Students Labor Over AP Exams Two Weeks of Testing Take Toll
By Asa Maynard ’10
News Staff Reporter
With the beginning of May comes Choate’s most stressful time for 5th and 6th formers. The two weeks (May 7-18) hold day after day of the dreaded AP tests, for which some students have been prepping all year. How do they affect our students, classes, and campus life?
The consensus around campus is that students taking the exams are grateful for the exams’ purpose, but not too excited about taking one test based on a year’s worth of knowledge. Some students use the tests solely in an effort to put a “5” on their transcripts, while others are shooting to skip introductory college courses by getting credit during high school.
According to Choaties, the average number of tests one usually takes during a year is three. Jennifer Kim ’08, stated, “I’m taking four AP’s: one English, one Biology, one Macro-Economics and one Micro-Economics…. Some people take up to eight. I think the maximum is like eleven AP tests which is just absolutely ridiculous. It all really depends on the rigor of the student.”
The AP tests stress students for different reasons. The most stressful aspect of the test for Jennifer is that, “I have to know a year’s worth of information for one test. And I think the topics of the test are very broad and cover entire the year…I’ve been stressing out about it since the beginning of Spring Term.
The fact that the tests are quite expensive sometimes makes students feel obligated to do well. Leah Lettieri ’07 added, “I know one of my friends has stayed up until 3am studying for it the night before because she felt bad that her mother spent $90 on the exam and she hadn’t studied…. It is very stressful. Last year I spent a lot of time cramming for them in the weeks before…. I went through all the review books.”
Another aspect of the AP courses that makes them difficult is that the majority of studying is left in the hands of the students. Jin Ha ’08 remarked that “I think it’s difficult and stressful because you have to completely prepare yourself for it. Even though you may be taking the AP course… you have to study on your own, along with the homework your class gives you in the first place”
While some students are more relaxed about their studying habits, others diligently prepare for their AP exams. Amy Gobel ’08 explained that, “When I take an AP exam, I want to get a good score, so I study a lot.” She confessed that, although a score of around 65 % usually translates to a 5, “reaching that score can seem impossible, especially on top of a normal Choate workload.”
Classes are still held during AP’s, which also adds an increased burden to students. However, teachers are supposed to be more lenient with homework and assessments during the exam period. A note was sent to all teachers, stating that students are expected to meet the regular demands of their classes during the two weeks of AP exams. Nevertheless, teachers were expected to be understanding of the increased burden AP’s place on our students. Teachers who’s classes might be affected by absences or other factors during the AP exam weeks were encouraged to talk to their students in advance to prepare them as well as possible for the absences and the overlapping demands of class work and exams to come. Dean of Academic Affairs, Mrs. Kathleen Wallace says, “Last week I sent a note to all the teachers, reminding them that AP tests are in the next two weeks and giving them the schedules, and reminding them that it’s tough.”
The AP testing period can be trying for both students and teachers alike. Mrs. Wallace explained that “It’s hard for [teachers] because they’re going to have kids missing from their classes for exams in other classes. It’s hard for the students, because the students are juggling all the exams they’re taking with the routine homework requirements that are still going on…it can still be a big challenge.”
No firm standards are in place regarding how teachers should continue classes during AP’s. Mrs. Wallace explained that “while we don’t have any policy about no homework during exams or reduced homework during exams, we encourage teachers to be understanding.”
Many students sense that teachers understand the burden of AP exams. Jin Ha stated, “I think teachers are very understanding.” While they wont allow you to put off your homework for an entire week, “if you really have to prepare for the exam one night they understand.”
Leah Lettieri agreed, adding, “My teachers have all been pretty understanding about assignments during the testing weeks.”
Some students have it worse than others. Elizabeth Stern, ’08, has not been quite so lucky with her classes. “[AP’s are] very stressful, I have to say, not just because of the length, difficulty, and importance of such an exam, but also because at Choate classes before and after an exam are required. So you have to worry about homework for that day, and tests and quizzes (from experience today) that teachers refuse to move,” she says.
Most Choate students feel that their “AP” level courses have prepared them sufficiently for the exams. Leah Lettieri, ’07, says, “For the standard AP classes you’re definitely more than prepared for the exam…But for Bio, since it’s not an “AP” course I feel like you have to do more individual review…. For classes like that, honors classes that encourage you to take the AP, it takes a bit more self studying.”
The biggest question is why Choate students go through the struggle and stress to take the AP’s. Gobel remarks, “I think that like all standardized tests, they give colleges another easy way to compare candidates, and in that sense they can be helpful in the admission process (especially if the student does well).”
Jin Ha feels that colleges basically only use AP test scores for placement: “I just recently realized that AP exams aren’t as important or stressed by colleges as I previously thought…some colleges don’t even look at it until after you get accepted… it’s only to see whether you’d get a credit when you first go there.” He added that “I think the more important numbers they look at are the SATs and SAT 2’s
Some students, like Jennifer Kim, ’08, feel otherwise. She says, “I know that a lot of colleges actually don’t accept AP’s for credit, so I guess for me it’s to look good for colleges….It definitely helps your transcript.” Mrs. Wallace acknowledges the dual purpose of AP testing, saying, “To me the best thing about the AP’s is that if a student does well he or she has the possibility of being exempted from an introductory course in college. College is a wonderful opportunity to take all of these courses with brilliant people, and you want to take as many of those as you can. So why waste your time in an introductory class when you don’t need to”
Mrs. Wallace conceded that “the other reason AP’s have become to be very important is they’re important to us as a school, important to kids, and also important to college admissions offices. The way the use of AP’s has evolved is that college admissions offices will look at a student’s transcript, and they will judge what they call the ‘Strength of Schedule’. And they will determine this based on the number of Honors courses and the number of AP courses. So college admissions offices look at how many AP’s are on a transcript.”
In general, although they cause added stress to students in their junior and senior years, in the end AP’s are helpful to students for college applications and academic placement. Leah Lettieri, ’07, exclaims, “I think it’s fantastic that Choate offers AP’s! It gives us opportunities to go into much higher level college courses and can be a marvelous addition to our college applications!”
