<p>Hello,
Its the time of year to sign up for AP tests at my school and I'm getting pretty frustrated with my administration...</p>
<p>First of all, our principal pays for all of our tests(supposedly $83 a test). Is this a common practice? I mean, it's nice, but read on. Because they are paid for, our principal basically says that we HAVE to take the test. If we do not we are punnished by having to take a final and having it count for up to 15% of our FINAL grade. Note that these finals are normally relatively difficult... not something that you can easily get a 95% on. </p>
<p>What bothers me is that students with valid reasons for NOT taking the test are being forced to with the fear of being singled out and having their grade penalized. I will not go into my reasons but they are not out of laziness or a need to defy my leaders but I have talked to my principal at length and he is sticking to his policy. Being that this is the case, I have assured him that I will be having my scores cancelled after I take the test and cost his school just under $200(I don't want to take two of my five tests). We are the ONLY school in our county that does this, and after talking to other schools principals about this, I am being forced to go to the board of education. Its not really so much about me but about the ethical problems with his policy. </p>
<p>Do you think I'm out of line? Does your school have a similar policy? What would you do if you were in my position?</p>
<p>im a senior and we pay for our own ap tests. SOME of the teachers tell us tht if we dont take them, theyre going to make a final tht we have to take(usually the ap is the final for srs); however only a few enforce it. i dont want to take some of the aps either bc my college nxt yr(penn) will only take 5s and for some subjects,, i KNOW i wont get tht so y waste money?</p>
<p>We fork over the money for AP's ourselves at our school and then are required take 25% finals that usually garner a class average of a C. If you firmly believe in your logic for forgoing the AP's (which won't look great to colleges, i'm sure you know), stick with your decision and cancel your test scores if you must. It's a shame that your school would pay that much money for nothing, but it's their policy, and therefore not your problem. I think your school is sure it knows what's best for it's students, but you know your needs better than they do. Good luck.</p>
<p>dues.ex.machina- I'm a senior so me not taking the test will not affect my admissions, correct?</p>
<p>Here's the deal... I'm taking AP Calc right now at my HS. Over the summer I want to take Calc II at a local college prior to entering "real" college in the fall. By doing this, credit will automatically be granted for Cacl I (AP Calc) assuming I get a C or higher(which I will). If I take the AP Calc test I know I will not get a 4 or 5... trust me. So when I get a 1 or 2 on the AP Calc test(because of time and such) and then an A in my college class the credibility and difficulty of the school where my transfer credits would be coming from would be compromised. Does this make sense? For the most part this college has good standing and does well with transfering credits but I don't know how strong my personal application would look with such a low score in AP Calc. As an engineer I will probably retake calc II at my "real" college anyway but would like to get some serious exposure prior to it so my first year is a little easier. Dumb? I know, but if it makes my first semester just the smallest bit easier it is worth it.</p>
<p>Not to be rude or anything, but its not a good thing to get credit for a class that you really shouldn't get credit for. I've heard stories of people getting credit in AP Chem (after getting a 5 even), and getting screwed over when they take o-chem (next course in progression).</p>
<p>as the name implies, AP classes are primarily meant to prepare for the AP test, so I don't see why you are complaining about someone paying for a test that you've been preparing for the entire year. But if you don't want to take it, just don't take it. It's not worth the hassle to deal with the board of education when you said that the penalty was a final that is worth 15% of the final grade but that isn't very unusual. Most finals are worth a substantial amount of your grade; some are even worth more than 15%. Many schools also require students to take AP exams, since that is the purpose of the classes.</p>
<p>We HAVE to take the tests for all AP classes that we are registered in, and we have to pay for them ourselves. If we don't want to take a test, the administration bites our heads off, removes the AP denotation from our transcripts, and writes a letter to our college. It's ridiculous.</p>
<p>my school's county (Broward County, like the 2nd largest in the US or something) pays for every AP test we take (this is county-wide for every school). however, the testing is required, and if you don't take the test you have to pay a refund to the school since they just ordered a test for nothing...</p>
<p>My school is not private but like I said we are the only around here that does this. I understand the point about why should I get credit for a class where I'm really not prepared but understand that I will still probably retake Calc II and most likely Calc I. I am doing this so that I get a BETTER understanding of it now so that it won't be as difficult(which I don't think it should be) in college.... but I would like to leave open the possibility to get credit for the courses. Unlike alot of you I am not looking at all ivies or top 25 schools and to be honest, the level of difficulty of the calc I'm taking might be okay. I will let the admissions department decide that but I would like to have it an option... make more sense?</p>
<p>Thanks and I will respond to more of the comments later but I've got to go.</p>
<p>yea you are lucky in my opinion. I am required to take all my ap tests AND pay for them in full. The logic being if you are in an ap class you are being prepared for this test so you did not really complete the requitrements for the class unless you take the test. (makes sense) However, on the bright side after the AP's my AP classes are essentailly done :)</p>
<p>we have to pay for our tests, but it's charged to our school account. the seniors are really the only ones that have an option not to take it because they don't take finals at the end of the year anyways. the juniors that take APs either take the AP, or take a notoriously hard final. and our finals are 20% of our semester grades anyways.</p>
<p>After talking with my Calc teacher, my math teacher at the college(that I took over the summer) and my counselor I have decided to take the test and depending on how I feel I do on it, cancel my scores(before having them graded) or let them go ahead and be graded. It's not that crucial of a matter and I think some of you may be misunderstanding my reasoning but I think I'm okay with my plans now. My objective is not to be a credit "whore"(not saying that anyone suggested that) but to learn the material and be placed in college where I belong... wherever that is. </p>
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I'm still shocked that a school would pay for the tests. Is it a private school?
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<p>I'm in a similar situtation - school pays for all AP test and requires you to take them if you took the class. It's a public school, and this policy is standard for the entire county.</p>
<p>wow i envy your school. we have to pay on our own. also our final for AP classes are model AP tests, so finals have no particular meaning except as a preparation for the AP.</p>
<p>Our school reimburses its students if they pass the AP test. And yes, we are forced to take the AP test as part of our course curriculum - we dont get class credit without passing. Which is dumb because if you know you cant pass because of a bad teacher and are poor and cant afford the $83, then you are screwed. It's really a dumb policy.</p>