So what’s the deal with AP classes?

When I was in high school classes, I was one of the AP kids. (*Coughs. Nerd.) That meant that in the specific AP courses I took – AP Government & Politics, AP American History, AP European History and AP English – I was able to take a test at the end of the year that would ostensibly give me college credit for the courses. I didn’t really get the significance of this until much later. I just wanted to graduate with a higher class rank. (*Coughs. Nerd.) It took me until senior year of college to realize that the courses I took in college meant I could graduate an entire semester early. Then, of course, I wished I’d taken more.

This year, my little sister took two AP courses. She’s taken some before, she knows the deal. But there was a specific test she didn’t really want to take: AP Economics. She loved her class. She loved her teacher (same one I had when I was in school, yay).  At the end of the year – whether they wanted to or not – her schoolmates and her were required to take the AP test. Her school requires that students who are registered for AP courses must take the AP test. In fact, some years before, students taking AP classes were told they would have to pay if they didn’t take the test.

When I was in high school, I had to pay roughly $70 for each AP test I took. You’d better believe I studied for that test when I knew my mom was shelling out $70 some dollars for me to take a test. Even after I applied for a fee waiver, I still made sure I was prepared before I was registered. Why? Because I didn’t want to waste the money!

Now here’s a roughly edited version of a conversation I had with my little sister.

Me: “What did you get on your test?”

Her: ” I got a 1.“

Me: “What?!”

Her: [Giggles.] “Yeah, I just got too lazy.”

Me: “What?! What’s mom going to say? You totally wasted the AP registration fee!”

Her: “What fee? My school pays for it.”

Okay, so the kid decided that because somebody was footing the bill, she didn’t have to take the test seriously. Shameful, I know. (Trust me, she heard it from me. Especially when she told me the phrase she wrote for the final essay. *Sighs. *Shakes head.) However, I’m confused about the school’s reasoning behind such a policy. Have they decided that some AP scores are better than none at all?

According to an AP teacher I spoke with, this policy started under Paul Vallas. The thinking was that it would reassure colleges that kids who had taken AP classes had actually taken the tests associated with them and weren’t just inflating their transcripts. And the requirement that they take the test ensures that kids who previously would’ve only taken it for the inflated grade they get for taking AP courses (it weighs higher than a regular course) now truly are AP kids. Not just wanna-be-AP-kids who are taking the course so they can be class valedictorians.

Okay, so some kids can’t afford the fee. Waive their fees. Don’t waive every body’s fee. A blanket fee waiver can’t be a good thing. I don’t think taxpayers or whoever should be paying for my little sister’s lack of academic initiative. She could have paid for that test herself. And if she had, maybe she would’ve taken it more seriously. Wonder how many other kids we’re paying for who had no intention or interest in their AP tests? At $86 a pop, I hope public schools are getting a discount.