Cost or Credit

By Northwest Press Editorial Staff, Reporter        Published: November 12, 2019

It’s that time of the year again where students are lining up out the door for the pricey deadline for AP registration of course. Yet the question remains, are AP courses worth it?

It is well known that AP credits can contribute towards a student’s weighted GPA, but many colleges only look at unweighted GPAs. Along with this, AP classes advocate towards letting students skip a course in college, but often are only used for course placement. The subject of an interview conducted about this topic, who wishes to stay anonymous and is a college freshman, mentions that you have to get a certain score to even pass the class and only 60.5% of students receive a qualifying score.

Exams also have a real world cost. Most AP exams clock in at $94 with a few costing $142, well out of the range of affordable for many families. AP courses have also become a staple in high schools and according to a study done by the Student Research Foundation, over 40% of students admit to taking at least one college course in their high school career. The amount of students taking AP courses also diminishes their value to college admission officers.

There is an immense social pressure that comes with AP classes along with a large workload. Many students cannot handle the stress and studies show that students learn more when engaged in interactive learning, not rote memorization. Some schools have even considered doing away with AP classes altogether.