Show me the money.
Paying for AP testing may at first seem ridiculous and unnecessary, but there are beneficial outcomes which could result from this policy.
It is easy to blame the school and complain about the load of AP classes which should result in the privilege of a free test, but having students pay for their exams has nothing to do with a personal blow to hard workers. The amount of money the school pays for students to take their exams could cover a large portion of activities which have the potential to be cut.
Freshmen sports are on the line as well as a portion of swim team practices. Spring sports already do not even have any freshmen teams and who knows which sport could be taken away next, if not all of them. Freshmen sports are a very important part of the transition from middle school to potentially junior varsity or varsity sports. An opportunity to make friends and excel in an extracurricular cannot be beaten.
The SAT is notorious among high school students, but it is only so because of the hard work and effort students put into it. Those hours and hours of studying and working through classes are all put into this one exam, which sounds very familiar to an AP exam. Not only is the hard work a similarity, but also the price to take it. Paying for AP exams may motivate students to try harder rather than taking the opportunity for granted. Passing an exam can lead to credit for college and that means the possibility of not having to take a class.
A concern students have is the one point bump from the AP class. If this policy were to be implemented, the student would still gain that extra point regardless of taking the test at the end of the year or not. It is understood how rigorous and challenging an AP class is and the benefit of the point is rewarded for the hard work a student undergoes, not for sitting through an exam in May.
Students taking AP classes are well aware of the hard work they are in for thanks to the AP nights, recommendations from teachers and counselors, and personal experience. Bringing the factor of paying for your exam at the end of the year shouldn’t sway student’s readiness to take the class because the main focus of whether or not to take a challenging class should lay in how prepared a student is for the hard work to come. Financial aid will of course be provided to those who cannot afford it.
Before jumping to the conclusion that a policy regarding paying for AP exams is dreadful, consider the pros and how this could benefit all students.