As the AP exam season takes place across the school community again this year, the mood among seniors who are taking these AP exams is anything but uniform. With college acceptance letters long since opened and commitment day passing about two weeks ago, students have weighed their options and considered how much effort to put into these AP exams, something that underclassmen may not have thought about this entire year.
Seniors’ approach this year on AP exams has commonly depended on where they are heading for college this fall.
For certain students, they have concluded that final grades including their AP scores carry little consequence as they are fully committed to their colleges. For these seniors, the long AP review sessions, practice exams and intense studying can feel unnecessary. “The weight of AP scores seemed to disappear the moment my college acceptances arrived. With my future already decided, the pressure to perform well vanished, and I found myself walking into the exam room without the usual weeks of independent cramming,” senior Jeremiah Lee said.
For seniors like Lee, they have also concluded that they will take their AP exams, relying on what they have learned in the classroom, including the review completed during instructional time. “I decided to trust the foundations built during our daily classes, feeling that our in-class review provided all the preparation I needed,” Lee said.
Other seniors have taken a different approach to AP’s because their future colleges l may not be accepting the AP credit of a class that they take, regardless of the score they receive. “My approach this year has been different compared to past years because my college doesn’t accept the credit of one of the classes that I am taking this year, and also my college only would accept scores from other classes only if I get a four or five and not if I get a three,” senior Rahul Basam said.
On the other hand, there are still seniors who have not closed their review books as they continue pushing through this final stretch with the same intensity they have maintained throughout high school. For students heading to certain universities, strong AP scores can translate directly into skipping certain courses when they get to college. “I decided to study last minute and actually review as I wanted to try and get a good enough score on the exam so I could at least get the credit at the university that I go to,” senior Bereket Kebede said.
As AP exams continue throughout this week, the seniors sitting in the testing rooms carry different motivations, or none at all. The trend in senior motivation regarding these tests has largely varied and depended on their circumstances, which mainly includes where they will be attending school this fall. Additionally, seniors have also not wanted to take on the stress of the exams. “Those exams are very stressful to take especially with all the pressure of getting a good score,” Kebede said.
