With many universities across the nation no longer accepting Advanced Placement scores from high school to fulfill college credits, the U is looking at ways to adjust its own AP policy-though administrators are still planning to accept the scores from incoming freshmen.
This is to be commended because while there are some flaws in the AP system, not accepting scores from incoming freshmen discourages students from challenging themselves in high school.
There are arguably problems with the AP system-namely the fact that while the test is standardized, the experiences students have in different classrooms across the country are not. Furthermore, since the test is graded on a curve, a score of a four one year does not especially equal a four for the same subject awarded in a subsequent year. This leads to concerns about whether or not any given AP class adequately prepares a student for college in a certain subject matter.
Regardless of these concerns, however, AP classes demand more of students than a normal high school curriculum-and they may be the only way potential college students can prepare themselves for the rigors of a college atmosphere. Universities who are no longer accepting these scores are ultimately discouraging high school students from challenging themselves prior to college.
Many bright students would instead take easy classes in order to pad their GPAs in hopes of earning a scholarship or entrance into a prestigious university-further compounding the problem of new college students being unprepared for college classes.
Students across the country are entering college less and less prepared. Professors reported that the majority of entering freshmen don’t meet an expected level of proficiency in writing and math, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, a newspaper for the higher education community.
The U should examine its policy for AP scores in order to better evaluate how students are becoming educated-but U officials and the Utah State Board of Regents are correct in maintaining a commitment to accepting AP scores.