Too Many Students Taking AP Classes

File under: That's What I've Been Saying All Along

Today's NYTimes Online reports on a study by the Fordham Foundation that finds that:

The number of high school students who took at least one college-level A.P. course increased by 45 percent, to 1.6 million from 1.1 million, from the school year ended 2004 to that ended 2008. 

The number of A.P. exams those students took — with hopes, in part, of gaining exemption from some college class work, depending on how well they scored — increased by 50 percent, to 2.7 million.

The study found that the teachers were generally satisfied with the program’s quality. But when they were asked to explain the growing allure of A.P. classes and tests, 90 percent attributed it largely to “more students who want their college applications to look better.”

Right. Thing is, the primary benefit to a high-school student of taking Advanced Placement classes is to have AP classes on his transcript.  If a high-school senior enrolls in a full slate of AP classes his 12th-grade year and can keep up good grades in those courses through January or so, his transcript will look stellar and may help win him admission to a selective college.  After that point, however, the utility of AP courses drops off sharply: many colleges do not give credit or advanced standing for high AP exam scores--or they grant credit for some but not all of the AP exams--and most colleges will not rescind an admissions offer if the student's grades in the AP courses slide (so long as they're not "F"s).  In any event, students do not need to send their AP Exam scores to college admissions offices anyway.  If the short term--and all important-- goal is to get into college (forget, of course, about learning anything), it would make strategic sense for a high-school senior to enroll in lots of AP classes, work hard for a semester, and then tread water until June.