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AP Credit Will No Longer Be Accepted At Dartmouth

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Re: AP Credit Will No Longer Be Accepted At Dartmouth

#11

Post by brudgers »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #5

Maybe the AP system has degraded over the years. When I was in school it helped immensely and I was able to enter college as a mid-year sophomore and graduate early. And the level of material and rigor in AP courses seemed roughly comparable to 100 and 200 level college courses. The cynic in me sees this as a money making move, as it means that more incoming students will have to pay more to graduate. I'm really curi…

From the linked Associated Press article:

Rather than award credit for an introductory course to incoming students who got the highest score on the AP test, the department gave those students a condensed version of the Dartmouth course's final exam. Ninety percent failed, Tell said. And when those students went on to take the introductory class, they performed no better than those who did not have the high AP test scores.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1696110...

Re: AP Credit Will No Longer Be Accepted At Dartmouth

#13

Post by wmf »

jlarocco wrote: post #8
wmf wrote: post #2

If AP classes don't give credit, I wonder if this will lead some students to graduate high school after three years.

And get a jump start working on their Bachelor's degrees which now take six years. Seems like the high schools need to add some more rigorous classes for seniors.

Why take any classes that aren't required? I get the impression that "education" is now a luxury and most kids today need to get to a degree as fast as possible so they're merely saddled with debt instead of totally crippled. In that mindset, the only purpose of high school is to either get into college or get into some vocational training as soon as possible.

Maybe only rich people are applying to Dartmouth, though.

Re: AP Credit Will No Longer Be Accepted At Dartmouth

#14

Post by typpo »

Some of the more cynical responses to this article ignore the fact that AP credits at Dartmouth were already strictly limited by departments on a case-by-case basis. I went in with 11 AP credits and was able to graduate at most a term early.

Here are some more concrete numbers on how this change affects early graduation:

- Students arrive with an average of three credits;

- Nonetheless 80% of students take 4 years;

- 20% of students will be required to enroll for an extra term.

The net result is $4 million in extra income. [1] As a point of reference, Dartmouth's endowment is over $3.4 billion.

I also want to point out that this discussion ignores reasons against AP at the high school level, which has caused some high schools to stop offering them.

[1] http://www.dartblog.com/data/2013/01/010556.php

Re: AP Credit Will No Longer Be Accepted At Dartmouth

#15

Post by Steko »

kevinburke wrote: post #6

The AP gradations are useless. If I remember right the calculus exam has about 120 possible points and you only need about a 56 to score a 5.

That doesn't tell you anything (it could be hard to get 56), and your numbers appear to be wrong[1]. Site below says ~70/108 is the general threshold for a 5 on both calc exams.

[1] http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/499...

Re: AP Credit Will No Longer Be Accepted At Dartmouth

#16

Post by adrockdust »

baddox wrote: post #9
adrockdust wrote: post #4

Accompanying headline: My Kid With AP Credits Will No Longer Be Applying to Dartmouth

Or, what's more likely for most people: Kids with AP Credits Will Now Have Slightly More Debt After Graduating From Dartmouth.

Wait, why will they have more debt than non-AP credited kids?

Re: AP Credit Will No Longer Be Accepted At Dartmouth

#17

Post by Steko »

baddox wrote: post #9
adrockdust wrote: post #4

Accompanying headline: My Kid With AP Credits Will No Longer Be Applying to Dartmouth

Or, what's more likely for most people: Kids with AP Credits Will Now Have Slightly More Debt After Graduating From Dartmouth.

Twist ending: Dartmouth reconsiders decision to drop AP credits

Re: AP Credit Will No Longer Be Accepted At Dartmouth

#18

Post by ohashi »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #5

Maybe the AP system has degraded over the years. When I was in school it helped immensely and I was able to enter college as a mid-year sophomore and graduate early. And the level of material and rigor in AP courses seemed roughly comparable to 100 and 200 level college courses. The cynic in me sees this as a money making move, as it means that more incoming students will have to pay more to graduate. I'm really curi…

Anecdotal evidence, I tested out of a bunch of courses with AP credits. The only ones I actually went directly to the next level were Economics. I scored 5's on micro and macro and skipped the 100 level of both. I did the intermediate and it went just fine (I got A's). Could I pass the final exam for the previous level with a 90% right when I got there? I am really not sure. Presumably I would have been studying and preparing for that weeks in advance and the content would be fresh in my mind (not after a summer of not studying). I don't feel like I missed anything and saved a lot of time (and money).

Re: AP Credit Will No Longer Be Accepted At Dartmouth

#19

Post by showerst »

adrockdust wrote: post #16
baddox wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, what's more likely for most people: Kids with AP Credits Will Now Have Slightly More Debt After Graduating From Dartmouth.

Wait, why will they have more debt than non-AP credited kids?

Not "more debt that non-AP credited kids", "more debt than they otherwise would have if Dartmouth took their AP credits".

Re: AP Credit Will No Longer Be Accepted At Dartmouth

#20

Post by toomuchtodo »

adrockdust wrote: post #16
baddox wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, what's more likely for most people: Kids with AP Credits Will Now Have Slightly More Debt After Graduating From Dartmouth.

Wait, why will they have more debt than non-AP credited kids?

No, they would have more debt because the credits AP credit provides are cheaper than the "premium" credits you'll now have to get through Dartmouth instead.
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