HarvestMoon1

Interesting point of view. Scam seems to be a harsh word, but I would agree that the whole program has some significant problems.

AP Classes Are a Scam - John Tierney - The Atlantic

creative1

There are boarding school that have made a conscious decision to avoid the AP racket. SPS is one but there are others. Although some students will choose to still take the AP exam on their own, SPS offers no AP designated courses. I know MANY SPS students that are attending top colleges, including Ivies, who have never taken an AP exam.

ChoatieMom

I've always thought that APs were a way for colleges to get an apples-to-apples comparison among students from the tens of thousands of high schools whose programs they can't possibly know intimately. Among good boarding schools whose programs most colleges are very familiar with, I assume that grades and standardized test scores are more than enough for them to determine whether or not a student is ready for the rigor of their programs. I don't see the point of APs in the boarding/prep programs. Choate offers them, but doesn't emphasize them. We are not recommending them for DS.

LakeClouds

You should read the comments attached to the article - most are very positive about the AP experience.

The flaw in the anti-AP argument is that college courses in these subject will be much better. The reality, as indicated by many of the comments, is that intro classes, like Calc 1, etc. are taught in enormous lecture halls and often by graduate students not professors. The APs at least let one skip those halls of boredom and go onto to more interesting upper level electives sooner even if they do not give college credit.

In terms of BS/prep schools and APs, many that don't teach APs do so more out of a sense of pride and control than because it's best for the students. Sure some AP courses/tests are poor but most are just fine.