Taking a large amount of AP classes has surely become an overtly popular fantasy among this generation’s high school students. Not only wanting to look good to the colleges they desire to get into, but also trying to complete college credits before they enter college to save time and money, many high schoolers load up on AP classes.

The large expectation for students to take these classes strains the ones who can’t or simply choose not to, causing them to second guess their choices or feel undermined. On the other side, a lot of people who can’t handle a substantial amount of AP classes still pile them on because they feel pressured into it and believe that it’s what they need to do. This not only stresses them out immensely, but it also takes the enjoyment away from their high school experiences that they can never gain back. And for what? To save a couple hundred dollars and have a higher chance to become a “Gator” or a “Seminole”? Unless someone truly loves the subject of the AP class they choose to take and are exceptional at time management, they should not feel pressured to take that class. The stigma that students must take AP classes to be smart, get into good colleges, and be successful in life must be eliminated. 
   

AP classes are not for everyone, and it has nothing to do with intelligence. AP tests at the end of the year are extremely time constrained and have the potential to throw a lot of people into a borderline panic attack. For example, the typical 60 minutes to do 60 questions (Which aren’t easy, by the way) on some AP tests is senseless. Some may argue that this type of testing prepares students for handling stressful situations in the real world, but last time I checked I won’t be tested on answering 60 multiple choice questions about the world wars and what our presidents did within a meager time frame anytime in my future. I could have all the knowledge in the world, but if I don’t answer at a fast pace, I’m not passing any AP exams and Collegeboard is going to hand me that dreadful 2. To put it simply, the entire test is just you rushing to put an answer for everything without completely failing. An exam like that is not an exam that is testing your knowledge. 
   

Your typical college class calculates your final grade and whether you passed or not based upon your average semester grades and your final exam grade. AP classes, however, only determine if you get college credit by the score you get on the final exam alone. So, even if you get straight A’s in AP Biology, if you slip up and become overwhelmed during the exam and come out with a 2 or lower, your whole year of effort and pain basically goes to waste. You thought the time constraints were stressful, but this takes the pressure to a whole new level. Why should the purpose of a whole years' worth of struggling, studying, and working hard rest upon a 3-hour test in the school’s auditorium? A better question is, why would students choose to deal with this? 
   

Even though taking a lot of AP classes in high school yields some benefits, unless a student is amazing at time management and plans to study a major that incorporates the AP class of their choosing, they really shouldn’t push themselves to take the course. High schoolers tend to focus on comparing themselves to those that achieve more than them, so it’s natural for someone to feel down in the dumps if a lot of their peers are conversing about taking 6 AP classes while they’re struggling with 2, 1, or even none. Being in 2 AP classes is amazing, being in 1 AP class is amazing, even being in none and still getting exceptional grades is noteworthy. My point is, someone’s intellect is not measured by the number of AP classes they’re enrolled in. A person’s intelligence isn’t even determined by the grades they get. If you don’t want to take an AP class or if you feel that you genuinely can’t handle the stress that comes along with it, don’t take it, and don’t beat yourself up over not taking it. There are plenty of amazing colleges that people get accepted into without taking a single AP class and just achieving good grades in non-AP courses, and those same people still go on to be successful in life. That’s because, even without any AP classes, if you get good grades, you are already accomplishing amazing things. There are more important problems to worry about other than AP classes and graduating on the top of your class. In the end, whether you took 20 or 0 AP classes is not going to make a difference, it’s if you lived your best and happiest life. 

So, let’s not waste our time stressing ourselves out over AP classes that aren’t worth it.