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High School AP Classes and Exams - are they worth it?

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boyzrus

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I've been hearing mixed reviews about the AP level classes in high school. Some people say that it's a good deal to pay $89 to take the test because it might transfer to college.

Others are saying that the risk is too high that your kid will score poorly, so they don't recommend taking them.

I have a sophomore who is very smart and I'm going to have him take the exam for U.S. History, but I was confused on the comments.

Moms with older kids, can you explain this to me?

Thanks so much!
 
It helps to look at the scores that schools your child is interested in will accept for credit.

Back when I graduated in 96 my college took a decent number of exams as credit. I entered Northwestern one credit short of being a sophomore. I graduated two quarters early, saving $20K. My sis just started at American this year and shaved a full semester off her credits.
 
He's a sophomore, so there aren't any schools on the horizon at this time.

I just found it funny that people said it would work against you if you didn't score high enough on the AP exam.
 
My twins are both taking AP classes because even in honors they where completely unchallenged. They like to be challenged and I like the fact that that the college credits are cheap!
 
My DD did really well in the class, but failed the AP exam. I'm not sure how that is even possible. DD is a great student, but not a great test taker. If you think your kids will ace the exam then go for it!
 
stazmatic said:
My DD did really well in the class, but failed the AP exam. I'm not sure how that is even possible. DD is a great student, but not a great test taker. If you think your kids will ace the exam then go for it!
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My DD are super bright but completely suck at test taking. They will be attending tutoring classes at 6 am in April to prepare them for the AP exams.
 
I think it depends on how well your child does in honors classes--I also know that some high school AP is honors--my kids high school makes you take the AP exam--the high school I work at it is optional. My kids did not take any--well one son took one got an A in the class but no points for the test ( okay he got 2 points..) I think that is great to get some college credit for cheaper then most college charge. Helps to lighten the load in college--BUT not necessary
 
I think it depends on what type of college they are looking to go to. The more selective colleges want to see that you are taking the hardest classes possible. Both my kids in college took a bunch of AP classes. The one still in high school who is a junior now took two as a sophomore, has three now and will have 4-5 next year.
 
Yeah, CLEP tests are great. They have books you can get from the library that help you study for them.
 
My son is taking ap us history this year. They need to score a 4 or 5 on the test for credit. I thought if he doesnt do well he can always take the CLEP test
 
I took the CLEP test for English and tested out of that. I probably could have taken it for Math, but I didn't. I had a girl on my dorm floor from Monet, Missouri and she didn't even know how to add, subtract, multiply or divide fractions!

After 12 years of private school, I had a big eye opener with a public university!
 
From what I understood, CLEP credit is a lot more difficult/less available now than 20 years ago .... When I started in 1997 I was pretty much told CLEP credit was not used/offered /available like it used to be. This was a state school.

My mom tested out of a whole year of college with CLEP, but that was in the 70s...
 
One of my ds's clepped out of one or two classes. It seems to be popular with homeschoolers.
 
We have a sophmore in AP US History this year who will take a bunch more AP credit before graduating and a freshman on the same track. It is very important to know the score your child's potential universities are looking for. Our daughter's first choice school wants a 5 I think. Some schools will look for as low as a 3. She is not great at test taking and really the stress would put her over the edge, so unless something drastic happens between now and May, she has no plans to pay to take the AP US history exam. The class looks great on a transcript, though.

We do have friends down the street that are going the route of keeping their daughter in honors classes in hopes of easy "A"s and therefore a higher graduating class rank and GPA. Our daughter has really enjoyed the challenge and discussion in the AP class and I think she would miss that kind of interaction in a more mainstream classroom setting.

Another side note, we just learned that most schools she is looking at require/strongly recommend 4 years of the same foreign language. This was a surprise for us. We were counting on 2 of one language.

Honestly, there is so much to look for and plan so early these days. DS's first hs freshman paper was a research paper on his career choice and 3 universities and their requirements for such a degree. At this point, he just wants to play soccer, but picked physicist as a backup plan. LOL
 
Your child's high school website should have links to the college board website and other helpful information concerning the AP exams/credits etc. Also, if you look at each individual univ., each lists the AP credit they accept and what a student's score must be. It really varies from school to school.
 
DS #1 is headed to Marquette in the fall and they require mostly 5s and some 4s. He has only taken one AP class. He has a different story than DS #2.

This is DS #2 and he has no clue about what he wants to go or what he wants to do. He has a high A in this class right now and does really well on standardized tests, so he's taking it, but who knows about the future. He is a great student and very disciplined, but not so great socially. Not Sheldon Cooper, but a stone's throw away!

What I've found at the public high school is they have "I" level classes, "A" level classes and "AP" classes. The I level classes are for anyone not taking the other classes. So it could be kids with some learning challenges or kids who aren't motivated to do the extra work for the other level classes. In my opinion, too big of a range to teach well. Once you hit junior year, there are no "A" level classes. You have to take I or AP. So if you are a smart kid or want extra work, you have to take AP or be bored out of your skull at the I level.

So you can see why many people don't have their kid take the test! Does that make sense?
 
My son is taking 4 years of Latin. He will probably take the AP test for it even though its not technically an AP class. His teacher prepares them to take the test.

lcoop said:
Another side note, we just learned that most schools she is looking at require/strongly recommend 4 years of the same foreign language. This was a surprise for us. We were counting on 2 of one language.

Honestly, there is so much to look for and plan so early these days. DS's first hs freshman paper was a research paper on his career choice and 3 universities and their requirements for such a degree. At this point, he just wants to play soccer, but picked physicist as a backup plan. LOL
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It is an expensive risk.

I got a 3 on the calc one and my school (U of MO) accepted it for credit. I had a non-math/science degree, that my have played into it? I got a 2 on the French, no credit. My French class was not AP, but the teacher tried to prepare us.

Yes, you definitely need 4 years of the same language. I needed that to get into journalism-track at U of MO and even then I still had to take a semester once I got there.

Je ne comprends pas pourquoi.
 
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