<p>I am so mad. I signed up to take 2 extra AP exams which I have been studying on my own for a few months now. This week, my counselor told me my school won't allow me to do that. Ugh, can't she just understand that it'll save me time/money in college (especially the college I want to go to) and so I can take AP exams for classes that I'm interested in and won't be able to fit into my the rest of my high school courseload. </p>
<p>How is it that some high schools allow you to self-study and others don't? That totally gives puts students on an unequal footing. Shouldn't there be some standardized rule about this? Can I complain to the College Board? Could I possibly drive to a high school in another county that allows self-studying and take the AP exams there?</p>
<p>You can take AP exams at another high school if you are home-schooled or if your own school does not offer AP classes, but I’m not sure how College Board would view your particular situation.</p>
<p>You should contact CB immediately and explain the situation to them. Unfortunately, based on the deadlines posted on the CB website, it may already be too late to take the exams this year:</p>
<p>Did your counselor give you a specific reason as to why your school won’t let you take these other AP exams? </p>
<p>Are these subjects that your school simply does not offer and therefore you had to self-study? If they are exams that your school does offer the corresponding class for, it would be logical for the school’s policy to be that you have to take the class before you take the exam. If that is the case, can you make the argument that the classes did not fit into your schedule for some reason?</p>
<p>Could it be a money issue? I know that some high schools pick up all, or at least part of, the cost of the exams for each student. (CB charges the school roughly $80 for each exam.) Maybe the school’s policy against self-studying for AP exams is so that the school doesn’t have to pay for a lot of extra exams and therefore can control its costs. If that’s the case, you should offer to pay all of the associated fees yourself.</p>
<p>worried_mom, actually my school does offer almost every AP course. But I know many high schools do offer many AP courses and still allow their students to self-study. So my high school technically can’t say no if other schools that offer the same courses say yes, right?<br>
My counselor specifically said that you have to take the class to take the exam unless you’re a fluent Spanish speaker and want to take the AP Spanish exam or some situation like that.
It doesn’t seem logical to me that my school would actually take away an opportunity for students to save time and especially money in college. </p>
<p>The reason why it’s important for me to take them is because I’m graduating early (could that be a good reason to argue that I should be allowed to self study?) and can hardly fit anything in my schedule anyway. I won’t be able to take APs my senior year so I want to get some credits this year by self-studying. Also I will not have time to take classes at my local community college. </p>
<p>Our school charges us $86 dollars per exam. We’re a really rich high school too, so I don’t know what their problem is.</p>
<p>There is nothing that compels a school to allow you to take an AP exam, but they can’t stop you from going elsewhere for it. However, at this point, it may be too late.</p>
<p>Another problem could just be that self-studying will require extra proctoring, which might be hard to provide, or could make it harder to deal with AP tests if any of your tests occur before or after the AP tests that are offered in your school. Or maybe your counselor is worried you might not do well on these tests which could hurt the school’s reputation if that matters at all.</p>
<p>S tried to take AP English lit independent study. School would absolutely not go for it. He had already gotten a 5 on AP Engl comp & 2 other 5’s in JR year, near perfect SAT’s etc…still they could not be convinced. He ended up taking dual credit Engl 101 instead. It served the same purpose. But if you MUST take an AP independent study, the best route I found was 1. call a private school & see if you can take it there & pay for the test yourself about $83 2. Contact your home school association they are used to fighting with public schools & could find you a place to test under the home school testing number- Caveat is: How you get a college to give you credit for an AP not on your transcripts will be a whole new mess!</p>
<p>Actually your school does have the right to set any policy that it wants to regarding who can take AP exams – no matter what any other schools decide to do. Permission to take AP exams is decided by individual schools; not all schools even participate in the AP program.</p>
<p>All you can do is ask for the specific reason(s) why that policy exists at your school. (Also ask to see where this policy is written down, since this issue may not have come up before and the guidance counselor may just be winging it here.) Then come up with a convincing counter-argument that addresses that specific reason and why it doesn’t apply in your particular case, or why you should be granted an exemption. </p>
<p>If you don’t get anywhere with your counselor, then start moving up the chain of command – to your principal, to the district superintendent, to the school board if necessary. If it’s really a big issue for you, you may also need to get your parents involved. But do it soon as time is running out.</p>
<p>Also the reason a public school or possibly a private one (you did not say which you attend) will not allow AP independent study is no child left behind stats and/or other benchmarks they are measured against. The schools need to measurably say they have x no. kids in AP classes and that x % of kids got a 5, 4, 3, passed etc. Hate to say it, but in public school you probably cannot fight this fight- they need to protect their funding/reputation. Plus not having the AP on your transcripts could be a pain. If you call the CB they will tell you that you can take the test, but remember they are in the business of selling tests</p>
<p>So does everyone think I should contact College Board and tell them what my school is doing? They might help because they probably want the extra money anyway. </p>
<p>As I said before, I should be granted a special exemption because I am doing early graduation and will not be able to take AP classes senior year.</p>
<p>If I did take AP exams at another school and got 5s, would my school be obliged to put it on my transcript? And if they don’t oblige, could I always send my scores separately to colleges?</p>
<p>By the way, I paid and registered for the AP exams on time, so it’s unfair that my school only told me that I couldn’t do this AFTER I paid and everything. Would College Board be sympathetic to me because I paid and registered on time?</p>
<p>dunbar: I know it’s not just my school charging $86. Someone asked me how much the AP exams cost so that’s why I wrote that.</p>
<p>They can’t tell you that you can’t. Go through Collegeboard. They are not in charge of the AP exams, Collegeboard is. And Collegeboard doesn’t deny anyone a test. You might have to go to another school though.</p>
<p>Thanks romanigypsyeyes! Your post helped me decide that I am probably going to call Collegeboard. By the way, the deadline for registration is 3/27, so I definitely have some time! I hope I can register at another school and go up to my counselor and AP coordinator and GLOAT when I get 5s (if I do, haha).</p>