...to take or not to take....

thechiiguin
Wed, 04 May 2005 23:35:29 +0000

So, here’s the dilemma:

My AP Physics teacher more or less screwed us over due to the fact that she is a rather inept teacher (she’s cramming electricity and magnetism into the two weeks right before the AP test). Perhaps it’s my fault that I didn’t study enough so I could decipher the textbook and understand the concept, but I’m feeling pretty lost regarding Physics right now. I could possibly cram and study like a mad banshee and get a 3 on the exam, but my question is – IS IT WORTH IT?

Because none of us really know what we’re doing (which is scary, because 4 out of the 20 kids in the class are valedictorians), she curves everything, so I have an 103% in the class. As far as college admissions are concerned, I am acing the class. However, my actual physics capabilities are quite low. I currently have a 4.0 UW GPA, 232 PSAT score, and 2280 SAT score, so my stats are pretty good so far.

My problem is that I only have one AP score to report to colleges – AP Biology. I’m taking the exam this year. My school offers 7 APs, of which I am taking 6 (by the time I graduate - 2 this year, 4 serior year). I am confident that I can score a 5 on the AP Bio exam (for our semester final this week, we took the 2002 AP Bio multiple choice section, and I scored 113 out of 119). Will submitting one AP score really affect my chances at highly selective colleges? I don’t think it will, and am leaning heavily on the side of not taking the AP Physics exam. My physics teacher and guidance counselor are both urging me to take it – but after flipping through my AP Physics prep guide I know that I am not ready. Should I take a chance and blow $80 on a test? Or should I save myself the worry and time and forget about taking the test?