Quote:
|
Originally Posted by doubleplay Perhaps it is more acceptable to NOT take all the AP tests if you come from the school of hard knocks. |
The AP tests are NOT required for college admissions. Even the Harvard application that asks for them begins by stating that they are NOT required. Why should any student have to justify the fact that they didn't do something that the college didn't require?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by doubleplay If I were a low income student who could not afford the AP tests, I'd certainly say something about it in the "anything else you want to say for yourself?" box. |
What about all the middle class students who can't afford it? I am talking about the median income kids whose parents earn around $50-$60K each year and who don't have that sort of extra money to throw around.
I'm not kidding, I'm in that income bracket and when my daughter came home her senior year wanting money for 4 AP tests I balked -- I told her I could pay for 2, not 4. She told me that the school required that she take the AP test for every AP class on her schedule. I told her it was a public school, that they could not require us to pay anything for school services, and to go back and tell her GC or principal that mom wouldn't pay. It ended up that there were some funds available from the PTA or some other source to subsidize the cost, so my d. took the tests for a reduced cost -- but the point is... $85 is a lot of money.
And what kind of supposed "need blind" system is it that forces kids to disclose
on their applications the reasons they didn't do something that the colleges explicitly state isn't required in the first place?
And how is a kid supposed to know that they need to be explaining why they didn't do what wasn't required on their applications, in any case?