The College Board is a non-profit organization that allows high school students to take Advanced Placement (AP) courses. After a year of taking the student’s desired AP course, the student is then given a two-three hour long exam, which is usually divided into both multiple choice and free-response questions. However, many students have differing views on this organization, such as their exams (especially the 2020 exam).
The supporters of the College Board presents many benefits that the organization provides. The first point they made is that the College Board allows students to prepare themselves for college classes by creating rigorous classes, similar to a college level class. This would allow students to be comfortable when they go to college, which is great because it allows the transition from high school to college to be more pleasant. Another point the pro-College Board side brings up is that the AP courses allow students to take advantage of the college application process. By taking an Advanced course, students are able to boost their Grade Point Average (GPA), which looks good on an application. Also, if the student takes the AP exam, the college they are applying to may count their exam score as college credits, which means less courses for the student when they go to college.
However, there are also many disadvantages when it comes to the College Board. For example, the exams are very overpriced; AP exams range around the ninety dollar price, and Standardized testing ranges around fifty to sixty-five dollars. The exams are extremely expensive, not even including the prep book, which is another fifteen to twenty dollars. The cost of an exam overall, including a prep book, is around the hundred dollar area, and would cost even more if a student needs after school tutoring. It's very expensive to take an exam, and if a student fails, their year of studying, and their a hundred dollars, would go to waste. Also, the prices prevent students who can’t afford the exams from taking the test. It’s unfair that more fortunate students can take the exam, while less fortunate students can’t, even though they both have the same skill set for the exam. Another example would be what happened this year. The 2020 AP exams were just forty-five minutes long; sure, the exam was open-book, but it’s not right to determine one’s knowledge of a whole year on a subject off of a forty-five minute response, right? Personally, I didn’t take an AP class sophomore year, so I wouldn’t know what the experience was like. So if you took an exam this year, please let me know how your experience was.
In my opinion, there are both good and bad sides to the College Board. It’s good because I’m able to boost my GPA to stand out in the competitive college application world. I’m also very grateful my family could pay for the necessary tools I need to take and pass the exams. But, I do despise the fact that the College Board demands a large amount of money just for one exam; more people should be able to take the test. I also hate the fact that the organization didn’t cancel the exams this year. They should’ve given the students their score based on their final grade in the AP class, instead of a forty-five minute exam in the middle of a pandemic, which can be stressful.
So, do you disagree or agree with the College Board? Do you think it’s worth the time, money, and effort? Is it a scam by our government, as some students are stating? What did you think of the exams this year?
Website: Pros And Cons Of Taking AP Tests
First let me say WOW! I think this is super well written. Personally I haven't taken any AP courses until this upcoming school year. But you are entirely correct, why should these individuals who choose to take these courses be judged just in 45 minutes? To me, it's not worth the time, money, and effort just to be rushed into taking a test that you weren't prepared for by your teachers. Also, I think it is unfair that not everybody is given the same opportunities to take the course or test, because it costs to much money. Hopefully this year, those who choose to take any AP classes won't have to go through the same stress and pressure of those in the previous year
ReplyDeleteThank you Halena! I also agree with you. I think teachers try their hardest to prepare students when teaching an AP course, but the AP exam could have unexpected material. That unexpected material may not have been covered in our school's textbook, so it's very stressful unfortunately.
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ReplyDeleteHi Emma! I really like the topic you brought up, so I am going to say a few things. To begin, you mentioned, “ the prices prevent students who can’t afford the exams from taking the test”. I agree that an Ap exam is expensive, but the college board provides fee waivers that allow you to take the exam for free, if you qualify. This means that not only the fortunate students can take the test, but also the less fortunate.
Additionally, you mentioned that you “ also hate the fact that the organization didn’t cancel the exams this year”. Yes, it is true, many students were upset about this but from what I heard students voted into taking the exam and not letting it go to waste. Also, my AP teacher told us we did not have to take the exam. It was on us, we could have decided to take it next year, if we did not want to take it during this circumstance. However, this year, students also had a higher chance of passing. The AP test graders were less strict which benefited many students.
Now, for me, the exam went great, I got a very good score but I still found it unfair. I did not like the way exams were given this year. There were multiple versions of exams, and the one I got was something we never read in class (for Spanish Literature), while some of my classmates got one we went over really well. I also got a theme I hadn’t seen, but I made the best out of it. That is when I concluded that my exam was more difficult than others. This means that if I would have gotten a different reading and theme, then I would have felt more confident when writing the two essays we were given during the 45 minutes. It is possible, however, that some may think my version was easier, and if they did not pass with their version, they possibly could have with mine. Lastly, it did not happen to me, but many students lost their exam because of the page not loading so they had to retake it. That is also unfair because they had to take the exam all over again. Not only this, but some students even had to test during the middle of the night. So in conclusion, regardless of my score, I disliked this year's exams.
Hi Emma! I agree, your blog is very well written. I also agree that AP exams are very expensive, and some families don't have the money to be able to afford that. On the other hand, it makes sense that AP exams are pricey because a regular college class also costs that, if not more. So in the end, I think it weighs out because now that individual doesn't have to take that class in college if they pass the AP exam for it in high school. This years exam was very different and unexpected in some ways. I did hear of people who got kicked off the website and had to start over, or ran out of time because they couldn't adjust to the changes. Many of my friends, however, did better because they had more time to study at home and were more prepared. AP exams are helpful for the future if one passes, but could also be a waste of time and money if one doesn't.
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