Students’ Thoughts on the College Board

By: Ayla Ozturk

The College Board is responsible for creating and administering the Advanced Placement (AP) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). These exams can play a big role when students apply for college, however, many students are not fond of how large that impact can actually be. Here are their thoughts.

Laine Roper, class of 2022, says “I think AP classes are a great way to challenge yourself, but they do bring a lot of unnecessary stress. In my experience, they are more difficult than classes at COS [College of the Sequoias]. It certainly doesn’t help that the AP tests have a large price tag without fee waivers.”

As Roper said, the fees for just taking the AP tests are very high, sitting at $95 per test. AP classes allow students to get both high school and college credit for the class. Without taking that exam, students don’t get college credit.

This adds additional stress, as parents pay these fees most of the time. Students don’t want that money to go to waste.

Lily Stetson, class of 2021, says “Students sacrifice a lot of money and time to be able to take the tests, nobody wants to pay $90 for a test that could end up useless if they don’t pass or their college doesn’t count the credit.”

The SAT, a relatively stressful test, is a requirement to go to most colleges. This weight on students has a deterimental effect on students’ mental health.

According to Krissy Hetherington, class of 2021, “This all affects mental health because the AP and SAT tests are expecting students to remember everything from the entire year. I think the College Board just has very high expectations for students. Personally, I’ve never been the best test taker and the exams are so long, and having to be focused for hours stresses me out as it is.”

Overall, students have a lot of problems with how the College Board runs, especially how they expect so much from high school students who are as young as 15 years old, and in some schools, 14.

Lily Stetson, class of 2021, had one good thing to say about the AP program, “I think the AP classes are difficult, but they are also a challenge and I think they are good preparation for college.”

Stetson then talks about how this also has a negative impact on students and how it tends to outweigh the benefits. “I also feel like it’s not good for many reasons. I was 16 when I took my first AP test and that kind of stress was a lot for me to take.”

Roper Hetherington says, “I would change the way we receive credit, passing the class with an A or a B is an accomplishment in itself, and the official tests don’t always show our capabilities. I would also reduce the cost, we can take about 3 COS courses a semester with guaranteed credit and this makes AP classes feel like a waste of time.”.

Hetherington says, “I wish the College Board split up their tests on different days, like multiple choice on one day, LEQ/DBQ on another, and so forth. This would give students more time to brush up on information from the whole year.”.

Stetson says, “I would change the fact that even if you get a 3 [the passing score], some colleges won’t accept it. I know it’s not the College Board’s decision, but I feel like we have demonstrated knowledge of the subject we should be able to have that credit for college.”.

People wonder why students put themselves through this, but the college admissions process has become so competitive that they feel that they have to. Overall students feel like the College Board puts too much pressure on students, has flawed programs, and overcharges students for tests.

Tags: AP, ap classes, AP tests, aptesting, change, college applications, college apps, college board, college of the sequoias, COS, DBQ, LEQ, mental health, SAT, students, testing season