Lauren Loveless | staff writer

AP tests are by far the most challenging exams that high schoolers take. They demand hours upon hours of studying, a strong mentality, and work efficiency. These tests drain everything out of students, including their motivation and desire to finish the year strong. Therefore, when finals roll around the corner, AP students groan more than the average high schooler.

Similar to finals, AP tests are towards the end of the year and cover everything students have learned. But, AP exams are much more labor intensive and hold more worth, as they give you the opportunity to get a college class out of the way, cost free. In fact, that is the ultimate motivator for students taking these challenging courses, which is quite the noble cause. However, forcing a final down these student’s throats on top of the AP exam is awful.

Subsequently, it would be easy to make the AP tests finals with a simple alteration to the exemption system. A section could be added to the form which allows teachers to sign off on the AP exams a student has taken, which exempts them from the final. However, if a student has not taken the AP test for a select course, then they must either take the final or exempt via the original system.

However, it’s very unlikely that the school system will ever take this idea in consideration, so I will provide a more probable solution. Simply, the school could allow AP teachers to decide whether or not they want to give students a final. This would be an easy system to manage, which would be based on a teacher’s opinion instead of the school’s.

There’s enough projects and last minute lessons that AP students have to worry about, an opportunity to set the AP exam as the course’s final is both necessary and fair.