For many seniors at HB it’s that time of year again and students anxiously await the return of college letters. Along with the struggles of applying for scholarships and working on financial aid there is also the looming AP tests. These Advanced Placement tests are college level classes that allow students to get the chance to test out of college courses and still receive credit for them. Many students take these classes such as APUSH, AP Lit and AP Languages.
The question that has recently arisen however is if all schools will take AP credit. Schools such as Dartmouth, Brown and Columbia have not taken AP credit and it seems other schools may be following suit. The reason behind this? Colleges say that even though a student may test out of a certain class according to these tests does not mean they are college ready. Many schools claim that students come in without a sturdy foundation and by skipping these classes freshmen year, or freshmen year all together for some students leaves them at a disadvantage. Many universities want students to learn these topics at their schools with their teachers.
So for upcoming seniors the new message is, be sure to check with your schools. The tests are not cheap, coming in at about $90 per test with some students taking up to 4 AP tests. If the school of your choice does indeed take a 3 or above depending on the school it may be worth saving the money that you’d have to be paying for a college class. However, if you either need the class for your major and are unsure if you know the topic well enough regardless of your score, it may be worth it to take the class again.