Question of the Week 2/22/2021: What is an AP Exam Waiver?

Question of the Week 2/22/2021: What is an AP Exam Waiver?

Stuyvesant High School students are permitted to register for one (1) AP examination that they are not enrolled in the associated AP class, if there are seats available, and with the permission of the Department AP. Please note that students may only receive (one) AP examination waiver for the school year 2020-2021.

Students recieved the following message on February 22, 2021

If you have not already applied and been granted an AP Examination Waiver earlier this school year (2020-2021) you may apply at this time. Please follow the link to  the form AP Examination Waiver Spring 2021. The deadline to complete this form is Monday, March 1, 2021. Your request will be routed to the associated Department Chair for approval. If you are approved you will receive an "Exam Only" Join Code. You will then use the Join Code to "Join Your AP Class Section" by first logging into  sign in to My AP.  If your request is denied, you will be provided the reason for the denial. Please allow several days  for your request to be processed. You will receive a response in your stuy.edu email no later than Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Thank you. 


Why would a student want to take an AP Exam for a class they are not enrolled in? 
Many students feel that they know a subject, such as a second language, or other area, well enough to study on their own and score well on an Advanced Placement exam, thus earning the college credit for the course should the college they decide to attend accept AP Exam scores for credit. Other institutions may advance a student to a higher level course if they have AP Exam scores that meet their requirements. For this reason, historically, students request to sign up for AP Exams that correspond to courses they are not enrolled in. In other cases, a student may have missed an AP Exam they were taking a course for in the past and wants to make that up the following year. Stuyvesant High School administers over 4,000 AP Exams annually.  Our Testing Coordinator  Dr. Haber schedules the exams using all three testing windows to accommodate this number for our approximately 28-30 AP courses offered. For this reason, Stuyvesant can only offer a ‘waiver’ for one extra AP exam, if approved and there is space to accommodate, to each student. Stuyvesant, more often than not, lacks the space to administer AP exams to those not on our current register or to siblings of our students.


A schedule, along with answers to questions regarding in-person and/or online exams will be forthcoming soon along with information on fees.