School starts this month and within the month that follows, students may be asked to decide if they want to pursue taking the AP exam associated with their AP classes or instead earn concurrent (or sometimes referred to as dual) credit. These deadlines come up fast and often take families by surprise. Being educated on the pros and cons of each beforehand will lower stress and contribute to making the best choice for their family.
For any AP class a student takes, they have the option of taking the exam at the end of the school year and sending the score to their college for potential college credit. The test carries a fee of around $100 and is scored on a scale of 1 - 5, with some schools accepting a 3, while others require a 4 or 5, to award credit. As a general rule, the more selective a college, the higher the score must be, with the most elite institutions often refusing to award credit or awarding elective credit only. There's another consideration when deciding to take these exams. Highly selective universities not only expect to see AP classes on their applicants' transcripts, but there is a certain level of expectation that the student will also take the exam. During the application process, the student will be asked to report their scores on their application. While not required to report, if the score is high, it will be a selling point, but if they don't report, it will be open to interpretation by the admissions office. (Did the student take the exam and receive a low score?) The impact of this grows with the selectivity of the school. Where a mid-tier school may not bat an eye at a missing or low score, when splitting hairs at the top-tier level, the applicant who reported all 4s and 5s will have another positive factor for admission consideration. It contributes to the narrative that the student can and will handle a rigorous college curriculum. So for those looking at highly selectives, taking the exam, and scoring well, is the best option.
How many AP classes/exams should students take? While there is no magic number, colleges will look`at this in the context of the high school. How many AP classes does the school offer and did the student take good advantage of the offerings? And they will evaluate the classes in the context of what the student wants to study. Did an Engineering applicant take `AP level math and science classes? Again, the expectation goes up with the level of selectivity of the school.
As a side note, a student does not need to have taken the class to take an AP exam. They are welcome to study on their own and register for any AP exam.
So what about Concurrent Credit? This is the option to earn credit from a local college, often a community college, by virtue of taking the high school course and paying the college tuition (typically $100+ per credit hour). The grade they earn in the high school class is posted to the college transcript that may be sent to the student's 4-year college upon graduation from high school, meeting a requirement toward college graduation. Concurrent credit classes are college-level and in most cases are also AP classes, so students enrolled in these classes often have to choose which method of earning college credit they will pursue - AP exam or concurrent credit - unless they choose to do both, which of course increases the cost and ultimately may not provide additional benefit since they essentially involve the same credit.
The concurrent classes a high school offers depends on their staffing, as the teachers must possess a very specific type of degree to meet the higher education qualifications. The student who is inclined to choose this option over AP may feel more in control of their outcome by earning a good grade in the class versus taking one test at the end of the year. While this is a valid reason, the student seeking a highly selective college may want to consider the expectation to report an AP score discussed above. Another consideration is that not every college is guaranteed to accept the transfer credit from the community college or whatever school is sending the credit. Overall, more colleges will accept AP credit than transfer credit.
So what is the best strategy for approaching these options? Arguably, this decision is something of a gamble, unless the student knows precisely what schools he or she will apply to, a tall order at the start of the sophomore or junior year, when these options become available. If the student is a strong test-taker, going the AP route would appear to be a safer bet. For students who want to have the control of earning a transfer grade, this option may be best, especially if they are planning to apply to schools that are not in the top tier of selectivity. The transferability of credits is almost always most successful when attending the student's state university.
Further, if there are schools already on the student's radar, he or she can research both the AP policy as well as the transferability of the credit from the concurrent credit institution on any college's website. This will inform the family of options and help them decide which route may ultimately offer more credit. Here is an example of Purdue's AP Policy and Credit Transfer Guide.
Earning college credit while in high school saves time and money for students who plan to pursue postsecondary education, and also demonstrates a student's ability to handle college-level work. Being strategic in their planning can maximize the benefits for families.
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