Examination Explorations
From May 2 to May 6, 2022, and again from May 9 to May 13, students worldwide took AP exams in a multitude of subjects in order to test their mastery of the content that they have learned throughout the past school year.
While many students at this school forgo taking such exams, the College Board (the organization which administers the tests) recommends students take the tests to show their knowledge of college-level subjects. “The main reason to take an AP exam is to demonstrate mastery of rigorous college-level material,” says the College Board on their website.
College counselor Mr. Fred Baker is the person in charge of running the exams. “One of the many hats that I wear is that I am, officially, the ‘AP Coordinator’ for the school. I am the lucky guy that gets to coordinate with every class. I get students to join the AP Classroom as part of the series of hoops to jump through in order to officially register for the exam. I work all behind the scenes in the months leading up, and then I get the joy of actually proctoring the exams,” he said. Although AP classes are a relatively new addition to the school, students have been taking them for many years. Now that AP-certified classes are in place, students have achieved high scores on the exams, such as a 4 or a 5 out of 5. “I would say at least half of the students that take the tests get a 4 or a 5,” said Mr. Baker.
While students take the courses for their rigor, they also do so in order to look better to prospective universities. “I knew the school did not weigh AP classes in terms of GPA or class rank, but I wanted to take those classes in order to differentiate myself on college applications,” said senior Charlie Henry, who took AP exams during the last school year, as well as this school year.
Regardless of the difficulty, Henry believes that it is an overall benefit to take an AP test, or even just the class. “At the very least, I think everyone should consider taking an AP class, and from there, determine if they should take the exam or not,” he said.
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