High school students look to achieve one or two common objectives: graduating high school, and/or acceptance to college. High school graduation requirements vary from state to state. Part of what drives these differences among states is that state universities differ in their admission requirements. And, it can get even trickier: in some states, the high school graduation requirements do not meet the state’s university entrance requirements. Therefore, navigating towards success requires some planning. We recommend this approach: “Start with the end in mind.”

 

Using a backward-planning approach early on will prevent falling into the trap of needing more math courses without the time to take them. If you’re planning to take Calculus before college, you’ll definitely need to plan ahead.

 

Why take Calculus in high school?

Students who are likely going to be STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Math) students in college are most likely to benefit from taking Calculus in high school. However, unless you take Advanced Placement Calculus and score high enough on the AP exam, colleges will still require you to take Calculus, even if you took Calculus in high school. The main reasons to take Calculus in high school boil down to these:

• Improve credentials for college admission.

• Completing Advanced Placement Calculus intending to take the AP exam to get college credit without repeating Calculus in college.

• To increase the likelihood of having a better experience in a college Calculus course; since the topics are the same, you’re basically repeating the course.

Is Calculus required to get into a selective school?

Colleges don’t require Calculus to be admitted, but with an increasingly competitive landscape, it can be a factor. Students interested in selective schools and STEM majors will be competing with other students who are trying to assemble the best transcript possible. For all but the most competitive scenarios, solid success in Precalculus is an appropriate goal for college admittance.

 

More courses than school years

Planning should start early. The problem with taking Calculus in high school is you’ll be taking more math courses than there are years available. Most middle schools will follow the standard path of taking Grade 6 Math, Grade 7 Math and Grade 8 Math, so let’s stay with that assumption for now.

 

Standard High School Math Curriculum

Most states will require 3 or 4 years of math courses for graduation. While some states have rearranged and combined topics from different courses, most schools will offer Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Precalculus. Trigonometry topics are included in Precalculus and Trig is less likely to be taught as a stand-alone course. The high school sequence looks like this:

 

TYPICAL HIGH SCHOOL MATH SEQUENCE

 How does Calculus into the sequence?

Here are three suggestions for fitting Calculus in high school.

 

1. Jump ahead in middle school: with sufficient planning, an advanced student might have this option instead of taking Grade 6, Grade 7, & Grade 8 math. This example presumes a 6th-grade student is ahead one year.

 

ACCELERATED MATH SEQUENCE

 

This is just one variation and acceleration through middle school math can work a number of different ways. Any student who is working one or more grades ahead is well-positioned to fit in Calculus. Additionally, a 6^th or 7th-grade student who has shown a strong performance in math is a candidate to skip forward to Algebra 1.

 

2. Double-up one year in the course sequence. This can be accomplished by either completing two courses in one school year or by completing a course in the summer. This can be done at any point in the sequence, however, here’s a high school tip: take Trigonometry in the summer after Algebra 2. Trig can easily be condensed by skipping the algebra review topics and together these two courses replace Precalculus.

 

3. Skip Algebra 2. A student who has a strong performance in Geometry could skip Algebra 2 and proceed to Precalculus. Precalculus is a combination of algebra and trigonometry. The algebra portion of Precalculus is similar to Algebra 2, however, the pace is faster. For example, a topic that may have 2 or three videos in Algebra 2 might have one video in Precalculus.

 

Some helpful rules of thumb

Here are three guidelines on how a student should proceed through Thinkwell math courses based on their abilities/results:

1. A student who completes Geometry but has not completed Algebra 2, should take Precalculus next ONLY if they have extremely strong algebra skills.

2. A student who takes Algebra 2 and does well in the course, should take Trigonometry next. Precalculus would not be needed.

3. A student who takes Algebra 2 and does not do well in the course, should take PCAL next.

 

Calculus versus Calculus AP

The topic coverage of the two courses is nearly identical. While taking Calculus AP might have some value on a transcript, colleges will only award credit for making a certain score on the AP exam. Requirements vary by college. Students taking an AP course are not obligated to take the AP exam. The College Board administers the AP exams and the break Calculus into Calculus AB and Calculus BC (approximately equivalent to Calculus 1 and Calculus 2).

 

Calculus AB versus Calculus BC

The College Board offers the Calculus AB & BC exams these ways:

1. Take the Calculus AB exam only.

2. Take the Calculus AB & BC exams sequentially (one each year).

3. Skip the Calculus AB and take the BC since it includes AB.

 

Therefore, for scenario #1 use our Calculus AB course; for scenario #2 use our Calculus AB course then our Calculus BC course next year, and for scenario #3 you can use our regular Calculus course so you get both semesters in one year.

 

What’s “Prealgebra?”

Because a significant portion of students entering college is insufficiently prepared to take college-level math (typically “College Algebra), colleges offer “developmental math” courses. Even four-year schools may offer some developmental math courses but they are not for college credit. Often times a four-year school will refer students to local two-year colleges where these courses are taught in abundance. The most common college developmental math sequence is Prealgebra, Beginning Algebra and Intermediate Algebra. Thinkwell’s Prealgebra was built for this purpose and it covers grade 6, 7, & 8 algebra concepts, but in a less rigorous manner than actual grade 6, 7, & 8 courses. The name “Prealgebra” tends to draw homeschoolers looking for a course to prepare for Algebra 1, and it can work in that regard, especially for students who are not following the Grade 6, 7, & 8 Math sequence.

 

Free placement tests

Thinkwell offers free placement tests to help determine which course a student should take. Each grade level has a placement test and based on the results of the test, a recommendation is made for a suggested course. It’s a good starting point if you don’t know which course to take, or if you want to assess readiness for a course you’d like to take.

 

Need more help?

Feel free to contact one of our specialists if you’d like more help at info@thinkwell.com. Finally, should you start a Thinkwell course and decide another would be a better fit, we allow a two-week grace period in which to move to another course.

 

By Jennifer Hill Robenalt

When my son was entering the third grade, we made the decision to homeschool. It's nothing that we dreamed about or had planned for. Three of our son's grandparents were public school educators, as well as one of his aunts. My partner and I were proudly public school educated and earned college degrees. We believed in public school. But, at the time, it wasn't a good fit for our son. We pulled him out.

Read more

To our students currently enrolled in AP Calculus (AB and BC):

In light of testing facility closures because of COVID-19, the College Board has announced changes to this year’s AP Exams. This year’s exams will be administered exclusively online, starting May 11, and will be OPEN-BOOK and FREE-RESPONSE. There will be NO MULTIPLE-CHOICE items on this year’s tests. Instead, each AP exam will feature 1-2 open-ended, essay-type questions. You will have 45 minutes for the test. Each question you answer will be timed separately.

How should you prepare for these changes? Here are a few tried and true recommendations.

Before the Exam:

1. Prepare: Although the exam is “open-book,” this does not mean you don’t need to prepare. It is tempting to think of open-book exams as being easier than closed-book exams. They are not. You will not have time during the exam to look things up that you don’t already know. You should prepare just as you would for any other exam by reviewing all of the concepts and facts from your notes. Solidify your understanding of things you weren’t clear on earlier.

2. Create a Study Schedule: Studying for an exam is a skill and one that you can master. The first step is to create a study schedule. Figure out how many study days you have until the exam and divide the course content among those days. If you envision stages for your studying, mark when each of those will start. If you have multiple exams you are studying for, include them all in the study schedule.

3. Outline Your Notes: What’s the best way to study? One effective way to study is progressive outlining of your notes. It may sound “old school,” but this method works best if you write your outlines by hand, even if you took the raw notes on your computer. Start with the raw notes you made and make a new set of notes that summarizes these in an outline format. Keep important headings, subheadings, lists, and the brief explanations you need to understand the ideas in a topic. During this pass, revisit the things you don’t understand in your notes, go back to the lecture that discussed them, and check other sources until you really understand them. From this second set of notes make a new, even more compact outline. Each time you make an outline you are organizing and repeating the important ideas of the course—and learning them. It might be possible to distill the essentials of a course onto one or two pages, but you are committing the background to memory.

If you did not make a set of notes while you were progressing through the course, we suggest doing so as part of the process for studying. Consider stepping through the lectures or using the printed notes to guide you through the content. Identify important concepts and key facts and processes and make sketches of important structures and ideas. Organize your notes using a hierarchy of headings and subheadings.

4. Review Questions from Previous Exams: A second useful way to prepare is to know what will be on the exam. Review the released questions and understand the subject areas they address and the skills they assess. Practice those skills.

5. Understand What They Want: It is worth noting what the AP Calculus exam wants you to know, understand, and be able to do. The exam questions will assess the practices and ideas in the course framework found in the AP Calculus AB and BC Course and Exam Description:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-calculus-ab-bc-course-and-exam-description.pdf

There are four mathematical practices outlined in the document above and assessed on the exam. These practices describe what you should be able to do as you respond to the exam questions.

• Determine expressions and values using mathematical procedures and rules.
• Translate mathematical information from a single representation or across multiple representations.
• Justify reasoning and solutions.
• Use correct notation, language, and mathematical conventions to communicate results or solutions.

Remember that AP Calculus is structured around three “Big Ideas” or content areas.

• Change
• Limits
• Analysis of Functions

Also, note the AP Calculus AB and BC Course and Exam Description outlines all the units in the course. However, not all units will be assessed on this year’s exam. To see which units are eligible for the 2020 exam, cross-reference the Course and Exam Description with the course-specific exam information on the AP Exam Schedule webpage.

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/educators/taking-the-exams/ap-exam-schedule#courseSpecific

________________________________________________________________

During the Exam:

1. Have Your Resources Organized and Ready: During the exam, use your notes and textbook as resources. You will have little time to look things up, so it is always better to know the details from studying. Looking things up on the Internet will take too much time and you may find incorrect information, so this is NOT advised.

2. Understand What is Being Asked: Read the question a couple of times to make sure you understand what it is asking.

3. Use Your Time Wisely: Questions are timed, so you don’t need to divide your time up. Use all of your time for each question; if you finish early, read through your response and make changes.

4. Show Your Work: It is very important to show your work. As you will see in the scoring guidelines, sample responses, and scoring commentary of free-response questions from previous years, your score depends on communicating your thinking clearly and completely while using correct mathematical notation. This includes

• defining the variables,
• writing appropriate expressions, equations, or functions,
• showing all intermediate steps used to simplify, solve, or evaluate, and
• stating the answer in a complete sentence.

You may also show work for checking your answers. Be sure to review everything you wrote and make corrections, as well as insert any additional details that explain your thinking.

Review Resources:

Preparation and Writing Tips for the 2020 (COVID-19) AP Calculus (AB and BC) Exam

The College Board has resources for this year’s exams. Review these so you know what to expect.

The general guidelines are located here:

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students/taking-ap-exams

They provide a page with tips on taking open-book exams:

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students/open-book-tips

There are details about the format of the AP Calculus exam on this page:

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students/taking-ap-exams/ap-exam-schedule

The College Board also provides released free-response questions for exams from 2018 and earlier. As a part of your studying, you should look through a year or two of these to see the kinds of questions that are asked on the exam. Also, study the scoring guidelines, sample responses, and scoring commentary.

AB: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-calculus-ab/exam/past-exam-questions

BC: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-calculus-bc/exam/past-exam-questions

The 2019 free-response questions with sample responses and scoring commentary can be found under “Exam Questions and Scoring Information” here:

AB: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-calculus-ab/exam

BC: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-calculus-bc/exam

 

To our students currently enrolled in AP Biology:

In light of testing facility closures because of Covid-19, the College Board has announced changes to this year’s AP Exams. This year’s exams will be administered exclusively online, starting May 11^th and will be OPEN BOOK and FREE-RESPONSE. There will be NO MULTIPLE CHOICE items on this year’s tests. Instead, each AP exam will feature 1-2 open-ended, essay-type questions. You will have 45 minutes for the test. Each question you answer will be timed separately.

How should you prepare for these changes? Here are a few tried and true recommendations.

Before the Exam:

1. Prepare: Although the exam is “open book,” this does not mean you do not need to prepare. It is tempting to think of open-book exams as easier than closed-book exams. They are not. You will not have time during the exam to look things up you don’t already know. You should prepare just as you would for any other exam by reviewing all of the concepts and facts from your notes. Solidify your understanding of things you weren’t clear on earlier.

2. Create a Study Schedule: Studying for an exam is a skill and one that you can master. The first step is creating a study schedule. Figure out how many study days you have until the exam and divide the course content among those days. If you envision stages for your studying, mark when each of those will start. If you have multiple exams you are studying for, include them all in the study schedule.

3. Outline Your Notes: How do I study? One effective way to study is progressive outlining of your notes. It’s old school, but this method works best if you write your outlines by hand, even if you took the raw notes on your computer. Start with the raw notes you made and make a new set of notes that summarize these in an outline format. Keep important headings, subheadings, lists, and the brief explanations you need to understand the ideas in a topic. During this pass revisit the things you don’t understand in your notes, go back to the lecture that discussed them, check other sources until you really get it. From this second set of notes, make a new, even more compact, outline. Each time you make an outline you are organizing and repeating the important ideas of the course —and learning them. It might be possible to distill the essentials of a course onto one or two pages, but really what is happening is that you are committing the background to memory.

If you did not make a set of notes while you were progressing through the course, we suggest doing so as a part of the process for studying. Consider stepping through the lectures or using the printed notes to guide you through the content. Identify important concepts and key facts and processes and make sketches of important structures and ideas. Organize your notes using a hierarchy of headings and subheadings.

4. Review Questions from Previous Exams: A second useful way to prepare is to know what will be on the exam. Review the released questions and understand the subject areas they address and the skills they assess. Practice those skills.

5. Understand What They Want: It is worth pointing out what the AP Biology exam wants you to be able to do. There are four basic skills you need and you should expect the questions on the exam to assess these skills.

• Interpret data (tables, graphs, cladograms, etc.)
• Understand and use proper experimental design
• Explain phenomena and make predictions based on biological principles
• Understand and use mathematical and graphical models to explain biological principles

In addition, remember that AP biology is structured around four “Big Ideas” or content areas.

• Evolution (natural selection, population genetics, phylogeny, biodiversity)
• Energetics (molecular biology, respiration, photosynthesis, immune response, homeostasis)
• Information storage and transmission (genetics, cell cycle, endocrine, and nervous systems, cell communication)
• Systems (ecology, circulatory, digestive, musculo-skeletal systems, enzymes, plant structure)

During the Exam:

1. Have Your Resources Organized and Ready: During the exam, use your notes and textbook as resources. You will have little time to look things up, so it is always better to know the details from studying. Looking things up on the Internet will take too much time and you may find incorrect information, so this is NOT advised.

2. Understand What is Being Asked: Read the question a couple of times to make sure you understand what it is asking.

3. Use Your Time Wisely: Questions are individually timed, so you don’t need to divide your time up. Use all of your time for each question, if you have finished early, read through your response, and make changes.

4. First Outline, Then Elaborate: For written responses prepare an outline of your answer. This sounds like a waste of time, but it will save you time in writing. It will also force you to think through your answer, check for errors in your logic, and allow you to write a more coherent answer. The outlines just need to be brief, jot down the relevant ideas, sequence them, and check to see if there is anything missing. Review your outline when you finish it, insert ideas you didn’t think about before, then use it to write the response to the question. The written responses to the Biology questions are generally short.

Review Resources:

The College Board has resources for this year’s exams. Review these so you know what to expect.

The general guidelines are located here:

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students/taking-ap-exams

They provide a page with tips on taking open book exams:

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students/open-book-tips

There are details about the format of the Biology exam on this page:

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students/taking-ap-exams/ap-exam-schedule

The College Board also provides released free-response questions for exams for 2018 and earlier. As a part of your studying, you should look through a year or two of these to see the kind of question that is asked on the exam. Look at the scoring criteria and the sample answers. Pay particular attention to the longer questions because the 2020 exam will have questions of similar length.

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-biology/exam/past-exam-questions

The released 2019 free-response questions do not include commentary or answers:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap19-frq-biology.pdf?course=ap-biology

 

 

 

 

 

To our students currently enrolled in AP Chemistry:

In light of testing facility closures because of Covid-19, the College Board has announced changes to this year’s AP Exams. This year’s exams will be administered exclusively online, starting May 11^th and will be OPEN BOOK and FREE-RESPONSE. There will be NO MULTIPLE CHOICE items on this year’s tests. Instead, each AP exam will feature 1-2 open-ended, essay-type questions. You will have 45 minutes for the test. Each question you answer will be timed separately.

How should you prepare for these changes? Here are a few tried and true recommendations.

Before the Exam:

1. Prepare: Although the exam is “open book,” this does not mean you do not need to prepare. It is tempting to think of open-book exams as easier than closed-book exams. They are not. You will not have time during the exam to look things up you don’t already know. You should prepare just as you would for any other exam by reviewing all of the concepts and facts from your notes. Solidify your understanding of things you weren’t clear on earlier.

2. Create a Study Schedule: Studying for an exam is a skill and one that you can master. The first step is creating a study schedule. Figure out how many study days you have until the exam and divide the course content among those days. If you envision stages for your studying, mark when each of those will start. If you have multiple exams you are studying for, include them all in the study schedule.

3. Outline Your Notes: What’s the best way to study? One effective way to study is progressive outlining of your notes. It’s old school, but this method works best if you write your outlines by hand, even if you took the raw notes on your computer. Start with the raw notes you made and make a new set of notes that summarize these in an outline format. Keep important headings, subheadings, lists, and the brief explanations you need to understand the ideas in a topic. During this pass revisit the things you don’t understand in your notes, go back to the lecture that discussed them, check other sources until you really get it. From this second set of notes, make a new, even more compact, outline. Each time you make an outline you are organizing and repeating the important ideas of the course —and learning them. It might be possible to distill the essentials of a course onto one or two pages, but really what is happening is that you are committing the background to memory.

If you did not make a set of notes while you were progressing through the course, we suggest doing so as a part of the process for studying. Consider stepping through the lectures or using the printed notes to guide you through the content. Identify important concepts and key facts and processes and make sketches of important structures and ideas. Organize your notes using a hierarchy of headings and subheadings.

4. Review Questions from Previous Exams: A second useful way to prepare is to know what will be on the exam. Review the released questions and understand the subject areas they address and the skills they assess. Practice those skills.

5. Understand What They Want: It is worth pointing out what the AP Chemistry exam wants you to be able to do. There are four basic skills you need and you should expect the questions on the exam to assess these skills.

• Explain chemical phenomena using models theories and diagrams
• Interpret experimental results, identify experimental procedures that answer a question and analyze causes of error
• Solve numerical problems
• Support claims with evidence and reason

In addition, remember that the AP Chemistry material is structured around four “Big Ideas” or content areas.

• Scale, Proportion and Quantity
• Structure and Properties
• Transformations
• Energy

_____________________________________________________________________________________

During the Exam:

1. Have Your Resources Organized and Ready: What about when I am in the exam? During the exam, use your notes and textbook as resources. You will have little time to look things up, so it is always better to know the details from studying. Looking things up on the Internet will take too much time and you may find incorrect information, so this is NOT advised.

2. Understand What is Being Asked: Read the question a couple of times to make sure you understand what it is asking.

3. Use Your Time Wisely: Questions are timed, so you don’t need to divide your time up. Use all of your time for each question, if you have finished early, read through your response, and make changes.

4. First Outline, Then Elaborate: For written responses prepare an outline of your answer. This sounds like a waste of time, but it will save you time in writing. It will also force you to think through your answer, check for errors in your logic, and allow you to write a more coherent answer. The outlines just need to be brief, jot down the relevant ideas, sequence them, and check to see if there is anything missing. Review your outline when you finish it, insert ideas you didn’t think about before, then use it to write the response to the question. The written responses to the Chemistry questions are generally short.

Review Resources:

Preparation and Writing Tips for the 2020 (Covid-19) AP Chemistry Exam

The College Board has resources for this year’s exams. Review these so you know what to expect.

The general guidelines are located here:

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students/taking-ap-exams

They provide a page with tips on taking open-book exams:

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students/open-book-tips

There are details about the format of the Chemistry exam on this page:

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students/taking-ap-exams/ap-exam-schedule

The College Board also provides released free-response questions for exams for 2018 and earlier. As a part of your studying, you should look through a year or two of these to see the kind of question that is asked on the exam. Look at the scoring criteria and the sample answers. Pay particular attention to the longer questions because the 2020 exam will have questions of similar length.

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-chemistry/exam/past-exam-questions

The released 2019 free-response questions do not include commentary or answers:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap19-frq-chemistry.pdf?course=ap-chemistry

 

What is AP?

AP is the College Board’s Advanced Placement® program, where a student can show proficiency in a course by taking an exam to earn college credit for specific entry-level college courses. Almost all colleges award credit for some or all of the 38 available AP courses. The College Board administers the program through schools that arrange for testing centers where students can take AP exams. Homeschoolers have a slightly different sign-up process, but they take the exam at these locations arranged by the school. Exams are 90-120 minutes long.

Benefits of AP

AP credit courses demonstrate more rigor and can improve your transcript for college entrance. Qualifying for AP credit saves you the time and money of taking that course in college...add it up, and it can be a LOT of money. Each college determines the minimum AP exam score required to earn credit. It's possible to earn enough credit to bypass the first year of college or more.

Which Colleges Award Credit for AP?

While nearly all colleges award credit for AP, there are exceptions. The College Board® website has a database you can search for participating colleges. We also recommend confirming that information with your specific college choices.

Cost

At the time of this writing, the College Board will charge $93 to take an AP exam. This cost is in addition to the Thinkwell courses. The exams are only hosted in a two-week period each year, in May.

Thinkwell Courses for AP

Thinkwell offers these “Compatible with AP” courses, which are excellent preparation for the AP exams:

Government & Politics, US (American Government)

Biology

Chemistry

College Algebra

Calculus AB

Calculus BC

Precalculus

Microeconomics

Macroeconomics

What's the difference between High School Courses, AP Courses, and College Courses?

High school courses are usually similar in scope and sequence to their introductory college course counterparts. In college, the syllabus may be deeper and more detailed, and they may move through content more quickly. AP courses are specifically based on the college versions of those courses. Thinkwell courses are frequently adopted by professors at many colleges and universities. You will be well-prepared to be successful on the AP exams after taking a Thinkwell course.

AP Versus CLEP Exams

CLEP is the College Board's College Level Examination Program®, for which some colleges also award credit. Advanced Placement® is generally considered somewhat more rigorous than CLEP; however, they both potentially result in college credit for qualifying exam scores. The passing percentage is slightly higher for CLEP than AP. CLEP exams are multiple-choice (except for College Composition), but AP exams will have additional types of free-response questions. The College Board offers AP exams once a year, while CLEP exams are available year-round. The costs are about the same.

The preparation for AP exams is generally to take an AP course, therefore, it is possible to have an AP course on your transcript even if the AP exam wasn’t taken. There are no designated “CLEP courses.”

What is CLEP®?

CLEP is the College Board's College Level Examination Program®, where a student can show proficiency in a course by taking an exam to earn college credit for specific entry-level college courses. Approximately 2,900 colleges award credit for some or all of the 33 available CLEP courses. The College Board administers this program through approximately 1,800 testing centers where students can take CLEP exams. Exams are 90-120 minutes long.

 

There will likely be some courses your student will take in high school where they can take a test in less than two hours, and potentially be awarded college credit for that course!

Benefits of CLEP

CLEP credit saves you the time and money of taking that course in college...add it up, and it can be a LOT of money. While each college determines the minimum CLEP exam score required to earn credit, that score is often 50, or a grade "C" performance. Unlike Advanced Placement® exams, CLEP exams are available year-round. It's possible to earn enough credit to bypass the first year of college or more.

Which Colleges Award Credit for CLEP?

Over 2,900 colleges award credit for CLEP, so there's an excellent chance the college you want to attend is one of them. Here is a database you can search for participating colleges on the College Board website.

 

Cost

At the time of this writing, the College Board will charge $89 to take an exam, and a testing center may charge about $25 for administering the exam. You register at the College Board Website, and you have six months in which to take the exam. These costs are in addition to the Thinkwell courses.

 

Thinkwell Courses for CLEP

These Thinkwell courses are excellent preparation for the CLEP exams:

American Government

Biology

Chemistry

College Algebra

Precalculus

Calculus

Microeconomics

Macroeconomics

 

Thinkwell is developing CLEP-specific versions of these courses that will include practice CLEP exams. Traditionally, students have prepared for CLEP exams by taking these existing courses and accessing practice questions at the College Board website, which has proven effective.

 

What's the difference between High School Courses and College Courses?

High school courses, especially math and science courses, are similar in scope and sequence to their introductory college course counterparts. In college, the syllabus may be somewhat more detailed, and they may move through content more quickly. Thinkwell courses are frequently adopted by professors at many colleges and universities. You will be well-prepared to be successful on the CLEP exams after taking a Thinkwell course.

 

AP Versus CLEP Exams

Advanced Placement® is generally considered somewhat more rigorous than CLEP; however, they both potentially result in college credit. The passing percentage is slightly higher for CLEP than AP. CLEP exams are multiple-choice (except for College Composition), but AP exams will have additional types of free-response questions. The College Board offers AP exams once a year, while CLEP exams are available year-round. The costs are about the same.

 

Homeschoolers frequently want to know if they will get “credit” for their studies. Requirements for homeschooling K-12 students vary by state, but usually, it is up to parents to document and create a student’s transcript, and ultimately a diploma. A diploma simply indicates a student has completed a particular course of study.

It’s recommended that homeschoolers follow their state guidelines for what they teach and the hours it takes to complete courses. However, the very practice of homeschooling leads to the outcome that a homeschooled student hasn’t earned official credits from an accredited institution. Some families homeschool with help from a school or organization that might provide various types of support, including consultation, instruction, and even a diploma. In those situations, obtaining “credit” or a diploma will depend on the partner and the partner’s accreditation.

Who Awards Credit?

Only a school can award credits. This is true for both elementary and secondary schools, as well as colleges. Schools usually get their authority to award credit by being accredited institutions. There are a variety of different agencies that bestow accreditation to schools, and they are not considered equal. A college with lesser or no accreditation may award credits and diplomas, but they may not be recognized by employers or other academic institutions.

Thinkwell is not a school, and therefore, we do not award credit, just like a textbook publisher can’t award high school or college “credit” for reading their textbook. To pursue credit for a course, you'll need to partner with a school.  Most middle schools and high schools are willing to review and award credit for Thinkwell courses. 

 Ways To Get College Credit

Colleges decide whether or not to recognize or award credit from any course outside their institution. Other colleges are not obliged to accept or recognize credits from other colleges should a student transfer. Each college has its policies regarding credit. There are six potential paths to college credit:

1. Successful completion of a college-level course where the college awards credit. Not all courses offered at a college are necessarily credit courses; for example, Intermediate Algebra is not a credit course at a four-year college.

2. A college may elect to award credit for a course dependent on the results of a student’s AP exam®. The exam score required varies among colleges.

3. Likewise, a college may award credit dependent on the results of a CLEP (College Level Examination Program) exam®.

4. A college may award credit depending on the results of completing an ACE (American Council of Education) certified course.

5. A high school may offer a “dual enrollment” class where they have partnered with a college to provide college credit for the course.

6. A college may award credit towards a specific degree for “professional or life experience,” however, this is unlikely for incoming undergraduates.

 

College Credit With AP® (Advanced Placement®) Courses

The same is true regarding credit for Thinkwell’s courses named “compatible with AP®.” The College Board states at their website: “The AP Course Audit process is designed to review AP courses in their entirety, so only schools (whether brick-and-mortar or virtual) can submit course syllabi for review.”1 We, along with the College Board®, strive to make this distinction, which is why you see this statement on our website: AP® is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in its production. This course is designed for self-study preparation for the AP® exam and has not been audited by the College Board.

 

There are two common reasons to take an AP® course: for the “AP®” designation on a transcript, or to prepare for an AP® exam. It’s up to the homeschooling parent to decide on the relative value of listing a course as “honors” or “AP®” for your record-keeping or transcript. In terms of preparing for an AP® exam, Thinkwell is an excellent resource. For example, perhaps the most respected online provider of approved AP®courses is Johns Hopkins Center For Talented Youth; Thinkwell videos are the basis for those courses.

 

College Credit With CLEP Exams

The College Level Examination Program® is similar to the AP program, but it is more flexible. Students can take CLEP exams around the year, but AP exams are offered only one time per year. It is up to the college to grant credit depending on their policies and the student’s results on the CLEP exam. Most, but not all, colleges recognize the CLEP path to credit. The CLEP program is an excellent way to decrease the time and cost of college. These Thinkwell courses are excellent preparation for the CLEP exam:

American Government

Calculus

Chemistry

College Algebra

Precalculus

Microeconomics

Macroeconomics

Transcripts

Upon request, Thinkwell will provide the results of your student’s homework exercises and exams for your transcript. A certificate of completion is also available upon request.

 

ACE Courses

The American Council on Education is a nonprofit organization devoted to issues and programs relating to higher education. About 1,700 colleges participate as members. The organization encourages colleges to award credit for any college course with ACE certification. While the decision to award credit is up to the college, ACE-certified courses are generally accepted.

 

Thinkwell Course Grades

Thinkwell tracks all student results on exercises and assessments. These results are available upon request. They represent an objective history of the student’s activity, and we do not assign a letter grade to the results, or indicate a “pass” or “fail” status. These course grades, along with a certificate of completion, are helpful in building a homeschooler's transcript.

 

We’re Here To Help

It’s the responsibility of the parent to meet the guidelines or laws of your state in homeschooling your children. It will be your decision as a parent on how you may choose to represent your student’s experience with Thinkwell courses. We’re pleased to do our part in the success of your student and let us know if we can help at info@thinkwell.com.

 

 

1.https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-course-audit/explore-by-role/online-distance-learning-providers

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