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The author discusses fundamental misunderstandings about Advanced Placement (AP)courses, which are intended to provide high-school students with an academic college experience, typically at the level of an introductory college course. Popular misconceptions include: (1) AP is about memorization and does not require students to think critically; (2) High-school teachers lack the expertise to teach college-level classes; (3) Awarding college credit reduces students' chances for wider intellectual exploration in college; and (4) Colleges courses provide greater intellectual breadth and depth than AP courses. While acknowledging that not all students who are encouraged to take AP are ready, and that not all courses at all schools meet the college-level standard, the author advocates that the Advanced Placement program has revolutionized high-school classrooms around the United States, offering rigorous, college-level education to motivated students with the benefit of college credit. As such, he concludes, AP is a valuable program, worthy of attention and, when required, correction and improvement.

Last week the Board of Regents of the University of California tabled a faculty proposal to broaden the pool of applicants eligible for admission to the 10 campuses in the University of California system. The regents took the action to allow the university's new president, Mark G. Yudof, as well as regents who were uncertain about the proposal, time to analyze the recommendation. Thoughtful analysis is certainly needed. Given that the system has just completed one of the most competitive admissions cycles in its history, with no letup foreseen for at least the near future, it is perplexing that the regents are being asked to relax admissions requirements so that applicants would no longer have to take SAT subject tests, also called SAT II's. Even more troubling, President Yudof agreed with the faculty recommendation to eliminate the subject tests. Undergraduate applicants to any of the University of California's undergraduate campuses are now required to submit the results of either the ACT with writing or the SAT reasoning test, and two SAT subject tests. The majority of those applicants have taken the SAT reasoning test rather than the ACT. The SAT subject tests differ from the SAT reasoning test in that the subject tests are designed to measure specific knowledge in one of five academic areas: (1) English; (2) history; (3) mathematics; (4) science; and (5) foreign language. The subject tests are achievement tests of material that students should learn in high school. In contrast, the SAT reasoning test covers only English (including writing) and math, and only the math portion of the exam tests material students will have been expected to have studied in high school. The SAT reasoning test is an aptitude or intelligence test, designed to predict how well students will do once they get to college. In this article, the author argues that the University of California should keep the SAT subject tests as entrance requirements.