The Advanced Placement (AP) Program® is an academically challenging set of courses. These courses are taught at the college level and in order for a course to receive an AP designation the course content must be approved by the College Board.
You are gonna’ have to study!
If a student successfully completes the AP exam at the end of the school year, colleges can offer credit or waiver of equivalent courses – essentially making this a college-credit-by-exam option. Although it is not required that you take the AP course in order to take an AP exam – the courses are designed to help you do well on the test. Homeschooling families do not typically have the resources or time to design and have an AP curriculum approved, so feel free to take advantage of already designed AP courses. Florida Virtual School offers several AP courses and you may find that co-ops in your area do as well. Some homeschooling students have even been able to arrange taking AP courses through local private (and sometimes public) schools. Talk with the providers in your area if you’d like to pursue this option.
As I just mentioned, students who do not have access to an AP course are still eligible to take the AP exam. You just want to be sure you prepare well for the test. You can find plenty of information on College Board’s exam preparation site.
Parents and students are not eligible to order the exams, though, so you must contact your local school with an AP program and make arrangements to take the exam through them. Contact AP Services (888-225-5427) before March to find an AP Exam provider near you. You will need to register for the test early. AP exams are given on specific dates in May. The cost runs about $91 per exam and results are usually received the first of July.
There are currently over 30 courses in the areas of art, English, history and social science, math, science and world languages and cultures. You can find the entire list of AP Courses on the College Board website. Take a few moments to peruse this website to see if your student may be eligible to take these exams and possibly earn college credit!
~to your success
Joanne
Image courtesy of artur84 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
In our area of Florida schools order their AP exams in January/February – so it’s best to let them know of your intentions earlier than the March 3 deadline.
Or at least contact the school and find out what their ordering deadline is….