For most Dartmouth students, high school, and whatever image these words bring to mind, may seem like something from the distant past. However, the choices that we made in high school, such as what courses to take and what extracurricular activities to be involved in, continue to have effects in college as well.
For example, many Dartmouth students took Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high school and were able to receive credit at Dartmouth for their performance in those courses. In the past, exceptional performance on AP exams could count as course credits and in fulfillment of certain distributive requirements.
However, for the Class of '98 and following, AP credits no longer count toward distributives. While this change in policy is guided by some reasonable principles, the practical effect will be not be sound.The college and individual departments reason that AP test scores cannot be relied upon to demonstrate proficiency in a subject since there are many variables that cannot be measured solely by a test. This argument is valid, but only to a certain extent; there are many areas -- most notably, math and science -- where a test is entirely capable of measuring knowledge in a particular subject.
The College's current policy under the new curriculum contains an inherent double standard -- that AP tests count for credit, but not for distributives. A fellow '98 perhaps best stated this double-standard when he said, "If students come prepared and can demonstrate that preparation and their aptitude for a subject, then it makes no sense for that preparation to not count towards distributive requirements."
The AP credit policy should be amended in favor of the student. Distributives exist to guarantee that each student is exposed to a broad range of subject areas and has a certain degree of knowledge in each area. This end would be better served if the policy were changed to allow the placement of AP credits towards distributives in the areas of math and science.
Such a change would be a just and beneficial policy for the College and its students. AP credits should count towards distributives in math and science simply because it is easier to quantitatively measure knowledge in these areas than in other areas. A score of five on the AP Calculus AB test, for example, should not only garner the student credit for Math 3, but also ensure exemption from the Quantitative and Deductive Sciences requirement.
If the current AP credit policy is not changed, it is the student who will lose out in the end. For example, a student whose interests lie in the humanities or social sciences who already has Math 3 credit, may avoid an upper level calculus course in favor of a less advanced course solely to relieve the burden of a particular distributive.
As a result of the current policy, the student is shortchanged of the chance to take a course that is of both real interest and real benefit to him.
This policy change would guarantee both breadth and depth for Dartmouth students and would alleviate the problems inherent in the current structure.
