Extra Insight - AP courses Senior Year

[The Mystery Machine]

If you choose to go the AP route one thing I would want to know is the success rate for the students.
How many are scoring 4's/5's on their AP exams.

My DS's highschool had a dismal 6% pass rate of a 3 or better, our whole district which has 13 high schools has something like a 20% getting a 3 or better. Not all AP courses & curriculum are created equal so before you drop a chunk of cash, not the facts and the likely hood of that money paying off. Also something to consider is you are looking at $400+ for a class, how much is the same class at say a community college? Here, at $50 or so a unit a CC class would be a better choice over these proposed AP classes

Totally agree. My dd was very angry with the AP Biology teacher. She did not do squat and so dd pulls a 3 on the test.

 

[blissventure]

Way OT but I had an interesting discussion with a client a few years ago as he felt that his child should pay for college since he had.. I asked him where does a high school graduate get a part time job where he takes home $30,000 per year?

OP check out this college discussion site for other information for your quest..http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/

Bless you!!! The truth is mentioned. Whether the school costs $15,000 less or about your estimate, the student will never be able to afford it, alone. Wish parents would read up on FAFSA, how college is funded, what what is basically expected of parents. Not my opinion, it's just how the funding works. Obviously, there are junior colleges that allow a student to live at home and take classes for a year or two at a cheaper price. It's prudent, though, to check whether the classes transfer. They don't always, even within the same state public college system.

And about AP classes--colleges know exactly what was offered at each HS. They get a school profile attached to the transcript. If it's not attached, they request it. It's generally considered a good idea to take the most challenging classes a student is able to manage.

AP's cut off a year of college for both kids. It was money very well spent.
We paid for the exams without knowing it would turn out this way. Even if it helps cut off only a semester, college isn't cheap. AP's are a steal in comparison.

 

[prncssmel]

Totally agree. My dd was very angry with the AP Biology teacher. She did not do squat and so dd pulls a 3 on the test.

Wow, that is horrible. I had wonderful AP teachers for all my courses. We also had a very high pass rate, all over 75% except for one class (Calc).

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

You must be in New York!!

Yep, gotta love NY...

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Honestly, pretty much all of those AP courses would translate into credits for General Education classes at the college/university level (if DD got 4/5 on the test... which is often another expense).

Has your DD taken enough foreign language classes for her HS graduation and college entrance requirements? If so, then AP Foreign Language won't necessarily gain her anything.

Personally, I'd go for AP English, which will help for college requirements (if DD does well on the test). And then maybe pick one more AP course that is in DD's interest.

AP courses can have a very heavy load. IMO, it's more important that students take a few AP classes (esp. in areas that interest them and apply towards their college degree) and do well in all of their classes than having the student overload on every available AP class.

Don't forget there will be a lot of extracurricular activities (formal dances, visits to colleges, college applications, hanging with friends) that will be going on during that Senior Year also!

DD has more than enough language, took Spanish Regents and passed...

Thank you for the suggestion, I will talk with her regarding which ones she feels is most important and go for there..

 

[Christine]

To the OP:

We completed the FAFSA a few months ago. We are a dual income family, live in a high cost of living area, so on paper our income is high but, like you, we don't have a ton of money. However, I can and do pay for one of my kids to go to private school.

Our FAFSA number (EFC) was something like 44000. The school my daughter was accepted to offered for me to get a loan of $1800 and my daughter could take one out for $2200. That's it. That is all of the government backed loans we could get for the year. Period. After that, we would have to do personal loans.

Please take note of this when you think about where your daughter can afford to go to college. She probably won't qualify for much in the way of government loans.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

You have to pay for your child to take AP courses? My son (17) is a senior now & has been taking AP classes since the begining of his junior year--when he graduates in May of this year he will have enough credits to be a college freshman for 1 semester, then he will technically be a sophomore. We have not had to pay ANY $ for any of these courses. We occasionally get a bill from one of the colleges he's taking the classes through, but we just have to turn it in the the H.S. office & it's taken care of. We have saved so much money this way--I thought all schools did this for free

Yep, we have to pay. Not sure how it is in the Public School here. I went to the Public school but I opted to work so I am not sure how it works now, plus it was a "few" years ago when I was there..

Nope - My DS took an AP Chem. class where the lab was at the local Univ. We had to pay $275 for the lab portion of the class plus the $85 for the test. Our school district mandates that all kids must take the tests but they do not pay for them (unless one requests financial aide thru the school and thru College Board)

I wanted to thank you for you other post re: your suggestions. I accidentally quoted this one... But really, thank you for the honest reply and the time you took to write it. I am definetely going to think this one out very carefully.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Um, I am not slamming you. I was asking a serious question. We did not save either.

My dd is going to college in the fall and has none of those. We applied however you have to hit that SAT number.

Is she a Merit Scholar? How did she do on the PSAT test?

All this stuff factors in for getting scholarships. I encourage you to look at the colleges, and see what the requirements are now.

OH my, I am so sorry, I didn't take it as a slam. I wrote my reply more as a confession of a Mother. This topic has me thinking long and hard about decisions I have made. You also brought up questions that I had to think about. Yes she did take the PSAT and yes she is a Merit Scholar (okay, I am pretty sure this is true, I have to double check when she gets home). Her SAT scores are due back this week. She will not be going to college for another year so we are definetely looking into scholarships.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

So you made this agreement withher when she was starting high school? At age 14 you expected her to understand what it meant to promise to pay for college?

Back to the subject:

Does she anticipate attending a highly competative college, or an average school? If she's going for a top-top school, where admission is difficult to obtain, then she needs the AP courses to assure that she's a viable candidate. Without them, she won't have a real chance of admission. On the other hand, if she's likely to attend an average college, then she might be better off taking a couple courses at the community college during her senior year of high school.

When you take an AP course, you MIGHT pass the test (even really strong students don't always pass them) and the college you end up choosing MIGHT accept those credits.
When you take a community college course (assuming you pass), you DEFINITELY have earned a credit. Of course, you should choose wisely to make sure that the eventual college will accept the transfer credits.

Finally, I've never heard of a high school charging for AP classes. Perhaps the fee is to pay for the test, which is about $65?

Yes, she totally understood this arrangement at 14. We also reaffirmed her decision each year before signing her up for the next year. I spoke with her in the car ride today and she is going to get me a list of colleges and check their policies on the AP credits.

 

[minniecarousel]

Honestly - I'd skip the AP English, AP Science, AP Spanish & the for-fee Religion class. All those AP classes would prepare her for the AP tests, which requires another fee (unless the school's fee includes the nation-wide official AP test given every May.)

I'd stick with the for-fee Dance and elective, along with the AP Econ & AP Gov't. Scoring high marks on the AP tests allows you to receive college credit, so getting Econ & Gov't out of the way is probably a good idea.

They've suggested an aggressive schedule, but that's a lot of AP tests to prepare for!

 

[bumbershoot]

I am going to sit down with her this weekend and we can go to the websites. This is all so new to me. I feel for her. IF I am confused, I can't even imagine what is going through her head.

I was 17 when I went to college, and my mom hadn't been to college at all...my dad was actually IN college, but he had never given good advice before, so I ignored what he had to say, LOL. Anyway, it's a weird, scary, confusing time, but it should be OK.

Little thing I highly recommend...if she doesn't KNOW what she wants to do, or if the money isn't there for 4 years at a big school...she shouldn't be afraid to start at comm. college. Although I wouldn't have met the friends I did freshman year, I would have done much better to do just that. My dad tried to get me to hear that, but like I said, he'd never been known for his practical advice before...didn't realize how much sense it would have made for me to do just that.

Has your DD taken enough foreign language classes for her HS graduation and college entrance requirements? If so, then AP Foreign Language won't necessarily gain her anything.

That's actually a really good point.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Also I can't believe this school charges $8,000 a year tuition and then charges for AP courses on top of that . I went to a mediocre public high school where 25% of each class year dropped out before graduation and only 30% or so of those who graduated went to a 4 year college. Still, our AP courses were free.


A bit off topic--what are the world religion, dance, and entrepreneur classes? Are they AP type classes? I don't remember them existing when I was in high school. Or are they university classes? Why do they cost extra money?

In all fairness first I removed alot of the post to save space. Yes I pay high tuition and yes she qualifies for financial aid. We have secured through a family member an interest free loan to pay for both of our children to go to HS. We will be paying that off while they are in college. So even though it may appear that our income is high, sadly it is not. She will qualify for many federal/state based grants. And to answer your questions, Catholic School - hence religion is a must. World religion is a class offered by the same university that offers the other AP courses. College credit, yes - for what, I have NO clue. Dance is offered as an alternative to gym, but also require 2 performances, thus the fee. The entrepreneur class is also a university class, but I believe it is more for a resource than for a college credit.

 

[themarquis]

1) your DD sure got the short end of the stick with that deal you guys made. You paid for catholic high school (8k x 4 years = 32k) and she gets to pay for university (~20k, conservatively, including modest living expenses, books, etc x 4 years = 100k). You got off cheap!*

2) What courses does your DD want to take? Have you thought about taking the lead from what she wants to do and what she's interested in?

* It does strike me that your dd would find university much more affordable if that 32k had been put in a college fund for her. It's hard for me to imagine that catholic high school could provide such obvious tangible benefits as to substitute for a good chunk of college funding or to take the place of a good 4 year degree in a career-oriented profession (since she may end up in CC or a vocational school due to funding issues). not trying to come off as sarcastic or mean -- a ton of people (especially folks who didn't go to college themselves) really don't understand the process, costs involved, etc. I don't know how old your other kids are, but it's something to think about when it comes time for them.

 

[mamacatnv]

Totally agree. My dd was very angry with the AP Biology teacher. She did not do squat and so dd pulls a 3 on the test.

DS's has 2 close friends who are both Bio-Chem majors. They were in the top 5% of all NV Graduating Seniors, they are super good students and smart kids - they both took AP Bio (My DS wisely dropped it after the first semester) neither one of them even got a 3. So, guess what they are both taking again this year, as Freshman at the standard Univ. rate?

 

[mamacatnv]

themarquis, Mrs. Pete and anyone else who thinks the OP was looking for comments on her finances and the deal she made with her daughter.......
could have................should have................would have

Deal with the now

 

[agnes!]

This is a very interesting thread.

My DD is a sophomore, is taking AP World History this year and next year is taking 2 AP classes (AP English Lit & AP American History). I loooooove her AP World HIstory teacher, she's phenomenal. She's so good that she's one of the assessors for the essay portion of the AP World History exam.

agnes!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

1) your DD sure got the short end of the stick with that deal you guys made. You paid for catholic high school (8k x 4 years = 32k) and she gets to pay for university (~20k, conservatively, including modest living expenses, books, etc x 4 years = 100k). You got off cheap!*

2) What courses does your DD want to take? Have you thought about taking the lead from what she wants to do and what she's interested in?

* It does strike me that your dd would find university much more affordable if that 32k had been put in a college fund for her. It's hard for me to imagine that catholic high school could provide such obvious tangible benefits as to substitute for a good chunk of college funding or to take the place of a good 4 year degree in a career-oriented profession (since she may end up in CC or a vocational school due to funding issues). not trying to come off as sarcastic or mean -- a ton of people (especially folks who didn't go to college themselves) really don't understand the process, costs involved, etc. I don't know how old your other kids are, but it's something to think about when it comes time for them.

Sometimes parents make mistakes, but DD did and still does consider her HS money well spent. I realize that it may be a mistake, but she is a very well adjusted happy (yep happy) teenager who enjoys her friends and loves school. She does very well academically and succeeds because of the school. Could she have done the same in public school. Yes. But we chose it, and she will finish it out. My daughter would like to go into Management, preferrably in the Music and or Entertainment industry.

 

[themarquis]

In all fairness first I removed alot of the post to save space. Yes I pay high tuition and yes she qualifies for financial aid. We have secured through a family member an interest free loan to pay for both of our children to go to HS. We will be paying that off while they are in college. So even though it may appear that our income is high, sadly it is not. She will qualify for many federal/state based grants. And to answer your questions, Catholic School - hence religion is a must. World religion is a class offered by the same university that offers the other AP courses. College credit, yes - for what, I have NO clue. Dance is offered as an alternative to gym, but also require 2 performances, thus the fee. The entrepreneur class is also a university class, but I believe it is more for a resource than for a college credit.

I'm feeling like a kinda bad person because I DID sound mean in my other post ... I'm really sorry.

But what you just posted in this followup is REALLY GOOD . Obviously, I don't know the specifics, but if your income is relatively low, your DD can get very generous aid, including possibly grants (don't need to be paid back) and maybe some subsidized loans.

But it all depends on what your income looks like and some other income and asset-related factors. The only way to figure it out is to get online and do a fafsa calculator (will estimate what you would end up with on the fafsa) and see what they say. You've got to start the researching now! (ETA, I just saw that the university she wants to go to -- northeastern, runs 44k per year with room and board, ack!)

A lot of kids end up getting very very generous aid, up to full funding via grants. But it's a complex thing and you're gonna have to do your research to figure it out. Please don't wait.

 

[themarquis]

Sometimes parents make mistakes, but DD did and still does consider her HS money well spent. I realize that it may be a mistake, but she is a very well adjusted happy (yep happy) teenager who enjoys her friends and loves school. She does very well academically and succeeds because of the school. Could she have done the same in public school. Yes. But we chose it, and she will finish it out. My daughter would like to go into Management, preferrably in the Music and or Entertainment industry.

Yeah, I definitely understand -- there's a lot of financial mistakes (or decisions that could end up being good and could end up being bad, but we don't know at the time) that we all make, myself included.

FWIW, I think it's great that you're getting out there and starting the question asking (and baring all on the DIS ) and researching now -- I'm sure you and your DD can figure it out.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I'm feeling like a kinda bad person because I DID sound mean in my other post ... I'm really sorry.

But what you just posted in this followup is REALLY GOOD . Obviously, I don't know the specifics, but if your income is relatively low, your DD can get very generous aid, including possibly grants (don't need to be paid back) and maybe some subsidized loans.

But it all depends on what your income looks like and some other income and asset-related factors. The only way to figure it out is to get online and do a fafsa calculator (will estimate what you would end up with on the fafsa) and see what they say. You've got to start the researching now! (ETA, I just saw that the university she wants to go to -- northeastern, runs 44k per year with room and board, ack!)

A lot of kids end up getting very very generous aid, up to full funding via grants. But it's a complex thing and you're gonna have to do your research to figure it out. Please don't wait.

You can do a practice FAFSA?? That would be very useful. I will google it. I am learning as I go. Hopefully this will be a cake-walk with DSas he wants to be a DR.