Ivies take hard line on giving AP credit

Advanced Placement exams are gaining popularity in America's high schools, but Penn and the other Ivy League institutions are keeping their distance.

Under the new policy of the College of Arts and Sciences, which will be implemented for the Class of 2010, even a 5 -- the highest score possible -- will not satisfy requirements of any sector of the General Requirement.

Other Ivy League schools are also stringent with their credits.

Dartmouth College does not count AP credit toward its distributive and world culture requirements.

Princeton and Columbia allow an AP score of 4 or 5 to fulfill the language requirement. Harvard insists on a 5, and Yale demands that students take a Yale-administered language course, even if they receive a 4 or a 5 on an AP language exam.

But officials at the College Board, which administers AP exams, are unfazed by the Ivy League tendency to use AP credits sparingly, if at all.

"The Ivy League is a small percentage" of all schools in the nation, College Board spokeswoman Jennifer Topiel said. "Most schools accept a 3, 4 and 5, [but] at a school like Penn, if a 5 were accepted, the entire freshman class could pass out" of introductory courses.

Under Penn's current policy, students can fulfill some requirements, like the Physical World and Formal Reasoning and Analysis, with a good AP score.

And some AP tests don't count at Penn, regardless of score. The exams in Calculus AB, Human Geography, Music Theory and Government and Politics are never considered for credit.

Under the revised policy, a score of 4 or 5 on an AP language exam may only fulfill language requirements and will not be equivalent to any Penn course.

But the changed policy would still allow incoming students to place into upper-level courses.

According to the College's Director of Academic Affairs, Kent Peterman, the new system will encourage students to take more courses at Penn and will allow them to use the AP as a "vehicle into the curriculum rather than as a vehicle out."

Administrators also said that the change will result in better-educated students.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Dennis DeTurck said that students will learn more by taking introductory classes in college with academically advanced classmates.

But even with the strict AP policies of Ivy League schools, more high-school students are taking the tests than ever.

In 2005, 28,622 Pennsylvania public school students took AP exams -- a 6.6 percent increase from 2004.

According to a College Board report, every state has demonstrated an increase in the percentage of students receiving at least a 3 on an AP exam since 2000.

President Bush even referenced AP exams in his State of the Union address last month, proposing "to train 70,000 high-school teachers to lead advanced-placement courses in math and science."

DeTurck added that "the percentage of students who come ... in with at least one AP credit is pretty high, but ... certainly not 100 percent."

And even though Penn is tightening its rules for AP credit, DeTurck urged that "students won't stop taking the most challenging courses available to them [in high school] if they hope to get into a place like Penn."

Testing out - Under Penn's new policy, students' AP scores will not satisfy any sector of the General Requirement - Dartmouth does not give AP credit for its distributive and world-culture requirements - Princeton and Columbia give credit toward language requirements for AP scores of 4 and 5 - Harvard only gives language credit for a 5 on an AP exam - Yale requires students to take language course regardless of AP score

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