not unusual in any class. The textbooks listed were available at a range of prices.

10 minutes ago, cintinative said:

The other option is to call it "history with AP exam"

I've seen this suggested often.

Is the intent of the AP class to show that he is capable of completing college level work? For instance if he will be a senior next year, the test results won't come back until will after colleges have made decisions. Then getting the syllabus approved makes sense.

Is getting a good score in order to not have to take particular classes the key thing? Then the test itself is the thing that matters.

This doesn't sound like a concern for your ds, but I could also imagine wanting to be able to label the class as AP whatever if there was a larger than average chance that he might really flub the test due to anxiety. Having "AP Class" on the transcript vs "Class" (with the "with AP test part removed) might be more compelling? I've never read about anyone in that situation, though.

In the final reckoning, consensus seems to be that either option, "AP class" or "class with AP test", will look about the same to colleges.

[Alice]

5 hours ago, BlessedMomto3 said:

I am just checking to make sure I’m correct in this…

My son has taken AP classes through providers (PA AP for example) and so on his transcript I have them listed as “AP US History” or whatever.

He is self studying for two AP classes next year.  It is my understanding that I cannot list the classes on his transcript as AP, because I haven’t had a syllabus approved by the college board - is this correct?  For those who have self studied and not had the course approved, did you note it as a credit in any way for the year, or was the AP test and score only listed under test scores?  I was planning on giving him a credit for the class, but I am wondering how to label it.  I also don’t *need* to list it as a credit if listing the test score is enough I guess…

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I listed it as "AOPS Calculus (at the AP BC level)" . My son self-studied for Calculus. Similarly he took a Chem class that prepared them for the AP exam but the teacher hadn't had it approved officially (it was at our co-op). We called that "Advanced Chemistry at the AP level". In the course descriptions I just said he prepared and took the AP exam. For Chemistry, he had a score when he was applying to college. For Calculus he didn't but he did have other Math standardized scores that showed he was a strong student. 

[kokotg]

for future reference, it's very easy to get courses approved through the college board...you just have to "adopt" the sample syllabus, and that's pretty much it. But for my kids' classes where I didn't do that, I listed them as "x class with AP exam"

[BlessedMomto3]

Thank you all!! This is very helpful!  Hearing it’s so easy to get an approved syllabus approved makes me lean that way.  Thanks again!