In my 11 years in the public school system, college has been on the brain since day one. Not because I wanted it to be, but because every single day of school it is shoved down our throats. "Alexis, if you don't know your times tables, how do you expect to get into a good college?"
Girl, I am nine; excuse me for having to write out seven groups of eight to know I have 56 total. That was just elementary school! High school is even worse, especially when you take AP classes.
You know, AP classes are great because you can get ahead and earn college credit for a cheaper price! But oh wait, it doesn't work like that. You actually have to take a test at the end of the year, and if you don't get at least a 3, say goodbye to that entire year you just spent up late doing homework and studying. And most colleges don't even accept your credit unless you got a 4 or a 5, which is actually pretty hard to get. Sometimes they only accept a class if you select it as your major, and some classes don't even bother. Colleges continue to make it harder to get credit for AP classes due to the increase of students taking AP classes and the decrease of profit they make from tuition.
So then WHY do high schools constantly convince us to take AP tests if we're basically spending over $90 to stress over a test that might not even help us? More evidence the system is rigged!
Colleges tend to use the excuse that they don't believe high school AP classes are at the same level as the college course, and once you look at the facts, it just sounds like a bunch of baloney.
1. AP classes have smaller class sizes.
2. You have one on one access to your teacher versus working around the office hours of a professor who doesn't even know your name.
3. Attendance is required in high school, so we actually go to class, versus college where most people don't and then cram study before the final and wing it.
Those are just three reasons why colleges are liars and their pants will catch on fire if they don't knock it off.
Many schools push for their students to take the tests; I know my current high school will do anything in its power to make sure you can take the test. If you're on free and reduced lunch, then your test is only $20, and I know last year I was struggling to pay for both of mine so the school gave me a 2 for 1 deal, which was super nice, but when you think about it, what's the point? Why do our schools push us to take classes that may not even help us in the future because universities are getting bitter about people not having to pay full tuition? Most public high schools have very little money as it is, and the fact that they're willing to pay for our AP tests that might not even worth anything once we graduate is crazy.
Moral of the story, colleges, please accept our AP credits; we're smart and poor and looking for a little help.
