I have checked with my kid’s teacher and she told me senior does not have to take final after the AP exam, but junior has to. I wonder whether other schools give out finals …and how do the schools determine grades? do they consider the AP exam scores for the grades?
In my experience, it varies by school. My kids’ school leaves it up to the teacher. Some have the kids take finals. Others do not. Some have them compete some type of project/paper instead. I know other schools that require finals for all classes. I have not heard about making a distinction between juniors and seniors.
With no final, I have seen schools just base the grade on two quarters. AP exams can’t really be used because results are not released until July which is too late for most schools grade reporting.
At our school there is no final for any second semester senior in any class, AP or not. Seniors are actually done with classes 2 weeks before the rest of the school and graduate before finals occur. No AP class has any final but some that are usually taken before Senior year have a second semester project.
This varies by school, as mentioned above. Often, second semester senior do not take finals at all, AP or no AP. Students in an AP class or senior-level class who are not senior may or may not have to take a final depending on the school teacher. The grade is simply calculated without a final. Few schools consider AP scores in the grade determination, since AP scores do not come out until July.
My D’s final in APUSH last year was a previous year’s AP test (administered over several class periods), given a week or two before the real thing. It was graded and returned before the AP test, and was very helpful.
our school continues thru June, so there is 4+ weeks of class after AP tests. So, yeah, finals are required. The AP test is optional, and not figured into HS grades.
At my kids school there must be a final or final project in every class regardless of CP, H, AP level. Most AP classes have final projects that the students work on in class after the AP exams. Second semester seniors are exempt from finals as long as they meet attendance requirements. Other students are permitted to exempt finals according to school rules regardless of the level of the class. Final projects are not subject to exemptions and usually must be completed by all students. Most final projects are fun for the students and teachers. The AP instructors do not want to add stress and lots of hard grading after the AP exams.
I’ve heard of schools that actually go back and change grades based on AP scores which aren’t issued until late July or early August. I wish our school did that, younger son got some sort of B in World History and a 5 on the exam. APUSH in our school is used as a Regents requirement and our school uses the Regent’ exam as a final exam for that course. Most of the other AP courses don’t bother with a separate final exam - or will use one of the final AP practice exams as a final. We have a huge span of time after the APs before graduation. AP Physics spent a month playing ping pong on the lab tables. AP Bio had the kids do research projects and Power Point presentations, AP Lain continued classes, but at a more relaxed pace.
My D2’s school has a policy of allowing seniors to be exempt from finals – in all classes, not just AP – if their grade is acceptable (A or B) and their semester absences are below six days. All other AP students must take a final at the end of May, after the AP exam.
At our school, anyone who takes an AP exam is excused from the spring final for that class. However, the student has to make a 3 or above on the AP exam to get credit for the class. If a student takes an AP class but chooses not to take the AP exam, the student is required to take the final exam.
Seniors are required to take exams, and their diplomas are held if they don’t take either finals or AP exams.
I can’t imagine a school taking AP scores into consideration for final grades unless the school pays for the AP exam. I remember for my calc class that if we got a 5 on the exam that we could ask our teacher to bump up our grade two notches (ie B- -> B+ or B+ -> A) but that was a teacher policy.
We didn’t take finals as seniors but again, that’s a teacher-by-teacher policy… though I don’t remember any that actually made students take their finals unless they were borderline not passing the class.
My kids school has a finals policy for Juniors and Seniors that if you are running an A average in the course you are exempt from the final in all classes - and the 4 marking periods are weighted equally. If you have to take the final it is 10% of final grade. In AP courses you are exempt from final if running a B.
Our S16 would certainly have benefited if his AP English score had been factored into his grade. He got a D in the class, but got a 4 on the AP exam.
@mstomper it is one of the reasons I asked… a kid gets a low grade in class but achieves a 4 or 5 in AP…in this case, what does it tell us? the kid is lazy or that the teacher does not know how to teach…
@annamom-I don’t think it tell you that the kid is lazy or that the teacher doesn’t know how to teach. When my oldest took AP Calc AB he got a B- in the class and a 5 on the exam. He has never been lazy and he considers that teacher one of the best he ever had (he was a math major in college). The teacher took all test questions from old AP exams. She graded the class on the HS scale with no curve. So if he got 80% it was. a B-. However, 80% on the AB Exam gets you a 5.
Most of the teachers at my kids school use AP questions on their in class exams. There are lots of kids who get Bs in the classes and 5s on the exams. The kids aren’t lazy and the teachers aren’t bad teachers. There is a difference in the grading scale between the class and the exam.
My kids had to take ALL of the finals for,their AP classes. Reality check…the AP scores don’t come out until long after the school year ends. What if a kid got a 2 on the AP exam??
@annamom, in our son’s case it was the latter. He actually liked the teacher; he hated the class. The teacher acknowledged that he was a very good writer; S just didn’t do the work most of the time. S18 is taking AP English this year and doing pretty well.
My son lost respect for his AP World teacher when he realized that he was making up facts to suit his agenda. That said, they did a lot of social history and we had a lot of interesting dinner table discussions when he was taking that course. I think however because my kid pushed back the teacher ended up disliking him. My kid swears playing games like Civilization 4 were the main reason why he did well on the exam.
@Proudpatriot - That’s harsh grading. My son’s Calc AB and BC teacher administers old AP tests for final exam (over 4 days), but curves a 5 to an A, 4 to a B, etc. After just 3 days (3/4) of the AP BC exam, my S17 has a 5. 
Also, the teacher will override semester grade with the grade of the final. He says, if you learned the material, you learned the material. While this may be a way of inflating grades, it’s in my kid’s favor, so…
There isn’t a “rule” at the school for seniors, but most of the “finals” after AP exams are non-existent. Our school is out by May 21st, so the year is just about over. There may be a final essay or group project. But almost no math / science finals. For 1st semester, one of my S17’s classes is an optional final if you need it to boost your grade.
I always wished my school changed grades based on AP. Junior year second semester was 2 B-'s, 1 A-, and 1 A, but all 5’s on the four exams. In my case, I think it mostly demonstrated the effect of mental health issues on work completion, as well as grading which was probably less inflated in comparison to many high schools today.