<p>Marian - Northwestern does not require SAT II’s, and when my son called Admissions, he was told that if he did well in class and scored high on AP courses, then don’t bother with SAT IIs - They were only recommending SAT Iis for kids that fell down in grade or AP test, and wanted to prove they knew the subject.</p>
<p>So, even though offically they don’t require APs, they do look at them. So, AP still not a scam. I wonder if the author of the article linked to in the OP did his homework in depth on the subject and knows this.</p>