My friend (no, not me, actually my friend) wanted me to ask a question for her:
Is taking the AP class but NOT the test a bad thing? It’s my understanding that about 8 out of 50 classmates took the test, not even the guy with the highest grade in the class (this was AP chem), because the teacher didn’t really prepare them… She didn’t wanted to waste money to fail (and she just found out that none of her friends passed), but she’s freaking out that not taking the test will look bad (i told her not to worry about it, but hey).
<p>AP tests are for placement in college, so not taking one will not be a factor when it comes to college admissions. Your friend is fine.</p>
<p>It is a certainly a plus if you can submit good scores - not submitting scores is more of a neutral. If you friend can work on her SAT II's if she is planning on applying to competitive schools that would help her admissions prospects. Too bad about the poor teaching, really does a disservice to you students.</p>
<p>I was told the opposite by councelors and teachers. An attempt (effort) is better than none. I also heard that not taking the exam means that your AP class will not be counted as an AP class. So no idea.</p>
<p>Logically it makes sense. If you have an A, then why not take it? By not taking the exam, it basically invalidates the A. It shows that it wasn't earned properly and shouldn't add weight to your GPA. If people would like to blame it on the teacher, then take the initiative to overcome the challenge and learn on your own.</p>
<p>But seriously, people have done fine self-studying for an exam. That's a really bad excuse to not take it. People PASS their AP exams studying on there own. So is it that hard to get the basics in class and study on your own?</p>
<p>It's all in the textbook and the abundance of review books are sufficient for the exam. You don't need a teacher... except maybe a friend or two to ask questions on a few things that didn't click right away.</p>
<p>sorry, but some people aren't born geniuses and the only reason why they have a great chance at the top schools is because they work their a** off. If you have a bad teacher, how is a student like that supposed for an entire class by themselves. I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous. Not everyone who gets into top schools won nobel prizes at age 4 and got straight A's without lifting a finger. For some people, high school is actually challenging, not an obsession to get a 100 in every class, but a fight to get at least an A in every class.</p>