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Can Homeschool Students take AP Exams?
Yes they can! And there are lots of good reasons why they should. I will share with you what I have learned from first-hand experience about homeschooling and AP Exams
AP exams are a great way for homeschooled students to show colleges that they can handle challenging classes. And they are also a way to get college credit. They are a safer bet than dual enrollment classes at community colleges as they are a national exam ie colleges know what it takes to achieve a 4 or a 5 on an AP exam. Community colleges can vary so much in the quality of education that many colleges won’t give credit for their classes – so do check with the colleges your child is interested in attending if you are trying to decide between the two. Here is some info that will help you with Homeschooling and AP exams.
Not all colleges give credit for all AP exams either, so be sure to check that as well. My oldest 3 children went to Biola, Stanford and NYU. Biola gave credit hours for all the APs my daughter did, NYU gave my younger son some credit while Stanford gave my older son none at all. I did not feel that any of them wasted their time writing AP exams though. The scores my boys achieved did prove they could cope with a certain level of academic work. The tests also gave them the experience of studying for a really big exam covering a lot of material – good prep for college!
8 things to know about Homeschooling and APs
1. There are over 30 different exams
Don’t assume your child won’t be interested in AP exams. There are a lot of different options in the fields of Foreign Languages, Sciences, Social Sciences, Math, English, and Art. Some of the Art exams require portfolios to be submitted ie no written exams.
2. You don’t have to take an AP class to take an AP exam
I hate the concept of “teaching to the test”, so I always selected the curriculum I thought was best and if it was close enough to the course material that would be tested in the relevant AP exam, my kids would take it. We used some curriculum that was designed to prepare students for the AP exam, but many were not. And none of them took actual online AP classes. They got 3s or higher on most exams (and the ones they got 1s and 2s on were entirely their own fault!)
3. If you want to designate a class on your child’s transcript as an AP class, it must be approved by the Collegeboard
You can’t record a class as being an AP class just because your child writes the exam. It has to be approved by the Collegeboard for you to be able to do that. Online classes will state if this is this case. If you create your own class at home, you can apply for your class to be approved. I did not want to go to all that effort and felt that colleges would be more interested in the AP score my child achieved than whether the class they took was designated as AP or not.
However, homeschool mom, Carolyn Starr says: “Course audit is easy, and it gives access to AP Classroom. AP Classroom has tons of practice problems that the homeschool educator can assign their student. Absolutely worth the effort in my opinion.”
4. Homeschooled students can take AP exams at local schools
If you are under an umbrella school ask if your child can take the AP exams there. That is what we did. Our umbrella school was really great and was even prepared to order tests that their students weren’t taken (AP Art History was one). I had to pay for the proctor as well as for the test, but I was happy to do that.
If you don’t have an umbrella school to test at, homeschool students can test at a local school. Carolyn Starr uses this strategy to find a school: “Search AP Course Ledger to determine which schools have been offering the course in recent years. Then call College Board and ask for the AP Coordinator contact info for each school of interest: 888-225-5427. They should provide you with a name, phone number, and email address. Contact the school AP Coordinators directly. Schools are encouraged but not required to accept outside students, so be very nice about it!”
Be sure to do this early in the school year. Schools now have to register by early November at the latest, so they usually close registration sometime in October.
5. Be sure to use test prep material
AP examiners are looking for very specific things. Students need to know what will be covered and how to write the free-response questions. We usually bought the Princeton Review books and we made sure to finish the curriculum 2 weeks before the exam so the last 2 weeks could be spent preparing for the test.
Another useful resource is the tests you can find on the Collegeboard website.
6. You can get poor results removed from your record
This is very useful!! I had to use it twice so I know it can be done. All you do is write after the results come up and ask for a score to be removed from their records – and poof! Just like that, it is gone!
7. Students can retake AP exams
I am sure by now you can guess I have had personal experience with this too! Be sure to remove the poor score though as if you don’t both scores are reported. And even though my one son took 2 exams a second time, a year after he did the class, actually doing the test prep the second time around worked like the proverbial charm – and his second attempt resulted in a score he could keep on his record.
8. There are different levels of achievement for those taking multiple AP exams.
If students take at least 3 AP exams, then they could get an award if their scores are good enough. Even getting a 3 or higher on 3 exams qualifies you for an award (AP Scholar). Now the award is just a piece of paper and not money, BUT it does mean homeschoolers have something to put under “Academic Honors” on college applications.
If you have any other questions I didn’t answer, use the comments and I will respond!
Meryl van der Merwe
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