As students have already heard, the College Board has changed the AP exams deadline for registration, putting many students at a disadvantage. The changes were apparently made to keep students focused on their studies, but it is hard to see the promised benefits.

Last month, the College Board changed the deadline from March to October. Along with these deadline changes, the College Board has added a new late fee of $40 and a fee of $40 for missing the test. The exam fee remains at $94.

This deadline adjustment will have a huge impact on many AP students who need more time to think about spending money on the exam. Students are only given a few months from the start of school to decide if they want to register, and if they register and cancel they are subject to a $40 fee.

At the beginning of the school year, many students at Diamond Bar will make the obvious choice to take the test because of the school’s highly intense academic atmosphere, but some students may come to realize that they are unprepared for the test. 

Earlier deadline dates will pressure students to hastily pay for the exam, even when they are unsure about taking the test. According to data from the College Board, which tested the changes on pilot schools, the results of earlier deadlines show a 33 percent increase of low-income students who registered, but the data also shows that their average scores decreased. 

While earlier deadlines encouraged more students to take the test, it is clear that many of these students were not prepared and were only forced to take the test because they have already paid a $94 fee and didn’t want to pay another $40 to cancel.

There was never any issue with the original registration deadline, which gave students nearly the entire school year of the AP course to see if they were prepared. 

Moving the registration deadline to the beginning of the school year denies students a chance at success because it will not give them the opportunity to see if they are ready for the work in an AP course.

According to a spokeswoman from the College Board, early registration dates were only made to keep students more motivated, but experimental studies by the College Board doesn’t show these results. 

The additional fees indicate that these changes were made to help the company’s bottom line rather than help students prepare.