Recently, discussion of the possibility of AP students being exempt from finals and Regents has been raised among students at Schreiber, as the stress of dealing with AP exams has been overwhelming for many.  Although the concept of taking fewer tests may seem to only have upsides, there are actually several negative facets of this idea. 

“Even though it arguably wouldn’t provide many academic benefits, I feel like exempting AP students from taking finals and Regents would have many students end up not taking them, and there’s multiple problems with that,” said freshman Robert Whileson.

First, it must be noted that Regents are a mandatory graduation requirement in New York, so any discussion of exemptions can only happen with a hypothetical change to state regulations.

Furthermore, many colleges and universities do not even consider an AP score; rather, they focus on school grades and final exams.  Reporting AP scores is optional, whereas Regents and finals are an indelible part of students’ academics that are mandatory on transcripts and are factored into the grades that appear on students’ official report cards.  For this reason, AP students should not be exempt from taking finals or Regents, as school grades carry more weight for many colleges. 

“Grades on finals and Regents are really important in getting accepted into colleges, and finals themselves are really important in that they test your general knowledge about what you’ve spent your year learning,” said freshman Tai Abrams.

A major argument against AP students taking Regents and finals is that the AP exams already bring enough stress on their own, without the added pressure of other end-of-the-year exams.  However, the additional tests may actually be beneficial to a student’s final grade because the rigorous AP exams do an excellent job of preparing students for the comparatively easier finals and Regents.

“Just like practice tests do, I’m sure that AP tests also help in reviewing criteria that you’ll need to know for finals and Regents,” said freshman Joshua Levine.

Furthermore, finals and Regents serve as a way to test the more general knowledge gained in a specific subject that a student has spent the entire year learning about.

“From my knowledge, finals are simply a general assessment of everything you’ve learned throughout the school year.  AP students are no different from any other student, other than that they take a more rigorous course, so I don’t think that they should be exempt from being tested on what they’ve learned,” said freshman Madis Joks.

Finally, students should be encouraged to take responsibility for themselves and their own classes.  Again, students signed up for these classes and should be aware of what their obligations are.  

“When you sign up for these types of classes, you’re also signing up for taking things like finals and Regents that test your knowledge about what you’ve spent the year learning,” said freshman Rigel Kinney. 

It is important not to forget that final exams exist for a reason. Although it may seem convenient for students to be able to drop these tests, taking them actually has many benefits, including strengthening students’ knowledge of a subject. There is no guarantee that exempting students from taking these tests will have the impact of lessening stress as many argue it would.

All in all, while exempting AP students from finals and Regents may seem to have positive effects, the concept is flawed and irrational.  These tests exist for a reason, and students should not be given the option to drop them.