AP tests (was OWLs & NEWTs vs US system) ot

[Kimberly]

No: HPFGUIDX 8799

John,

Nice explanation of the test systems.  I do have one comment:

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, John Walton <john at w...> wrote:

> An AP (Advanced Placement) exam is what clever Americans take for 
university
> entrance. The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) is so unbelievably 
basic (it's
> multiple choice, for goodness' sake!) that decent colleges want more 
than
> that. I have friends doing APs in World History, English Lit, etc. 
My
> university (St Andrews, which has a large proportion of American 
students)
> counts an AP as half an A-level. IMHO it's more like a third of an 
A-level,
> especially considering that a British student with A-levels can 
usually
> enter into Year 2 of an American BA program.

Actually, AP exams look good on university applications, but are 
not entrance requirements.  The SAT, as you said, and the ACT, are 
both general knowlege tests used for university entrance, and I'd have 
to agree, they're pretty sad.  An AP test is basically an exam that 
exempts you from a given university course.  If you make a certain 
score (out of 5, but requirements vary by university), you recieve 
credit as if you had taken that course at the university.  

I guess it really doesn't matter, but I thought someone might be 
interested.
kimberly