For weeks and weeks many students were preparing for the AP exams; they were studying, reviewing in classes, and stressing. Anna Abergel `28 said, “I studied over the course of three weekends by reading the Barron’s Book and doing four practice tests.” But, was all of that preparation worth it?
When AP Testing started in 1952, College Board, the company that runs the AP Program, explained that AP testing would “Offer an opportunity and a challenge to … the strongest and most ambitious boys and girls.” (Schneider, 2009) However today in Ramaz, Ms. Dana Messinger, Dean of College Guidance, notes that “Ramaz is known to be a rigorous institution, and colleges are aware that students taking honors or accelerated courses are challenging themselves. [So] this diminishes the value of AP scores for admission purposes.”
For some APs the benefit of doing well is advanced placement in senior classes. Ms. Messenger explains that “The AP Pre-Calc exam is being used by the math department to help with senior year placement into Accel, AB or BC Calculus.” While a 5 on AP Precalculus might not drastically impact if a college accepts a student, taking BC Calculus as a senior might have a significant impact.
Some APs at Ramaz not only count for placement, but they also count as a final. In Accelerated Precalculus, a 5 on the AP is counted as a 98 on the final and a 4 counts as a 92 on the final. Students are therefore incentivised to study harder for the AP as it will impact their overall grade.
Another benefit for some students is that certain colleges give credit for good scores. Ms. Messenger explained that as of now, “Public institutions are the most generous when it comes to awarding credit, but each school sets its own policy both in terms of courses they award credit for and the AP score that can earn them credit.” One limiting factor in terms of receiving college credit for an AP is that certain courses are less likely to count for credit. Ms. Messenger explained that microeconomics, macroeconomics, statistics, a foreign language, math, and science courses are all more likely to count for credit as colleges offer equivalent courses.
Ms. Messenger does note that doing well on APs could actually be counterproductive for students with lower grades. She explains that if a student has a C+/ B- average in a class and gets a 5 on the AP, that would demonstrate to colleges that the student was capable of doing well in the class but some other factor impacted their course grade.
Some students are not concerned about receiving college credit but choose APs based on their passions. In classes where many colleges do not give credit for doing well on the exam, taking the test is optional. Dr. Rotenberg, Department Chair and teacher of AP Environmental Science, explained that “Depending on how many students are planning to take the test, I will sometimes adjust how much I “teach to the test” vs. my interests or the students’ interests.” Keeping some AP courses as AP test optional allows students to learn about their passions and explore their interests without the weight of an AP Exam.
While some colleges may not give credit for APs, the courses still offer great opportunities to explore personal interests, solidify knowledge in a subject, and in the case of math, potentially improve class placement for senior year.
