A crowd of AP students wait to take their AP tests.
Photo by Jake Winkleby Tejas Chadha, staff writer
In a recent article written by NPR (National Public Radio) they questioned the academic benefits of the AP program (Advanced Placement). The article talks about how fewer colleges accept the credit, the students who enroll are not suited for the environment and how pass rates have fallen with increased students signing up to take tests.
For students at Fountain Valley High School, the first point in regards to college credit is partially true. Some students attending schools in the UC (University of California) system have found that not all of their scores will be accepted. Some UCs only accept scores of four and above for credit in the course, while others won’t even accept a passing score of three. Which scores are accepted vary by school and department.
Calvin Nguyen (’17) who will be attending the University of California, Santa Barbara said,”I figured out recently that some of my AP scores will only count as credit for elective classes and that I’ll need to retake some classes regardless because they have to do with my major. It kind of ruins the appeal of taking an AP course or paying ninety dollars for a test when you are going to have to take the class anyways unless you got a four or five.”
The article notes addresses topics in regards to the caliber of student who takes the class and the falling of pass rates. FVHS offers 24 different AP courses and teachers are known to encourage their students to take the AP test. With about 30% of the student population being enrolled in at least one AP course around 90% of students pass at least one of the exams they take. With these percentages Fountain Valley falls into the upper echelon in the categories of enrollment and pass rate.
Sam Le (17′) will be attending the University of California, San Diego and is planning to transfer the University of Michigan after his first year. Le said, “I’ve done fairly well on all my AP tests through high school but I don’t know if it will mean anything because once I transfer I have no idea which scores they will accept even if it’s a five. The whole system is kind of murky because you have to take the AP class to get into the college but you may still end up having to take the class again in college.”
While the article does mention some valid points about the number of colleges that accept scores, it seems as though even with increased enrollment at Fountain Valley, students are still performing at an above average level on their exams.
