Point: Matthew Ashman
As a senior, you’ve most likely taken an AP class and have seen what happens during the three weeks of AP Tests in May. Teachers are posting tons of materials and links in order to review their previous content. Students are scrambling to relearn first-semester content and spending hours upon hours of their nights studying. This is, of course, on top of the regular workflow from other classes.
This time of year may be the most stressful for the average student. For the seniors who are in AP classes, you might have registered for the class’s AP test out of consideration for your teacher or in order to save money on potential college classes. Though these are very legit reasons, I believe that seniors should, for the most part, not take their AP tests.
Seniors shouldn’t be worrying about tests that have no effect on their GPA or whether they get into a college. One factor most people consider is the potential to save money on college classes by taking a class that the school offers. However, this would only work if you received a very high score on said exam. The most prominent point I see is the unnecessary mental stress that seniors would endure during this time. With Prom and graduation on the horizon, it doesn’t make sense to spend the last 2 months of high school studying for a test that won’t matter beyond this year. This time would be much better spent keeping their grades up and preparing for life after high school.
Counterpoint: Luke DeZee
It’s senior year, and you just want to finish up high school nice and easy and not have to worry about stressful tests so you decide not to take your AP tests. However, fast forward to the summer when you’re signing up for college courses and have to sign up for a full course schedule. Had you just signed up for your AP test and gotten a score good enough for credit you would not have to retake a course in college saving an immense amount of time and money.
Some people may argue that AP tests are expensive and not needed. However, in the long run, if you pass the test you can save thousands of dollars as you don’t need to take as many courses in college which already leads to a discount for your tuition or even have the opportunity to graduate early Even if you didn’t want to graduate early, the first year of college can be extremely stressful and having less of a course load is well worth the extra test from taking the AP test in high school.
Another counterargument people may have is that people who don’t want to go to college shouldn’t take the test. This statement I agree with, if you have zero intentions of going to college ever you should not take the AP test as a senior as it is not worth the added stress if you are not going to benefit from it. However if you are planning on going to college, the pros immensely outweigh the cons of taking the AP test.
