Charging early on.

This year the College Board changed its AP testing registration and fees from being paid for in early March to early Nov. 

Students were told in early Oct. that they would have a three-day slot to register and pay for all of their AP tests, starting on Oct. 30, 2019, to Nov. 1, 2019, leading some to wish for an earlier warning. The change has overall earned praise from students and staff. However, there are some that feel they need more time in class to gauge how they will do on an exam in the spring.

Going into this school year, students believed that the registration would carry on like usual in March. However, there are some students who feel as though they should’ve been told at the beginning of the year due to the fact that they did not expect to pay this early on in the year. Not knowing the change was taking place, students who planned on taking the test believed they would have more time to work out the financial details of how their tests would be paid for. “I just wish they gave us more notice on the fact that they were doing it this way this year,” said Brynna Crump, junior. 

The College Board made the change in the deadline because they tested early registration on a few high schools before making it a nationwide matter. The results that the College Board got from those few high schools was that students were more committed to the class since they were aware that they had to take an exam early on, ultimately leading to more prepared students and higher test scores. Knowing that the early registration has been tested for a few years, some students are able to find comfort in the results that have previously been found. “I like how they’re doing it because it gives students more motivation to be prepared when exam time comes and to actually do good in class,” said Crump.

In previous years, students have had almost the entire school year to evaluate themselves on if they do well in class and if they know the content well enough to take a $94 test. Most students and teachers appreciated the time they had to really know themselves in the class. Now with it being so early, some teachers and students are conflicted. Students often have talks with their teachers on if they feel like they have done well enough in class, from a teacher’s perspective, to take the test. Now students feel like it is too early to tell who they are as students in their classes. Students could be doing well now but they don’t know what the rest of the class holds for them. Students also feel like their teachers don’t know them well enough yet in the class to be able to trust if they think they will pass or fail the exam in the spring. “I need to know if I actually understand the class and think I’ll be able to pass the test or not,” said Morgan Zirnheld, junior. 

Kenny Hughes, the AP biology teacher, believes that students should trust their judgment and not just take a test to take it. Choosing to take the test or not should be well thought out based on what the student wants for themselves in the future. “If you signed up for an AP test, then don’t waste your money.  You have to be in school and you should do the best you can while you’re there.  Students who aren’t really serious would be better served to take the money they would have spent and invested it.  It will be worth a lot more in the long run. The college-bound kids with some foresight will find out if the college they want to attend accepts AP credit.  Getting college credits from passing AP exams saves a lot of money over college tuition. College-bound students need to look at their lives as a series of financial decisions as college is way too expensive to gamble with your money,” said Hughes.