AP Exams

The benefits and drawbacks of taking Advanced Placement exams Emeraude Westlake

“Some teachers I know seem to feel relieved that the pressure of preparing students for their class’ AP test is gone. This pressure, however, has fallen largely on us students,” said Maya Krolik (‘23). Advanced Placement (AP) tests are three–hour long multiple choice and free response exams that focus on certain subjects administered at schools in April or May. According to Director of College Counseling Ms. Wendy Chang, Bishop’s students take an average of five to six AP exams in their high school career—rendering several weeks of school time virtually dedicated to these tests. But are they even helpful to students? The School is still dedicating a lot of time and energy into the administration of AP exams, despite their official separation from the College Board curriculum at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. Since the 2017-2018 school year, Bishop’s has been transitioning away from AP curriculum-driven classes to Honors courses. These courses cover similar material, but allow more flexibility for teachers and interesting topics for students. At the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, an AP Update on Knights News announced a complete dissociation from the College Board curriculum, reasoning that, “AP courses that were replaced with Honors courses have improved the overall academic experience for students while giving our faculty more pedagogical freedom.” This switch caused a lot of controversy. Some students preferred the convenience of AP curriculums over the flexibility of Honors classes. Maya said, “I think that the AP classes themselves are more valued in the college application process. So it’s a little bit discouraging to know that you have to selfstudy now for all these.” However, Maya maintained that the Bishop’s Honors academic curriculums are still valuable. The issue is they are designed “for a different kind of open-ended learning that the College Board just happens to not recognize,” she said. Ms. Chang added, “I think AP exams can serve great purposes, when they work, and I think they’re really useless… when they’re not necessary.” There have been instances where students get a year’s worth of college credit, saving them tens of thousands of dollars. However, many colleges no longer accept AP credits. Students often waste time and money studying for exams when they might not yield a desirable score. One main reason students take AP exams is that passing scores can translate to college credit. According to the College Board, although it is not standardized across all colleges, most United States schools will translate an AP score of four to eight credit points that can go toward the 120 credit points needed for a Bachelor’s degree. Taking an AP exam for a world language college credit can also be valuable. Ms. Chang said, “There are colleges that have a language requirement, and a lot of the time students can waive that requirement” if they get a score of four or five. Many Honors courses at Bishop’s have an accompanying AP exam. It is often hard to know if taking the exam is worth the extra studying. Honors Biology teacher Mr. Ben Duehr said, “I don’t know how many of those students will benefit from [the AP exam].” Some students may skip to a more advanced course or register for classes early, he said. Ms. Chang said, “It doesn’t hurt, right? Something that doesn’t hurt versus something that’s actually helping, those are two different things.” Good AP exam scores won’t negatively impact a college application, but the benefit they provide may not be significant. Another negative factor of the exam

is its cost. At Bishop’s each AP exam costs 110 dollars with an additional 40 dollars for late registration. Students at Bishop’s still take AP exams despite the School’s course curriculums being independent from the College Board’s AP syllabuses. The general consensus from the interviewed Upper School students is that if an AP exam was offered for an Honors class, the student would take the exam. Nancy Waldman (‘23) said, “For certain subjects, [the dissociation of the School from AP curriculums] hasn’t really affected my priorities because I still take them, no matter if it’s technically an Honors course.” Bishop’s students often assume that the more AP exams they take, the more appealing their application will look to colleges. Ms. Chang explained that this is not necessarily the case. French Four Honors teacher Mme. Rikke Sommer corroborated, “I taught for a long time at the University of California San Diego and we did look at the Many Honors courses at Bishop’s have scores in French. A score of four would get you into the second an accompanying AP exam. It is ofquarter of the second year directly and a five would get you into the ten hard to know if taking the exam is last quarter of the second year.” In worth the extra studying. addition, studying for the AP language exams increases students’ proficiency in the language. Mme. Sommer said, “I can say from over 20 years of experience out there that folks who had done the AP preparation and taken the class were much better prepared and had much better skills than the students who didn’t.” The Bishop’s English department was the first to detach itself from the College Board AP curriculum in the 2017-2018 school year. English Department Chair Dr. Anna Clark said that AP English exams are “not good indicators of creativity, style, voice, [or] original thought,” all components valued in Bishop’s English classes. She continued, and said, “I don’t think spending [time] on an AP English test makes

Photo courtesy of Emeraude Westlake (‘24) sense.”

Explaining another reason for the transition away from AP-centered courses, Honors United States History teacher Mr. Matthew Valji said that the School’s curriculums have a reputation for academic rigor and excellence. On the other hand, the “AP system is one that is based on a curriculum developed by a private corporation, the College Board. And we don’t necessarily align with the College Board in every area.” Most Honors classes offered at Bishop’s do prepare students for the exam. Calculus AB teacher Ms. Dolores Williamson said, “You guys should just see what happens [when you take the Calculus AB AP]: you’re going to be prepared.” Mr. Duehr added that he prepares everyone for the Biology AP exam. He said, “The class is on a trajectory to prepare students for it,” even after the renaming of the course to “Honors.” However, as Honors Biology teacher Dr. Lani Keller said, “What I tell my students is you should not take it for fun because it’s not fun. It is a three-hour test. It’s painful.” Dr. Keller believes that students should not take the AP Biology exam unless they have a “good reason” to take it, whatever that may be. “A lot of students,” she said, “know that some of the colleges that they’re going to apply to will take credit for [AP scores]…if you have a good reason to take it, you should totally do it.” Dr. Keller also explained that some courses do not require that much additional so-called self-studying because of the overlap of course material. In the case of Honors Biology, she said, “[Teachers] do not give [students] time to study [for the AP], but if they’re studying for our cumulative exam, that is studying for the AP exam.” Adding to this, Mr. Duehr said, “Our test is in late April so that students who are going to take it are already ready before all the other AP tests.” Ms. Williamson also goes over the format of the AP test in her classes. She explained, “I do think that you have to prepare them for it because there are [test-taking] tricks to the AP test. So if I didn’t do any review of what the AP test looks like, it would be a disservice.”

Of the seven interviewed teachers from all academic departments, the majority expressed their preference for a curriculum that is not specified to the AP exam. Mr. Duehr said, “We like the flexibility that not being an AP class allows us to go off on different tangents if we want to—and we do.” This freedom can also benefit students. Mme. Sommer said, “at least from my perspective, it’s fun: more fun what we read, what we write, what we listen to, what we watch.” Dr. Keller said, “When students are really jazzed about a topic, we can delve into that a little bit deeper.” Contrasting the majority preference of teachers who teach Honors courses without the restrictive AP curriculum, Ms. Williamson said “I think I’m in the minority of this and I’ll probably get booed by a bunch of teachers here, but I wish that all my students would take it because I think it would just make it more fun. Like, we’re all in this team, we’re all in this together.” In addition, even after the renaming of AP courses to Honors classes, some departments’ curriculums have not changed that much. In the case of French, Mme Sommer said, “It’s valuable work across the board anyway because that’s what you want to learn regardless of the exam. So, you know, I think the exam is not a bad thing.” Mme Sommer still prepares her students for the essay and cultural comparison of the French AP exam. She said, “that’s still a useful thing to be able to do in French… it’s not lost or wasted time.” The School still devotes a lot of time to AP exams despite being detached from their program. Mr. Duehr said, “We clearly facilitate and support AP tests on campus, and for certain courses and grade levels, ‘normal’ academics are quite altered to allow for students to sit for these tests. There is a discussion of the mixed messages we send when we dedicate so much time to these tests when we’re not actually teaching AP classes.” Mr. Valji said, “My sense is that we are supportive of students who choose to take AP tests, but that we are not binding our curriculum to the College Board in the way that we used to.” The pros and cons of AP exams mean that the decision of whether or not to take an AP exam becomes at once more complicated and less significant: does it make sense for your goals in high school and college or will you embrace the dissociation between the School and the AP curriculum and opt-out?

Many students choose to “self-study” for AP exams using specified prep-books or other materials to supplement Honors classes’ lessons.

How the Bishop’s chess scene has developed into a thriving community Kayden Wang

“It’s an entire world of just 64 squares,” says a quote from the popular Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit. New York Times reports that the number of Chess.com users – a website dedicated to everything chess – doubled from 8,000,000 in October 2020 to around 17,000,000 in 2022. Among these new and old chess players, many are Bishopians who’ve found themselves swept up in the recent craze. A major source of chess’s popularity are social media stars who’ve formed an internet chess community. Some stars are people called chess Grandmasters who’ve started content creating careers on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube. On Chess.com, a Grandmaster is the highest obtainable title for chess players and many are an inspiration for Bishopians such as Neil Zhu (‘25) and Jasper Jain (‘23). Jasper, co-president of the Bishop’s chess club, said, “I have a lot of [favorite] chess players…I like Eric Rosen who’s a really strong Grandmaster but he also just seems like a good person.” Neil’s favorite player is Daniel Naroditsky, a 26-year-old Grandmaster from America. “He’s very educational and he explains moves in very great detail,” Neil explained. The Bishop’s chess community, however, is unique in the sense that others, such as Julia Bonaguidi (‘23), can take inspiration from those around her to learn chess. Julia recounts, “I started playing chess at the beginning of my junior year. I first joined [the] chess club because my sports coach made references to chess which I didn’t understand. I took it as a challenge to learn how to play chess.” She also notes the willingness of many Bishops students to help newer players, saying it “is what makes Bishop’s such a special place.” Other players, like Neil, found their beginnings beyond the Bishops community. He said, “I saw my friends playing it…I started playing a bunch of games online and I played in a couple tournaments in downtown San Diego.” Now, Neil is in the 93rd percentile of players on Lichess, a website similar to Chess.com. The sudden rise in popularity hasn’t gone unnoticed. Neil mentioned how he sees students playing chess “everything single free period.” This enthusiasm made him describe how “[chess] is way more popular [at] Bishops than any of the schools [he] went to.” Jasper adds on to this observation, saying: “I don’t think [chess] was that big a few years ago… now there are a lot of people who are really into it and that’s across all grade levels.”

Julia attributed the growth to the chess club itself. “Jasper Jain, Daniel Xu (‘23), and Ryan Davis (‘23) have done such a great job of building up our school’s chess club as well as teaching newcomers how to play the game.”Jasper observed “a lot of people who play chess at Bishops started getting really into it and I think we are generating a chess community.” He added, “They’re realizing that it’s a beautiful, creative game.” Chess’s sudden rise to popularity has also brought the spotlight onto recent controversies within the greater chess community. On September 4 at the Sinquefield Cup, Magnus Carlsen, a popular Grandmaster, withdrew from the tournament, implying that his opponent, 19-year-old Hans Niemann was cheating. They were paired again in the Julius Baer Generation Cup where Carlsen resigned after only making two moves against Niemann, according to The New York Times. These actions sparked a flurry of online controversies, debates and theories between the two Grandmasters. Chess.com published a report on October 4, 2022, which released information about Niemann’s previous matches and his record on the website. As of October 21, 2022, Niemann is suing Carlsen for defamation, and wants $100 million to be paid in damages. Neil finds that this controversy, in some ways, can benefit the chess community as a whole. “I think it’s not a good event, but I think it’s increasing chess’s popularity because the news is spreading everywhere,” he said. Neil noticed how this has brought more attention to the community and even people who aren’t actively involved have become more aware of recent events. Jasper noted,“Maybe there have been some sensational headlines…but I don’t know if it’ll result in people going to the game.” Despite this, he added, “A lot of people have come up asking me about it just because I play chess,” showing “people are talking about it [and] that’s good.”

The chess boards outside Bentham, something everyone has inevitably passed by, has a long and impactful meaning for the Bishops chess community.

A trip to the second floor of the library during lunch or X period is often marked by a lively crowd surrounding the two chess sets, signifying the important role that the library has played in chess’s popularity. The crowds are a result of Library Director Ms. Alisa Brandt putting out chess sets for Bishop’s students last year.

Ms. Brandt mentioned how there was a similar chess craze about 15 years ago, around 2007. Back then, students played on the painted chess boards outside the Bentham steps which can still be seen today by students leaving or entering the double doors. Neil also finds that chess promotes interactions among students. “It’s a very social game, you can chat with your friends while playing,” he said. “I think interpersonal differences have a way of disappearing at the chessboard and for a few moments that you’re there, you just have this blank state” Jasper added, “And it’s for that reason that it’s very easy to connect with people over the game…You can turn those initial sparks into deeper connections and it’s a good way to meet a lot of new people.” Julia agreed by saying, “It’s sort of like a universal language, or in some cases an “ice breaker.” You get to meet new people you probably wouldn’t have otherwise had an opportunity to meet.”

While recollecting the various memories that he created through chess, Jasper fondly recalled nights with his friends: staying up “way too late yelling at each other about blitz chess” or trying to find a way around difficult positions. “It’s been a lot of fun getting to learn the game with them.” Julia also remembers playing chess with a random college student while she was on her official visit to UC Berkeley. “I was at a restaurant and a random college student challenged me to a game of chess. I lost, but then I had a nice conversation with the guy. Honestly, that was one of the moments that gravitated me towards choosing UC Berkeley: the spontaneity of playing chess with a stranger.” Ms. Brandt agreed that chess is “a great social thing to do.” She added, “I think it works really well with the students here because it is a mental game; you have to have some planning and thought about your next step.” The social aspect, however, may not be all positives. Neil said,“It’s very fun [to play in the library] but I understand it can be disruptive to people who are trying to study.” These disruptions forced the librarians to confiscate the chess boards temporarily to help students keep games at a reasonable noise level. Ms. Brandt elaborated on the decision: “The goal of the library is to make it accessible to as many students as possible no matter what their goal is,” she said, “We constantly struggle with that balance between being a quiet academic place versus a place where people want to socialize.” At the end of the day, whether you’re a Grandmaster or just someone who wants to try something new, chess is a game for everyone. Jasper summarizes, “The good outweighs the bad; it can definitely be frustrating [sometimes] but there are also highs.” Ms. Brandt said,“chess is one of those games that are timeless…and I think it’s wonderful.” A lot more people are picking up the game as a result, which is a change that Neil views positively. Neil exclaimed,“Chess should be open to anyone who wants to play…I think everyone can play chess!”

The library has become a hubbub of chess, many students playing on the two sets or opting to use their computers.