<p>I would have been annoyed if I’d gotten the AP stripped for not taking the test. I could have taken the tests but chose not to because I didn’t have the money, my parents didn’t pay for that kind of thing for me. I sought out the harder curriculum just for fun. It was nice to be rewarded for it. I think it’s a shame for the test to have anything to do with the school, that wasn’t really the vibe I got from my AP classes-- it was more like “okay, here is a harder curriculum to better prepare you for college, and oh yeah you get to take this test at the end for credit.” You didn’t take the class just for the test, and the AP course was still more rigorous than the regular course even without the test. </p>
<p>I can see why schools would want you to take the test, though.</p>
<p>Inner city public. If you qualify for FRL the PTA will cover the $87 for ea test. Otherwise the student must pay. The test wasn’t required when D was in AP Euro in 10th grade, but in subsequent years tests were required for all students.</p>
<p>I live in a high COLA area, so many people who do not qualify for Free Lunch will struggle. A school near us said no AP test, no weight. Fortunately the Rotary Club got togethor and raised money.</p>
<p>Two of the top ranked USN&WR high schools (I think they were #5 and #8 in 2009) are in Dallas. Those schools pay for all expenses related to AP tests for their students. In addition to paying the fees, students are given cash prizes for 4s and 5s. And, believe me, even though these are public schools in a poor district - very few of their students are free/reduced lunch kids!!! IMO, paying students to take the test artificially increases their rankings, as rankings are based on # of tests taken per kid, not on scores received.</p>
<p>On the other hand, my kids are in another Dallas area school, and our kids receive a subsidized rate for AP (we pay $57 per test) and many of our kids get the fee paid for by a scholarship fund. Funds are raised annually for this purpose by the PTA!!!</p>
<p>Public high school requires parents to pay, except of course free/reduced lunch students. They will even take a payment plan for those that find it a burden. All students are required to take the exam–it is spelled out quite clearly before a student signs up. Those that don’t pay get stuck with a bill before transcripts will be released to colleges.</p>
<p>Why require all to take it? We found that the students take the review more seriously when everyone is taking the exam (no kids slacking because they aren’t taking it) and do better overall. Also helps the teacher to get a good idea as to the quality of their instruction. We expect that exam scores should correlate with class grades (not exactly but pretty close). Thus A students should be getting 5’s. B student’s 4’s, and C students a 3. There is always a little bit of overlap but usually no great surprises.</p>
<p>So—if all your students are getting A’s/B’s but no one is passing the exam, we have a problem!</p>
<p>My children went to a public high school. The parents were required to pay the full amount of the AP testing. When my oldest was in high school, there was no reimbursement policy. When my younger child was there, we were reimbursed for all his exams because he got scores of 4 or better. My son probably signed up for more tests because this policy was in place. He knew that he probably wasn’t going to use the AP credit in college, but he knew it wasn’t going to cost him anything other than the time to take study for and take the exams. He was very confident about being prepared for them. Had my daughter been presented with this option, she probably would have taken at least one more exam.</p>
<p>Interesting to see all the different policies.</p>
<p>S’s private school requires student pay for each AP exam, no reimbursement.</p>
<p>To have the course counted as an AP course on transcript, student must take exam.</p>
<p>Kids who don’t want the stress of the exam can take most of the AP courses as a dual enroll course. Course is taught at HS by HS teacher, but community college credits are granted. Of course, the cost of the CC must be paid for in advance of course beginning to the CC. So, AP is actually cheaper.</p>
<p>Our public only offers 1 AP class (Bio). Student pays for AP, no reimbursement that I know of. Most kids do not score 3 or above. (but “most” means 6 or so per year as the class is very small).</p>
<p>My kids went a large suburban HS D1 took a few AP classes but no tests.<br>
D2 takes almost all AP Classes offered but picks and chooses which tests to take. Taking the test has no effect on grades. Parents pay for all tests. School also offers AC credit through local university so kids signed up for those credits when possible . (Foreign Lang., Human Anatomy, Chemistry, and Statistics). The HS uses the finals from the University so I know the rigor of the the program is ‘college level’</p>
<p>I’m curious, for schools where the kids are not required to take the AP brand test what do the teachers do for a final exam or do all kids take a final exam from the teacher and then those that wish take the AP brand exam?</p>
<p>At D’s public high school, AP classes are treated like any other, with normal final exams, and grades are based strictly on class work. (Since classes continue for weeks after the exams, it would be foolish to use the AP result as the final grade.) AP tests are optional and paid for by the parents. I don’t see how forcing a student to take an AP exam makes any sense. D decided not to take the AP exam for Spanish because it turned out she didn’t need the credit for college and she had too much on her plate to bother with it just for the sake of saying she took it. It would have been a foolish waste of money and time for her to be forced to take it anyway (and she would indeed have felt forced to do so if she would have otherwise lost the AP designation on her transcript.) And since she didn’t care about it, she wouldn’t have prepared and wouldn’t been diligent during the exam, so what would have been the point? If a student either doesn’t need the AP credit or is not doing well in the class and can predict a score that will not be of use at college, the high school’s desire to have some statistics to manipulate is irrelevant.</p>
<p>At our public HS there is no requirement to take the AP exam due to the fact that parents have the responsibility of paying for the test. The AP exam is not used to compute the course grade. That grade is determined by class performance, the grade received on a teacher-designed mid-term and the final exam. The final exam may be developed by the teacher or, in certain subjects such as Global History, US History and English 11, by the State of New York (Regents exams). </p>
<p>That said, I’d estimate that in any given year between 95% and 100% of students taking AP courses also take the AP exam.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize that schools charged different fees to take the test, the costs on the thread have varied about $10. We pay at our school, $87 per test.</p>
<p>D’s public HS requires that the AP exam be taken as part of the AP course for all subjects except AP languages, but the cost of the exam is paid by the student/parents. The AP exam does not factor into grades; teachers give a separate final.</p>
<p>Parents pay for the test, however a full refund is given for every 5 score and half refund for every 4. Nothing is given for 3 or less. I just received the check for last years tests, so the school doesnt rush to get those checks in the mail.</p>
<p>D’s private school required students to take the AP exam & to pay for it, as well. She had 5 senior year (expensive, especially when added to the ones she took in prior years). They also had to take final exams in each of the classes.</p>
<p>S’s public school did not require AP exams, but strongly encouraged them. Some teachers had policies of no final exam for those who took the AP exam, in order to encourage students to take the exams. We had to pay for the exams (4 senior year for this one, plus the prior year exams). The info sent home with students explained how parents who could not afford the exams could receive assistance.</p>