AP Exams and SAT Questions / Guidance Needed

[marianne202]

Ok y'all, my son is getting ready to take the SAT in May and he wants to take some AP exams. He has taken some AP and honors classes and done well, but I'm wondering what AP exam prep materials are worth the money? Are they necessary? Do they exist? Will they translate into any college credit?

What about SAT prep? This is my oldest and first one to embark down this road, so I'm clueless! I know this great testing group and home schooling bunch here can provide some suggestions. I know there are some expensive SAT prep courses, but we live so far out in the boonies nothing will be near us. I'm hoping someone has had success with something online or some books. Please guide me to some good resources. His school counselor is useless! It took me several phone calls and emails just to get the test dates! I'm still waiting to hear what AP exams are available and if he will get college credit or high school credit for them.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[SandraNC]

My son took AP US Govt and AP US History. Study guides and practice tests were very important in preparing for these lengthy exams. I think we used Baron's and Peterson's guides -- we used a couple different ones for each test. For AP US History, we also used a set of hundreds of flashcards and I think they were by Sparknotes., but I'm not sure.

I wish I had known about CLEP when my son took AP exams. He scored a 3 on US History and many schools require a 4 for credit...yet they'll take a 50 on the CLEPs and I know he could've done well on those!

I've noticed more and more schools inflating their AP score requirements...wanting to see 4's and 5's (5=A and 4=B)....yet accepting 50 on CLEP. One school, East Carolina University wants a 4 on the Microeconomics AP exam but they'll take a 42 on the CLEP. AP exams are about 3 hours long and include tricky multiple choice along with essay questions. Your son will test in May and get his scores in July. A score of 3 is supposedly a "C", and many schools will give credit for 3's. As I said, I've noticed more and more wanting 4's or 5's. If he takes AP, have him take the corresponding CLEP, too.

I notice the Peterson's website we use for CLEP practice tests also has AP practice exams.

For the SAT, we used Xiggi's SAT prep advice found on CollegeConfidential.com. The thread below is a compilation of good prep advice and I think Xiggi's is the first or second link. My son did very well with the Xiggi method. KhanAcademy.org also has SAT prep for math (free) where they have worked out all the problems in the official blue book. (CollegeBoard's SAT prep book).
NEW FEATURE: Best of SAT Prep Forum and FAQs - Please read before posting - College Confidential

[cookderosa]

My son took AP US Govt and AP US History. Study guides and practice tests were very important in preparing for these lengthy exams. I think we used Baron's and Peterson's guides -- we used a couple different ones for each test. For AP US History, we also used a set of hundreds of flashcards and I think they were by Sparknotes., but I'm not sure.

I wish I had known about CLEP when my son took AP exams. He scored a 3 on US History and many schools require a 4 for credit...yet they'll take a 50 on the CLEPs and I know he could've done well on those!

I've noticed more and more schools inflating their AP score requirements...wanting to see 4's and 5's (5=A and 4=B)....yet accepting 50 on CLEP. One school, East Carolina University wants a 4 on the Microeconomics AP exam but they'll take a 42 on the CLEP. AP exams are about 3 hours long and include tricky multiple choice along with essay questions. Your son will test in May and get his scores in July. A score of 3 is supposedly a "C", and many schools will give credit for 3's. As I said, I've noticed more and more wanting 4's or 5's. If he takes AP, have him take the corresponding CLEP, too.

I notice the Peterson's website we use for CLEP practice tests also has AP practice exams.

For the SAT, we used Xiggi's SAT prep advice found on CollegeConfidential.com. The thread below is a compilation of good prep advice and I think Xiggi's is the first or second link. My son did very well with the Xiggi method. KhanAcademy.org also has SAT prep for math (free) where they have worked out all the problems in the official blue book. (CollegeBoard's SAT prep book).
NEW FEATURE: Best of SAT Prep Forum and FAQs - Please read before posting - College Confidential

I agree. My thoughts- you can use CLEP prep material for AP exams, so don't go crazy spending money. It's all in the library and on the internet (or IC) for free/very little money.... but you do have the bombshell of having to do an essay for all of the AP exams (I'm pretty sure they require essays) so I'd have someone tutor this portion if possible. (a friend or neighbor who has a skill in this area).

Why AP instead of CLEP? Well, if you are a young person starting out, these are gold stars on your college application. (assuming a score of at least 3, and like Sandra said, sometimes a 4) SOME colleges award credit for AP where they won't award it for CLEP. SOME colleges award more credit for AP than CLEP. *TESC awards 6 credits for any AP exam passed with a 3 or higher.

Why CLEP instead of AP? If you are already out of high school forget it- there are about 20 reasons I can stand behind that put CLEP ahead of AP, but strictly speaking as a teen...if you miss the AP test date, take CLEP. If you score a 1 or 2, take the CLEP. If you are not a great writer, take the CLEP. If you want to earn college credit and didn't take an AP class, take the CLEP. (exception- homeschooled kids shouldn't worry about that) If you are a "C" student, take the CLEP. If you are attending community college to earn an AA or AS and then transfer to an instate school, take CLEP.

If you are going to apply to highly competitive colleges, like Ivy, take the AP only. These won't usually give you credit, you are just showing that you deserve to be admitted. SOMETIMES you can squeeze out "advanced standing" which allows you to replace a class like French 1 with French 2 - no cost or time savings, you just get to take a harder class.

Lastly, look at 3-4 colleges on your child's wish list and start investigating the CLEP/AP policy. You mostly are looking for exclusions of one over the other. I wouldn't SKIP an exam that I prepared for, but I would be prepared for not getting credit- but for the love of all things TAKE THE EXAM anyway. Lives change, things change, and someday that might be credit sitting there waiting for you to pluck it out and put it on another degree or a prereq.

Also, I love Kahn Academy. Sal is my fav teacher in the world- he is getting me through all my sciences/maths/stats.

SAT- take a practice test or two first. If you are looking at a score that matches college goals,than additional prep is a waste of $. If she needs to rock a score several hundred points above her practice tests as the baseline to even apply to her first choice- then yes. I'm paying $1200 for a GRE prep course because I believe the cost benefit of gaining admission to my short list of grad schools is VERY important to me. I'd have never paid anything like that to get into an undergrad program, but as an undergrad I wasn't trying to get into a college with <5% acceptance rate. Just think it through with your LEFT brain, not your RIGHT one lol!

[creationstory]

I agree. My thoughts- you can use CLEP prep material for AP exams, so don't go crazy spending money. It's all in the library and on the internet (or IC) for free/very little money.... but you do have the bombshell of having to do an essay for all of the AP exams (I'm pretty sure they require essays) so I'd have someone tutor this portion if possible. (a friend or neighbor who has a skill in this area).

Why AP instead of CLEP? Well, if you are a young person starting out, these are gold stars on your college application. (assuming a score of at least 3, and like Sandra said, sometimes a 4) SOME colleges award credit for AP where they won't award it for CLEP. SOME colleges award more credit for AP than CLEP. *TESC awards 6 credits for any AP exam passed with a 3 or higher.

Why CLEP instead of AP? If you are already out of high school forget it- there are about 20 reasons I can stand behind that put CLEP ahead of AP, but strictly speaking as a teen...if you miss the AP test date, take CLEP. If you score a 1 or 2, take the CLEP. If you are not a great writer, take the CLEP. If you want to earn college credit and didn't take an AP class, take the CLEP. (exception- homeschooled kids shouldn't worry about that) If you are a "C" student, take the CLEP. If you are attending community college to earn an AA or AS and then transfer to an instate school, take CLEP.

If you are going to apply to highly competitive colleges, like Ivy, take the AP only. These won't usually give you credit, you are just showing that you deserve to be admitted. SOMETIMES you can squeeze out "advanced standing" which allows you to replace a class like French 1 with French 2 - no cost or time savings, you just get to take a harder class.

Lastly, look at 3-4 colleges on your child's wish list and start investigating the CLEP/AP policy. You mostly are looking for exclusions of one over the other. I wouldn't SKIP an exam that I prepared for, but I would be prepared for not getting credit- but for the love of all things TAKE THE EXAM anyway. Lives change, things change, and someday that might be credit sitting there waiting for you to pluck it out and put it on another degree or a prereq.

Also, I love Kahn Academy. Sal is my fav teacher in the world- he is getting me through all my sciences/maths/stats.

SAT- take a practice test or two first. If you are looking at a score that matches college goals,than additional prep is a waste of $. If she needs to rock a score several hundred points above her practice tests as the baseline to even apply to her first choice- then yes. I'm paying $1200 for a GRE prep course because I believe the cost benefit of gaining admission to my short list of grad schools is VERY important to me. I'd have never paid anything like that to get into an undergrad program, but as an undergrad I wasn't trying to get into a college with <5% acceptance rate. Just think it through with your LEFT brain, not your RIGHT one lol!

very good points..
some schools award 6 credits for an AP test but 3 for a clep..
American history (ap) will be 6 credits while us his I clep is 3.. and us his II clep is 3.. so sometimes it is cheaper to go AP