What do AP Tests and senior finals have in common? They both take place on the same day and time. Which would you choose to go to?

Upon investigation, according to the AP Board, the AP tests for many popular classes such as Chemistry, Calculus, Art History, US History and English happen to coincide with the week for senior finals. Senior finals begin Tuesday, May 3 and go until Friday, May 6. Nationwide, specific AP tests are to be administered beginning May 2 until May 13. These dates, set last year, are selected by the College Board and are generally non-negotiable unless there are extenuating circumstances.

According to senior Daniel Roseman, who is enrolled in AP US History, “it is an abhorrence that seniors who have put in four good years at Parkway West have to be burdened with taking finals in their classes as well as taking a three hour AP exam.”

While counselors agree that AP tests have priority and that seniors should take them instead of attending their final on the designated day, students must contact their teachers and find a time beforehand to take any finals they are missing.

“I think that if you’re taking an AP for a class, that your teacher should excuse you from the final, maybe we could take finals earlier or just not have them at all,” senior Dinara Manafova said.

Manafova is enrolled in AP Art History and plans on taking the AP test that goes along with it. However, it happens to be on the same day as seniors’ 7th hour final. For other seniors, such as Anthony Carroll, who is taking multiple AP classes, the stakes are just a little higher.  

“I think it’s really poor planning on the district’s part. Our schedules are busy enough trying to prepare for all our AP tests and now we have to prepare for finals in the same week. It will be really easy to get overloaded,” Carroll said.  “It’s a lot of planning and rearranging schedules and it’s causing me to feel really stressed out about the whole week.”

Calculus Teacher Susan Dean believes that everything will work out as long as students and teachers keep an open mind.  

“I’m not mad about it, I just think people need to be flexible. So, for example, that whole week of finals, I think senior teachers need to be completely flexible,” Dean said.  “So, if you have an English AP exam on one of the days that we’re taking our final, then I simply arrange with you a time that works for you to come in and take your final.”
Overall, the fix of signing up for the AP test and rescheduling senior finals appears to be taking hold, however seniors believe it puts pressure on them to have to study for both when most want to be done with school altogether.