“But neither could help me with Calculus in high school. Or Advanced Chem, or AP Bio.”
Very true point. Fortunately, where there is a demand, the market will provide. Advanced home school kids can take those classes from colleges, thus earning college credit. For example, University of Texas has a distance learning program with about 80 classes available [most of the first and second year core courses, with a special admissions process geared towards high school kids. Many local community colleges also admit high school kids for dual credit. A Beka allows parents to home school by having the students watch the classes on DVD, and A Beka will grade the coursework.
We plan on our kids taking college classes, starting around their junior year. My guess is that their senior year might be half or more college classes. Why take high school Advanced Chemistry, and then take an AP test for college credit, when one can simply take the class from a local college?
True. My junior public high school student (omgosh) is taking 3 courses - AP - from BCC. She’s taking them in her high school, taught by BCC profs and on their schedule and grading. She is taking AP English, AP Chem and AP Calc next year through our community college, BCC. Unfortunately, Penn State, where she plans to attend, doesn’t honor AP classes for those planning to major in engineering, so it’s still gonna cost us. Oh well. lol. Most high school AP classes aren’t honored at prestigious Universities, partly because even AP classes taught in high school by the CC aren’t college classes and partly because it’s all about the money anyway.
We’re not doing the Community College route so all the AP classes probably won’t transfer to the university of her choice. No biggie. NJ, Rutgers, has to accept them but she’s not going there.
I so agree with you. Taking Advanced classes does nothing, it’s the AP classes with the test, testing out, that count. But here, they don’t really count in that the kid just has to take a higher level (at penn State) which is fine with her and us.
My soph is in AP classes so you should look into that. Not sure what your district or state U is like but still, they’re still great classes for high school kids to take.
We have Advanced classes but they’re different from AP classes. They don’t count for college credit like the AP classes do (even tho most schools won’t accept them other than as electives or for the freshmen classes). AP classes follow the CC schedule/testing but many universities don’t accept them now a days in place of the requirement. Meaning, the kid will have to take the college class at the advanced level unless the go to the state school.