Study hints AP classes overrated

Advanced Placement courses typically are the toughest classes in high school, with the longest term papers, the thickest textbooks, and the highest stakes: Students who score high on the classes' nationally standardized exams can earn college credit, sometimes enough to save thousands of dollars in tuition costs. But a new study, presented yesterday at a national conference, is generating debate on the merits of Advanced Placement courses, at least in the sciences. The classes are touted as college-level work for high school students to give them an edge in the fierce competition for college, but the study by a Harvard senior lecturer in astronomy and a University of Virginia assistant professor found that students who scored high on the exams in biology, chemistry, and physics didn't earn much better grades than students who never took the advanced classes.

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