AP Testing
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With high school students already worrying about finals, college applications, and the SAT/ACT, there’s also the annual AP tests. Though not every student chooses to take these exams, a large majority of them do to look better on applications for universities in the future. The overall argument that goes around is whether or not these tests are an accurate measure of one’s intelligence. Even with this testing being over seventy years old, these tests are another addition to the long list of final steps that high schoolers have to take in preparation for college. AP tests tend to be strictly structured exams that are more about understanding the system in which the College Board uses rather than actually knowing every piece of information that one has learned. For this reason, it is easily argumentative that these tests are not as accurate as say finals are.
There are mixed opinions on the matter at La Jolla High School, especially amongst the junior class, since most students begin to take multiple APs in eleventh grade. Junior Alessia Demoreno says, “I think standardized testing, especially APs, does not reflect people’s intelligence accurately. I believe overall grades in the classes are a better representation”. With midterms, finals, and the basic chapter tests, enough anxiety is already created with big exams, and retaining the whole year’s information is a lot to ask of students. Another junior, Justin Scully said, “ I believe AP testing is an accurate measure of intelligence, unlike other forms of testing students have to do.” Even though the College Board is still being used by a large majority of high schoolers, it doesn’t mean it is the ultimate option for students to prepare for college and the future overall.
Paige Repp is in her first year of journalism. She is a junior at La Jolla High and is passionate about writing. Repp intends to share her creativity throughout...
