Pandemic Changes AP Course Rigor: The Test Remains the Same

By Abigail Miller

Each year the College Board administers an exam for students who hope to receive college credit for the AP classes they have been enrolled in throughout the year. This year, Redwood Students will be taking exams over a two-week period.

Aya Aziz ’21 says that AP testing has a bad reputation these days, “but as someone who has taken five AP tests and is planning to take five more this year, I honestly think that studying and sitting for an AP Test is probably the most enriching and extensive part of the experience of taking an AP course.”

“If you plan accordingly and study hard, you learn so much more than what I think you can get out of an AP Class alone,” Aziz says. However, “that doesn’t mean that I think AP Tests are perfect, I definitely think there are flaws in the system, but, at the same time, AP Testing is one of the best ways to prepare high school students for the rigorous course material they’ll encounter in college.

In regards to using test scores from a year that has been anything but normal in the educational world, Aziz thinks that “students should still have the chance to show what they know on AP tests. After all, I think that while students at Redwood shouldn’t get too hard on themselves, it’s important to remember that there are other students in our town, state, and country who are also competitive and hardworking” who will be waiting for this test.

Taking the AP test does not guarantee students college credit, but Aziz says she “know[s] that the College Board advertises AP Tests as a way to get AP Credit, but that’s mostly just a marketing strategy.”

Despite this, she says, “I think that students should remember that you shouldn’t take AP tests to transfer AP Credit… the real point of AP Tests is to learn and grow as a student and test taker.  I know that COS and community college classes are becoming very popular because of how easy it is to transfer credit, but I would still take an AP Class over a COS class any day because the quality of the class curriculum and the rigor of the AP workload is a way better preparation for a University-level course than skipping a few course units.”

Annabelle Williamson ’21 has a different perspective. “I am personally choosing not to take an AP test that I had originally planned to at the beginning of the year because I do not think that I could pass it. Many teachers did not adjust to distant learning as fast as the curriculum changed which led to a lot of subjects being brushed over and moved past.”

Williamson says “Trying to accurately gauge where a student is at by a comprehensive test is inadequate considering the year that students have been through. I think many students are going to spend too much money on tests that they cannot pass because they feel obligated to take it since they put in a year of work into an AP class.”

The test is designed to be difficult, she says, “and to only let students who rigorously studied the curriculum get a 5, or pass in general. I do think that it is insane to ask high school students for $100 per test that they are not guaranteed to pass.” A large majority of students do not have the money to spend, “even if they don’t qualify for the fee waiver. AP tests are like the SAT test; only the people that can afford to pay for the test and hire top-tier tutors consistently pass. These tests are designed for people who have money.”

In reflection upon the past year, Williamson says “A lot of students choose to take AP classes because they have the option to take the test and receive credit. Without a reward at the end of it, many students would not see the point to taking a harder class with nothing extra to gain from it. So yes, the test should be administered because the only other option would be to give students no credit for the course. If that was the case for this year, I would have also chosen to not take as many AP classes as I did.”

Williamson warns other students to understand that “when you sign up for an AP course and the exam, you are not signing up for an automatic pass on the test and I think many students need to understand that before they pay to take the test. If a student doesn’t feel confident that they can pass the test, they should not pay the $95 to essentially waste 4 hours of their time.”

She also says that “taking a high school course designed to be like a college course and then actually taking a college course is completely different. There’s a different level of intensity that comes with a college course and more rigor.”

“Even though I have taken many AP classes at Redwood,” says Williamson. “I want to take them again when I go to college because I know I am bound to learn more and understand more than I did in high school and I believe that is the reasoning behind why some colleges do not accept AP credit.”