Sorry, but grades/ec activities are WAY more important

juniormints
Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:37:33 +0000

I think this situation is a testament to the discrepancy in difficulty levels of AP courses. At some schools, AP classes are barely a step up from the regular equivalent. At others, mine, for instance, they demand an absolute ton of work and, even, dare I say it, natural ability. The proof is in the outcomes. You have some one with a 97% in their “AP” English class who scores a 2 or 3 on the AP exam and in the lower five hundreds on the critical reading portion of the SAT, and, clearly, there is a major league disconnect. Unless an individual is hurling in between sections, it is unlikely for him/her to score significantly below his/her ability level. Additionally, if a student is truly gifted, whether in the humanities or mathematics, he/she could pull a 700+ without the AP class, without preparation. Innate, raw talent needs no fancy smancy “Advanced Placement” title. Also, if this is full of grammatical mistakes, I apologize in advance :)