Advanced Placement tests are incredibly valuable for students aspiring to attend college straight out of high school, though not all students like to take due to their high level of difficulty and high price. The deadline for online AP registration has been changed this year from April 3rd to October 28th, leaving students with severely less time to decide if they are prepared for the tests.
Online registration for AP examinations opens each year on August 23rd. Although there was formerly no late registration for AP tests, the roughly 220 day window for registration made late registering a rare occurrence. The new deadline of October 28th only provides a 66 day window for registration, leaving students with less time to make their decision.
The Advanced Placement Exams will be given May 4 through May 15, 2020. For the 2019-2020 school year, students and parents will order all AP Exams online. The cost is $100 per exam. Fee waiver applications are available for students that qualify for free or reduced lunches. All exams must be pre-paid via the online payment system which accepts credit or debit card payments.
There will also be no late registration accepted for the 2019-2020 Advanced Placement Examinations, which means that students must register several months before the test if they want to take AP exams.
Bear River’s AP coordinators and general board staff have maintained for several years their debatably appropriate deadline of April 3rd, just over a month before the actual tests were given to students. The decision to change the deadline for registration was made by the college board who provides the tests to Bear River High School. The board now also offers fee reductions for families who qualify, along with the tighter deadline.
With the final deadline for registration in April, students are more versed in their AP subject, and would have a better judgement of their chances to do well on the AP test before deciding to purchase tests.
Senior Lydia Fuller-Hall thinks the new time constraints will interfere with her testing and registration.
“The new deadlines suck. I have no clue if I’m gonna be taking my tests. I’m taking several AP classes, and they’re all new subjects I’m not super confident in yet,” she said.
Students who register for an exam and choose to cancel by October 28, 2019 will receive a full refund. Cancellation requests submitted between October 29, 2019 and April 30, 2020 will receive a refund of $60, a $40 unused exam fee will be retained.
The decision to make a new AP examination deadline of October 28 is a questionable change by the college board, as it has no clear advantages over the previous deadline of April 3rd. But Sophomore Jacob Vaughan is not concerned at all about their decision.
“I registered for my AP World History test in mid September, so I don’t think the deadline change should affect anyone else very much,” he said.
Vaughan’s fellow Sophomore Emma Peacock also registered around mid September, and shared her thoughts about the new deadline of October 28th.
“If you’re already in an AP class, then you should know if you’ll want to take the tests in May,” she said.
The new deadline for AP registration has not proposed any new problems for students yet, considering the fact that students in AP classes are generally more responsible and consistent with meeting deadlines. But the question still lies for the College Board, why do they insist on putting even more pressure on AP students?
