Why should your kids take rigorous AP courses and the AP tests in High School.

                Once again as I was talking to school district employees, I was amazed by some of the things that our young people are doing.  Now this is not a negative thing.  Our kids are taking more AP (advanced placement) courses in high school than ever.  What they aren’t doing is always taking the AP test.  AP courses are tougher courses across most subjects like math, biology, chemistry, history, English, etc that kids can take in high school after they shown that they can achieve at a higher level.  In May, after the majority of the coursework is done, there is a week in which all kids across the country take the exact same test for the particular subject they took.

                What is disappointing is that after taking these rigorous courses some kids aren’t taking the AP test.  They take this tough course for a semester or a whole year and don’t take the AP test which can help them get though college sooner and save money.  How is that?  If you take the test and get a 3, 4, or 5 on the test on a scale of 1-5, you can get credit at most colleges  that will shorten the number of credits you will need to take in college.  The test does cost money but the offset of college cost is probably at least $3-4 saved for each dollar spent on the test.  It also looks very good on the high school transcript.

                In the case of my own kids, our daughter who went to MIT only got credit for electives for two courses even though she took 7 AP courses but that was definitely worth it because she probably never would have gotten into the school without them.  She ended up graduating in 3 ½ years.  Our son who goes to the University of Washington in Seattle which is a public school, got almost a quarters worth of credits for the 6 AP courses he took and then took the test.  He’s anticipating graduating in 3 years and a quarter.  There are 3 quarters in the normal September to June school year with a summer quarter from June through August.

                The other great benefit is the test taking experience that the kids get from taking the final test of a tough course.  After taking some of the toughest courses in high school, the kids should want to take the test. 

                Our young people should be very proud of their achievements.