Should seniors take AP exams?

Senior+Jack+Mehler+gets+ready+to+start+class+in+AP+Literature+on+Jan.+5.

Photo by AJ Grainger

Senior Jack Mehler gets ready to start class in AP Literature on Jan. 5.

As the first semester is quickly approaching its end, senioritis is becoming more and more prevalent. Students are losing motivation to do work for their classes, which raises the question, should seniors take their AP exams? 

I plan on choosing a career in my future that involves finance and business so being able to get a college credit in high school for an essential business and finance class is an opportunity I could not miss.

— Mick Shiflett

The answer depends on the person. Senior Mick Shiflett is in AP Statistics and is looking to major in business and he is taking the AP test so that he can potentially get a credit for college courses and not have to take it at college. “I plan on choosing a career in my future that involves finance and business so being able to get a college credit in high school for an essential business and finance class is an opportunity I could not miss,” Shiflett said. 

However, if the AP class you are taking is not going to be relevant to your major in college, it may not be a bad idea to opt out of taking the test. For example, it may be smart for a student who plans to major in engineering to take an AP test in English because it will most likely not be important to them in college. 

Senior Ryan Binder is in programming 3 and plans to be a computer engineering major in college so he decided that not taking his AP Literature exam would be in his best interest. “With how time consuming programming 3 and my other AP classes are, I decided that not taking the AP Literature test would be the best option for myself so that I can focus on my other classes that will be a lot more important for me in college,” Binder said.

It is worth noting that you only get a college credit for the class if you receive a passing score on the exam, which is either a three or a four depending on the college you will attend. If you need a score that you do not think you’ll be able to achieve, it may be a better option to not take the test and save your family from paying the hefty price of an AP exam. 

Senior Ethan Cohen is in three AP classes and decided to opt out of his AP Literature exam because he does not feel like he’ll be able to put in the time to achieve the passing score with his other AP classes taking up his time. “My other AP classes like Economics and Comparative Government have taken up a lot of my time so opting out of the Literature exam in order to focus on my other AP classes felt like the right decision to me,” Cohen said.

However, most colleges require a freshman writing class for almost every major, and passing an AP Lit or Lang exam gets you out of the class so it may be worth it to take the test to make your life a little bit easier in college.

Whether a senior should take your AP exams depends on how confident they feel in the class and how useful they think it will be during their time in college.