Why do AP?

[Quiver0f10]

What are the benefits of taking AP courses/tests other than showing that a student can do college level work? Does taking AP courses = scholarship money? Would SAT II be a better choice than AP as far as scholarship money ? Which would be more desirable for entrance to better schools?

 

Thanks. :)

[Gwen in VA]

BOTH AND

 

1) Check with the college. I know some kids who are at Cedarville on scholarship who didn't do any SAT2's. But if you are applying to Swarthmore, you need SAT2's. So find out not only what the college requires but also what the college would prefer. (For example, William & Mary technically doesn't require SAT2's, but I have been told twice that they don't really consider any homeschooler who doesn't have SAT2 scores as external verification.)

 

2) AP's don't necessarily replace SAT2's. Check with the college.

 

3) SAT2's show high school level achievement. AP's are supposed to represent the equivalent of college-level work. AP's certainly don't equal scholarship money, but they do show that a student can do advanced work, and so would make the student a stronger merit scholarship candidate.

 

4) AP scores can be used at some (but not all) colleges for credit. I have heard of foreign language SAT2 scores being used by some colleges to fulfill the language requirement, but otherwise SAT2's aren't used for credit at all.

 

Check with the colleges your kids are looking at.

[Quiver0f10]

Thank you!

[LilyK]

Well, my response may be a little antiquated so correct me if I am off. It used to be that AP classes gave you a higher high school GPA. For instance, if you got a B in an AP class, it would be the same as if you got an A in a regular class. Also, if you take te AP test, many colleges would, not give you college units, but exempt you from taking the class. For instance, if you got a 4 or 5 on the English exam, you did not get any college units, but you were exempt from having to take freshman comp.

 

Does that help? Is that accurate, people?

[Quiver0f10]

That does help, thanks!

[Ria]

Ap classes will prepare you for the AP tests, which will give you college credits if you score high enough (the score for credit varies by college). In general, AP classes are considered to be more challenging, and thus look better on a high school transcript whether or not the child scores well enough on the exam for college credit.

 

IMO, if my child can handle an AP class, it's worth the $60 (I think that's the current fee) to take the exam...shoot, that could save $1000-3000 for a class in college.

 

Ria

[JFSinIL]

Well, my response may be a little antiquated so correct me if I am off. It used to be that AP classes gave you a higher high school GPA. For instance, if you got a B in an AP class, it would be the same as if you got an A in a regular class. Also, if you take te AP test, many colleges would, not give you college units, but exempt you from taking the class. For instance, if you got a 4 or 5 on the English exam, you did not get any college units, but you were exempt from having to take freshman comp.

 

Does that help? Is that accurate, people?

Yes - you may still have to take, say, an English course...but instead of Freshman Comp you could take, say Shakespeare (if you had a high enough score in AP English Lang and/or Lit)

[Ria]

Well, my response may be a little antiquated so correct me if I am off. It used to be that AP classes gave you a higher high school GPA. For instance, if you got a B in an AP class, it would be the same as if you got an A in a regular class. Also, if you take te AP test, many colleges would, not give you college units, but exempt you from taking the class. For instance, if you got a 4 or 5 on the English exam, you did not get any college units, but you were exempt from having to take freshman comp.

 

Does that help? Is that accurate, people?

 

Both my dh and I got college credit for our AP scores. That's been the same at all the schools my children have looked at in the past two years. A good score on the AP exam often means college credit. Yes, some schools are different, but the majority do give credits, not just exemptions.

 

Ria

[Gwen in VA]

I love AP's.

 

My dd is double-majoring in art history and chemistry and minoring in museum studies. Because of AP's, she entered with over 20 credits and had fulfilled the gen ed requirements for writing, history, math, and one or two other things before she ever started her first semester. She will graduate on time, which she could not have done had she not started off with so many credits and so many gen ed requirements filled.

 

My ds is double-majoring in philosophy and economics and minoring in math. Again, because of AP's he entered with over 20 credits. Between the requirements for his majors and his AP credits, the ONLY course he needed to take to fulfill the gen ed requirements was music history. Again, he will graduate easily in four years.

 

Additionally, because of his AP credits, he started out his freshman year taking 200-level economics and math classes, which qualified him for a research position this summer. Usually these positions are only taken by juniors because most students take 2 - 4 semesters to take all th math and econ classes that he will have finished by the end of his freshman year!!!!!

[Chris in VA]

I wish I had known about AP classes when I went to school. I actually got credit for Freshman English based on my ACT score!

Just an aside for ya.

 

 

AP classes are supposed to go deeper into the material, be more challenging and of higher quality than regular high school classes. The credit thing is the biggest attraction for me, however. If my sons were in school, the other attraction would be the quality of the kids in the class with him, but that's moot at home.

[Larissa]

What I didn't know until this year was that many students who are applying to very competitive colleges take many APs. Back in the old days, taking 3 or 4 APs was great and showed that you were a serious student, capable of college work.

 

My daughter applied to college this year. In her junior year she took English Lit AP (and got a 5) and took physics at a local college (she got an A). For her senior year, she took chemistry at the college and is taking the Calculus AP (BC) exam. (Our reasoning was that it's beneficial to get the lab experience for the sciences, so she took them at college, but for English and Calculus the AP was sufficient and would give her credit when she went for her degree.) I thought my daughter would be very competitive. She also scored perfect 800s in her SAT subject tests in English, Math level 2 and Chemistry, but I don't know if that's as important. Those tests are much easier than the APs in the same subjects.

 

Well, it turned out that at very competitive high schools, students are in a mad rush to begin APs by sophomore year. For some of the scholarships she applied to, the students have 10 AP classes or more. (This is in NJ, where everyone is crazy about getting into the ivy league.) So...her transcript was not as impressive as I thought. Still, I would recommend taking AP exams. Colleges seem to expect them, and they show the ability to handle college-level work.

 

Larissa

homeschooling 5 in NJ, grades 1-12

[Kareni]

IMO, if my child can handle an AP class, it's worth the $60 (I think that's the current fee) to take the exam...shoot, that could save $1000-3000 for a class in college.

 

 

 

Sadly inflation has struck and the fee is now $86.00 per exam. There are some price reductions possible for those with financial need. Also, some states subsidize test fees.

 

See AP Fees.

 

My senior has taken three AP tests thus far with one more slated for this year. We believe that the classes have been learning experiences for her and that the test scores have strengthened her college application.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Laurel]

Both my sister and I entered college with more than a year's worth of credits, due to AP classes. I fulfilled all of my "distribution requirements", i.e. types of classes required for graduation, with AP tests, so I could take classes I was interested in. I was also able to graduate in three years. (A savings of nearly $35,000!)

[LizzyBee]

Both my dh and I got college credit for our AP scores. That's been the same at all the schools my children have looked at in the past two years. A good score on the AP exam often means college credit. Yes, some schools are different, but the majority do give credits, not just exemptions.

 

Ria

 

My niece didn't get credit, but she was able to substitute other classes. So she entered college as a sophomore, but still had to do 4 years of work to get her degree. It's good to know that's not the norm.

[WTMindy]

What are the benefits of taking AP courses/tests other than showing that a student can do college level work? Does taking AP courses = scholarship money? Would SAT II be a better choice than AP as far as scholarship money ? Which would be more desirable for entrance to better schools?

 

Thanks. :)

 

I entered college with 9 semester credits so, it is basically free (for the price of the test) college credits. :-) I graduated a semester early.

[Quiver0f10]

Thanks again everyone! We have registered him to take the chem AP exam in May. Now to prepare :eek:

[Kelli in TN]

Quick question, how many AP tests can one take, and score high enough to earn a credit on, can a student take before they are no longer considered an incoming freshman and therefore ineligible for freshman scholarships and state scholarships? Is it the same as dual credit limits?

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Quick question, how many AP tests can one take, and score high enough to earn a credit on, can a student take before they are no longer considered an incoming freshman and therefore ineligible for freshman scholarships and state scholarships? Is it the same as dual credit limits?

 

There's no limit that I know of because the courses were taken while the student was a high schooler. If they take college classes after they are graduated from high school (even summer between high and college), THEN the credits become troublesome and can disqualify a student from freshman status.

[Tammyla]

Jean,

When we were in California, the AP classes also boosted the GPA on transcripts. A friends dd graduated with a 4.3 GPA from high school. That was a while ago, but might be worth checking into.

[Quiver0f10]

Jean,

When we were in California, the AP classes also boosted the GPA on transcripts. A friends dd graduated with a 4.3 GPA from high school. That was a while ago, but might be worth checking into.

 

Thanks. I will have to look into it.

[Kelli in TN]

There's no limit that I know of because the courses were taken while the student was a high schooler. If they take college classes after they are graduated from high school (even summer between high and college), THEN the credits become troublesome and can disqualify a student from freshman status.

 

Then I wonder why her dual credit classes can count against her freshman status? She is fine, she has not taken enough dual enrollment classes to even come close to be too many, but I do know that after a certain number the student loses freshman status and is ineligible for 4 year scholarships.