How many credits does an AP class receive?

[Angela in NC]

My local public high school is on block semester,so every AP class receives 2 credits. First semester is considered "honors" and second semester is AP. Do you give 2 credits per AP class? Thank you, Angela

[JFS in IL]

Here it is a full year and each semester is one credit - so 2 credits sounds correct.

Except Ap Bio here is a longer class, due to the labs so it is 1.5 credits oper semester, 3 total.

[Bev in B'ville]

but how many do the colleges/universities your dc will apply to recognizes. One college we visited this summer does not give any extra points for AP in calculating GPA. Another gave an additional 1/2 point (4.5 for an A), and absolutely nothing for honors classes (no additional credit for honors classes was the norm). They recalculate the GPA based on their standards. I'm modifying my dd's transcripts for each college/university she is applying to as one of the admissions officers mentioned they liked it when they didn't have to do this.

[MomsintheGarden]

I'm not sure how many credits or the # of points toward a GPA matter for a homeschool transcript. Both of my dc were accepted to college based on the old, basic, A=4.0 scale, even for AP prep "classes." They each self-studied for several APs, so they didn't take a class.

I wasn't allowed to call them "AP" because I didn't get my syllabus approved by the CB. I made a note on the transcript that the student took (or will take) the corresponding AP exam.

For best results, I recommend having students take at least one AP exam in his/her junior year, and having the AP scores sent to the potential colleges. The AP scores will validate the mom grades in the best possible way.

GardenMom

[transientChris]

I do honors credits as half point extra and college or AP as 1 point extra. In regards to the colleges and how they do it, they refigure everyones GPA in all kinds of ways. I am doing it the way schools do it and it will be totally clear on the transcript what I did. My dd will probably apply to at least 5 schools unless she decides to do ED or a school she decides is the one accepts her in rolling admissions. I don't have the time or the inclination to figure out all colleges peculiar grading schemes. I suspect they don;t do this to all that many applicants either. Most are not deciding to rank all students by grades or by test scores. I suspect they lump them into categories and look at them that way. So if your child has above a 4.0 like mine does, she still gets in the top group even if we recalculate. Her GPA is somewhere above a 4.0 in weighted and still in the 3.9 area unweighted. Her GPA will put her most likely in the top group. Now we have to wait till she gets her test scores.

[Gwen in VA]

We gave one credit per yearlong academic course, regardless of whether it was AP or whatever.

The high schools in my area all give one credit per AP class.

[Chris in VA]

I give one credit, but bump up the GPA by an extra half point. That's how our school system does it.
Well, let me rephrase that--it's what I would have done. We did not do AP.

[danielle]

Some courses are considered full year, some semester. For example, AP Human Geography, languages, English Lit are a full year, AP US Government, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics are a semester. You can check it all out under course descriptions at the College Board. Often, you can also see this in how much credit your state university will award (private colleges & unis are all over the map).

I use whatever College Board says according to our grading system (1 credit for a semester, 2 credits for a year, 3 credits for a year with a lab). This follows our local high school procedure.

As to grades, I bump up one grade for AP--normally, an A is 4.0 points, but an AP "A" (i.e., dd scores a 5 on the test) gets 5.0 points, again the same way our local high school does it. BTW, I keep it simple--90+ is an A, 80+ is a B, 70+ is a C, and if she goes lower than that, she redoes the course!
Danielle

[FloridaLisa]

Some courses are considered full year, some semester. For example, AP Human Geography, languages, English Lit are a full year, AP US Government, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics are a semester. You can check it all out under course descriptions at the College Board. Often, you can also see this in how much credit your state university will award (private colleges & unis are all over the map).

Just another twist to note. I counted APUS Government as a full credit since I taught it over a year and my dc put in more than enough hours based on Carnegie units. Given replies from teachers on the APUSGov listserve, it looks like most high schools count it as .5 credit, but a significant minority count is a a full credit. Just another option.

HTH,
Lisa

ETA: My dc has more than enough credits to graduate, but I wanted the class to accurately reflect what we did that year.

[Kareni]

We gave one credit per yearlong academic course, regardless of whether it was AP or whatever.


So did we. (We live in a state where one credit is given for a yearlong course. I know that other states can give two credits or ten credits for the same course.)

In addition, I weighted no courses on my daughter's transcript. An A was valued at 4.0 whether it was for an AP course, a community college class, or any other class.

Regards,
Kareni

[danielle]

There's a tension between actual learning and learning for "making the grade". I'm positive dd is learning more than in regular school, but I want to make sure her college application is as competitive as possible with the best of bricks and mortar school grads (while remaining honest). In cases where colleges evaluate GPA, I think it puts a kid at a disadvantage not to get a bump for AP. If the AP score confirms the grade you give, why not give the kid the extra credit?

In my area, it's not unusual for a kid to have 4 or 5 APs, and some have more. They get 5.0's for those. In most cases, the "best and brightest" are also getting straight As in non-AP classes. Thus, their GPA is higher than 4.0 (much higher).

The truth is, if you're hoping to apply to the ivys or highly competitive schools, you need stellar GPAs, outstanding SAT/ACT, and something ELSE that distinguishes you. Excellent grades and test scores are a floor, not a ceiling. As much as possible, I've tried to produce a transcript for dd that will be what the college expects and wants to see (provided she's earned it.)

As always,I think it's best to look at what colleges-of-interest say. I don't want to give dd anything phoney, but I don't want to cheat her out of the credit she'd get for her work at a "normal" high school.
Danielle