155 thoughts on “Formal Letter and Public forum for 2013 AP Test Takers”

1. I, Nicholas Ueng, support this message/letter.

   • I, Jolene Hom, support this message.

   • We need our scores back A.S.A.P.

2. It is absolutely unfair that we have to suffer for something that was not in our hands. There is no way, even with our teachers helping us to review, that we can master the material in the same way and to receive a score comparable to those that are now potentially going to be cancelled. For me personally, I see this as something that could impede my future as the tests I took are a necessity for my studies.

3. I, Tiffany, support this message.

4. A year’s worth of classes, hard work, and sleepless nights cannot be replicated in just three weeks. I would completely understand if our scores were invalidated because someone cheated, but because our proctor’s seating arrangement did not follow Collegeboard guidelines… Really? As students, how were we supposed to know? By canceling our scores, Collegeboard would be punishing the wrong people.

5. I, Keith Leung, support this message. My college application is on “hold” due to the delay of AP test scores. If I cannot turn in my AP test scores as soon as possible, my application may be withdrawn. Please re-consider the board decision.

6. I, Peter Kwok, also strongly agree that this action is not only the worst action that can be done. But a mistake to put the consequences on the shoulders of students who have spent all year studying and working hard to take this test. Another test would mean frantic studying leading to poor results and the colleges us students have attended require our scores now. We cannot afford to wait another 2 months after we take another test, let alone remake ALL the tests that we students had. We have paid and worked countless amounts to earn our success and do not deserve the penalty given.

7. I support this message. Although our seating arrangement was not in agreement with the AP requirements, there was no way the students would have known about the requirements for seating unless we purposely looked it up in the coordinator’s manual (which isn’t our job) and to my knowledge no students cheated so our scores should not be invalidated.

8. I, Nathan Wong, support this message.

9. I think what a lot of people don’t understand about cancelling scores is that a “test” is not just 3 (or 12) hours spent taking tests; it isn’t sitting down in a room and “testing.” It’s a nervous human being sitting down in a room and writing until his or her hand hurts. In some cases, until a throbbing headache makes writing an essay or a “short” answer a very physical ordeal. It’s unfair that just because somebody, I don’t care who, didn’t arrange the chairs the right way or something, we have to go through all that again.

10. It is unreasonable how we studied and worked so hard for the AP tests just to have our scores canceled because of something that we had no control over. There’s no way we can do as well on the retake as we did with such notice. Furthermore, students who are out of town on vacation won’t even have a chance to take it.
    The point of the AP test is to test our understanding of college-level materials from our studies in school. But this retake puts us at a disadvantage since we have to take it two months after the actual test and we have no teachers to help us review. Some students don’t even have their review books anymore and it’d be a complete waste of money to buy review books again just to study for three weeks.

11. My AP scores were due two days ago and now I must input all information regarding my AP tests by July 26, meaning that I will also miss this deadline. Not only will I have lost hours upon hours of time studying and actually completing the AP tests, I, and many of my fellow Class of ’13 graduates, will lose out on many AP credits putting us at a disadvantage that we all worked so hard to avoid. Many of us will have to spend a lot more time and thousands of dollars more at college in order to make up for this mishap. It is not reasonable to force us to retake the tests since none of us will be prepared 3 months past when we actually took the test. This issue was not caused by the students and we do not deserve to be punished for it.

12. I, Alexander Wong, support this message.

13. My daughter studied very hard for her AP tests. It is absolutely unfair for my daughter’s scores to be invalidated due to factors over which she had no control. She didn’t do anything wrong, so she should not face the consequences of others’ mistakes.

14. I took AP classes specifically to help me with my major of engineering in college, since it is very hard to graduate in four years with this degree. Without said credits, I may have to pay for another year of college, that my scholarships will no longer cover.

15. I am a recent Mills High School graduate who has taken the AP exams that are currently invalidated. All of my reasons for supporting this message are already mentioned in the previous comments made by my fellow classmates.

16. I, Michael M., approve this message.

17. I, Jeffrey L., support this message.

18. I support this message!
    During my junior year I took four AP classes, and I spent a lot of my time studying and preparing for my tests (AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Physics, AP U.S. History). When I took my AP tests I was fully prepared and I did the best that I could, and I thought I followed all the rules properly. Today I found out that I have to retake ALL four of the tests I took. We were not aware that our seating arrangement went against the rules. Please reconsider you decision to not send our score, because our retake would not be an accurate representation of our knowledge in the various subjects!

    Thank you!

19. I, Andrea Terrones, support this message.

    I hope that we will soon get the scores that we deserve and worked very hard for.

20. I, Zachary Wong, support this message.

21. I, Gavin Lam, approve of the message yea

22. Many of the reasons for my personal disappointment over this matter have already been clearly explained in the article, but I am determined to go into more detail about my own thoughts and circumstances.

    Firstly, my cumulative AP scores were not sent to my college by the due date because of the invalidation, despite College Board’s promise to deliver them. As a result, my record is now on hold, and I am unable to enroll in any courses during orientation. My admissions offer is also in danger of being withdraw if there is continued delay.

    For a month and a half now, I have been planning to attend the University of California, Irvine’s Freshman Summer Start Program (FSSP), which begins on August 3rd. As retakes are between August 5th – 12th, chances are I will have to forfeit the opportunity to attend this program for the sake of retaking four AP exams that I may or may not even pass.

    We had approximately nine months to prepare for AP exams; to be provided with only two to three weeks to prepare for retakes is not a sufficient nor adequate amount of time. It places us at a severe disadvantage with all other students who took the test in May. If the point of AP exams is to test students on their knowledge of college-level coursework, then this invalidation of scores is not doing the purpose justice.

    My peers and I should be punished for something that was out of our control; we correctly followed procedures as told and completed the exams with order.

    It is my most sincere belief that we have earned our scores through hard work and determination, and deserve to receive them just as much as the other AP student test-takers.

    Please hear us out; listen to our pleas.

    • Hi Melisa
      I’m a reporter for the San Mateo County Times working today on a story about the invalidation. Could you call me at 650-348-4357? I’m interested in hearing from a student such as yourself whose college enrollment has been affected.
      Thanks
      Aaron Kinney

23. I, Jason Chun, support this message.

    Not only is it a waste of time and effort for the students to retake the AP tests; it would be virtually impossible with less than a month of preparation to duplicate the performance on a test taken after an entire year of hard work and study. If Mills students must retake the tests with these disadvantages for no fault of their own, any other AP test takers should be forced to do likewise. Since this is inconceivable, the only logical conclusion is for Mills students to be given their scores.

    In an earlier post, someone suggested drawing the media’s attention. While my family members and I, like the previous poster, am reluctant to be a spokesperson, this seems to be the best course of action for anyone willing to take on the responsibility.

24. I, Nicole Cristales, completely agree with the above statements as to why our scores should be delivered to us.

25. I, Noah Seto, support this message.

26. I’ve been keeping my college enrollment process on hold ever since the AP scores have been delayed, and I can’t keep it on hold any longer. I risk the possibility of having my admission to my college cancelled without further notice if I do not submit my AP scores by a certain (already extended) upcoming date. A block on my college registration as caused by my inability to submit my AP scores may prevent me “from paying registration fees, receiving financial aid funds, moving into University-operated housing, using my student card” and cause me to “not be an officially registered student” as is stated by my college.

    I don’t need my scores today. I don’t need my scores tomorrow. I needed my scores YESTERDAY.

    There may have been seating irregularities but the main issue here is that Mills AP student test takers did not do anything wrong. As such, we should not have to face the consequences for which we are now (3 months after last touching our testing material and 1 month before we start college) very poorly prepared for. Actually, we are NOT prepared AT ALL. PERIOD. We are being punished for a wrong we did not commit, and that is not fair at all.

    When I signed up to take the tests, I trusted that I, as a collegeboard consumer and student, I would get my score by the promised score release date if my peers and I obeyed the rules. Now that my peers and I have taken the test without any student misconduct, yet still cannot receive our scores, I am not sure who to trust anymore.

    If there is an issue with the testing that is not at the fault of the students, then College Board should work with whomever involved to fix that for future years rather than punish innocent student test takers who (as far as we knew) were taking a legitimate test. That seems like a more reasonable solution rather than set up a retake that I, as a test abiding student, am completely uncomfortable and unwilling to take (since we shouldn’t have to in the first place).

    Please take our concerns deeply into consideration as soon as possible (this is a time sensitive issue for most of us) and give us our rightful scores back. That’s the ONLY right thing to do at this point.

27. I, Willis Leung, support this message.

    Collegeboard, ETS, and to whom it may concern, please think about these issues before hosting a retake on the AP test.

    9 months of intense studying are now squeeze into 3 weeks. This CLEARLY present a bias result comparing who students in other high schools who have taken it in May.

    Its the summer. Many people have gone km vacation and many WILL NOT be back in time to make it.

    If its not the students fault, why do we have to suffer? We TRULY hope this wouldn’t happen to anyone anywhere again.

    Willis Leung

28. CollegeBoard lists earning college credits and skipping introductory college courses as rewards for enrolling in AP courses. By withholding our scores for the 2012-2013 school year, CollegeBoard is robbing students of their opportunities to advance in their college careers and is also robbing students of their effort. The scores that are currently being refused to me could potentially allow me to get credit for my entire freshman year, saving me one year of college and over fifty thousand dollars in tuition.

    As an institution that promotes students to “speak up” and “be heard,” CollegeBoard, along with SMUHSD, should HEAR US and allow US to report our scores. I want to “put AP to work for me” and get my so-called reward of college credit! By withholding these scores from the hundreds of Mills AP students, the CollegeBoard is being hypocritical of the very things it stands for.

    Why should seating arrangements detrimentally impact our futures? Students who were not satisfied with their seats were given the option to speak out and move to a seat more suited to their liking. The Mills student body took those tests fairly, “properly” seated or not.

    I just want the scores that I deserve.

    Erika A. Lee c|o 2013

29. As a 2013 graduate of Mills High School, I support this message. It is completely unreasonable of the College Board and Mills High School to expect accurate reflections of our academic merit in badly scheduled retests. We are not at fault, and yet we are being punished with grave disadvantages against all other AP test takers across the nation.

    All I want are the scores I earned because I need the credit for my college course requirements. The College Board’s goal is “to ensure that every student has the opportunity to prepare for, enroll in and graduate from college.” By subjecting us to such injustice, the College Board completely turns its back on us and on its own mission. Please do not be the massive roadblock in the way of our educational opportunities, as I do not believe that is what an educational organization does.

30. I support everything that my peers have said in the previous posts and everything else that is said on this website. I also agree that it is unfair and unjust for us to take these tests again in less than two weeks. I don’t need to reiterate the rest of the reasons that everybody else has spoken above (as I agree with pretty much all of them). Please somebody represent us if we end up with media attention and everything else. But ultimately, please don’t let our year’s worth of hard work go to waste!

31. It took an entire school year to prepare for these tests and quite simply,there is no time to study again, let alone take the test again. My classes are meant to be released on August 9th and without my test scores, I am in danger of taking unnecessary classes. Like retaking the AP (without a choice of refund), unneeded classes will waste my time and my money. We learned the material, but are mentally prepared for these tests after we have been on break for so long. Furthermore, the seating arrangement used by our faculty most likely accomplished the same goal as your required seating.Please reconsider your decision.

    Leland Lam

32. I, Jasper Shu, support this message. The invalidation of my scores would change my standing entering my college. It also makes the effort I put into studying for the AP tests in May pointless. It is unreasonable to ask a student who is taking summer classes, working, and have other family arrangements to study for a test ( in my case, 4 tests ) with only three months notice and expect me to score as well as I would have in May.

33. I, Wingyee Yuen, suport this message.

34. I, Derick Ong, also support this message. It is unfair that our scores are invalidated due to something that is not under our jurisdiction. Even if we retake these exams, the scores will not accurately reflect our knowledge of the content due to the time span for review being too little. It is impossible for a person to cram a year’s worth of school content and master it within two to three weeks. Without these scores, it would take many people a longer time to graduate from college and we would end up having to pay more tuition and the cost of attendance. It can also render people unable to attend college or have their class registration delayed. This invalidation will especially hinder the class of 2014′s acceptance to colleges since they have no score to report on their college application. Lastly, there are many students who are unable to retake it due to them being on vacation abroad or start college in August. Some of us even have a job too. I hope these heartfelt appeals will have the board overrule their decision.

35. I, Jeffrey Liao, support this message.

    I left almost immediately during the summer break to Taiwan, not only to visit my whole family who I only get see once a year, but to relax from all the stress, effort, and hard word from taking the AP tests near the end of my senior year. I was truly glad that I would not have to go through another grueling testing experience.

    However, I recently learned from my fellow peers that all of our AP test scores have been invalidated after constantly checking the CollegeBoard website to learn about why my scores never appeared. We Mills students, especially the seniors, were planning to send our scores to our respective colleges and universities as a way to save money and help our parents with the debt incurred through increasing college tuition. This recent setback has not only hindered our goals but created a series of inconveniences for us and all our families.

    Some of us relied on the outcome of our scores as a way to avoid the placement tests necessary to enroll in our classes, but the prospect of having to take them seems a likely possibility. Others hoped their scores would allow them to advance onto more difficult courses, yet the cancellations causes problems with our plans, especially those who choose their courses in August .

    For me, the cancellation of these scores not only mean I get to spend less time with a large majority of my family and friends in Taiwan, but I planned to return on July 24th, the exact date for the retake registration. Right now, It seems I may have to leave earlier in order to return home, forcing me to separate from my family, and forcing find all of my notes, study sheets, and practice tests in order to prepare. Furthermore, once I do get back, I will to deal with major jet lag which takes me a week to fully adjust correctly, leaving me in a state of diminished mental capacity to reabsorb the large amount of knowledge, learned throughout an entire school year, into a few weeks. This places me at a large disadvantage to students from other school who took a similar tests and had the information fresh in their mind.

    I still do not understand what exactly went wrong with the seating arrangements or testing administration, but before we all took the AP tests, we agreed what we were getting into and we would take the tests at our best potential while following the rules. These score cancellations and violations however, are not the fault of Mills students, who worked so hard and had high hopes. The errors that occurred were out of the students’ control.

    Dear CollegeBoard/ETS, I sincerely hope that you hold those responsible for these cancellations, and do not unjustly punish Mills students by forcing us to retake tests that we will not be fully prepared for. Thank you.

36. I personally would not be prepared at all.

37. I, Andrea Icaza, support this message. The fact that so much money has been spent by my parents so I could take these tests, and the possibility of a refund does not exist absolutely fathoms me.

38. I, Athena Wan, support this message.

    All the reasons for why I support this cause have already been listed by my fellow classmates above but I would also like to add that for other students like me who are overseas, it would be immensely difficult to study without the materials. Given such a short notice, I’m sure some of these students who are out of town can’t even attend the retake sessions. I can attend these sessions but this would leave me a week or less to study since I’m returning home on August 4th, which is unfair and will defintely lead to a lower test score. And so for all the students who can’t make the retake sessions, it is unfair that they won’t even be refunded. I feel like the simplest solution is to simply send the scores to the AP students for this reason and the reasons above.

39. I, Tiffany Tran, support this message.

    Although I was unable to take the AP tests this year I can feel the anger and frustration coming from those who did. I took an AP course for almost the whole school year, dedicating so much hard work and time in hopes of taking the AP test and receiving a decent grade. I technically could have taken the test but I would have been so unprepared because I wasn’t even able to finish the course and learn all the material. I had no chance of getting a decent grade from trying to learn the new concepts and review the old material in such little time. Strangely my former classmates are in a somewhat similar position because everything they worked so hard for almost means nothing now. So many people depend on this scores to help them save thousands of dollars from retaking the course in college. Some also might even have their college application revoked? How are students expected to perform as well on the test compared to when they took it in May? I hope CollegeBoard reevaluate their decision and release the test scores because this is a lose lose situation for all.

40. I, Catherine Chen, support this message.

41. I, Becky Ling, support this message.

42. I, Michelle Leung, support this message. It seems unreasonable that we, the students, should be punished for “irregular seating”. It was not our job to create the seating arrangements.

43. I, Songyi Xu, support this message.

44. I, Robert Mitsuda, support this message.

45. I am very sorry that this happened. As a Mills High School teacher I see everyday how hard our students work to achieve to their highest potential. I don’t know how this happened, nor do I care to assign blame, but I know that it was not the fault of our AP students and they should not be penalized. There is only one fair way to resolve this and that is to restore all Mills AP test scores; refunds won’t do it and retakes are not a real option. If there is an issue to be resolved to prevent this kind of error from happening in the future, let it be between the institutions involved. Please do not punish the students for mistakes made by others. Give them their just credit!

46. I, Danielle Lee, support this message.

    I worked hard during the school year in preparation to take my tests in May, not August. Retaking the tests in two to three weeks is not reasonable for an exam that we as students were given about nine months to work and prepare for at school with our teachers – it would guarantee a lower score. I personally feel as if the time and effort I have put in during the school year as well the money my parents spent is now going to waste. It is unfair to cancel our scores based on “seating irregularities” that we are not responsible for.

47. As an educator, I appreciate the College Board’s commitment to creating a fair and equitable testing situation for all students taking AP exams. And as such, when discrepancies occur, actions must be taken. However, in this situation, I truly believe that the invalidating the scores of nearly all the Mills High School students who took AP exams is May is the wrong response to this situation. It has been stated that students have not been found guilty of any misconduct. As that is the case, why punish them in such a fashion? Invalidating their scores is the appropriate response in a situation when misconduct has been discovered. And yet, by the College Board’s own admission, no such misconduct had been discovered. There must be a better, and more importantly, more justifiable response than the one the College Board has handed to these hard working students.

    In addition, offering the students the opportunity to retake the tests is not a truly viable option. As has been stated previously, this would obviously negatively impact the students, their families, and their future collegiate plans. Again, as has been stated these students have not been found guilty of any infraction; therefore they should not be impacted so adversely.

    Finally, I would like to take a moment to attest to the personal and professional character of these students. Having taught a large number of the students of the Classes of 2013 and 2014 as Freshmen, Sophomores and again as Seniors, I completely believe in their credible and upstanding nature. They are truly a wonderful group of students, who do not deserve this treatment from the College Board. These students participated in these AP exams with full faith that if they participated truthfully with their behavior, they would be rewarded with an accurate representation of their academic performance. Invalidating their scores is not an accurate representation of the hard and honest work these students put into the process. It merely punishes a large group of students who do not deserve such treatment.

    Thank you for your time,

    Alexandra Dove
    Social Science Teacher, Mills High School

    • Ms. Dove,
      Your points are excellent. I urge you to send a letter or email directly to the College Board and ETS expressing these views. Also, please copy Vic Lee of 7 on Your Side at vic.lee@abc.com. He is following this story. I am concerned that your points will not be read in this blog. Thanks for you support. Chris Noma, parent

48. I agree with the letter written above and show support for it.

    I am also a recent graduate of the class of 2013 and was relying on my AP scores to skip introductory classes in various subjects that I didn’t necessarily have to take. Without those AP scores or credits, I will need to take introductory courses that, I think, are not suitable for my level, and will therefore force me to waste time in those courses, instead of advancing to higher levels of the subject (the very purpose of the AP curriculum).

    In addition, I worked diligently throughout my whole senior year and immersed myself in the course material, spending all-nighters, countless study group sessions, and review sessions to prepare for these tests. To have all that hard work taken away through the invalidation of ALL the scores is a GROSS and UNJUST punishment for something that was not done by me, and the students.

    I humbly ask the CB and all persons concerned to please consider our request and the above letter(s).

    Thank you.

49. I, Alyssa Hebrio, support this message.

50. I, Sofia Barraza, support this message.

    The invalidation of my AP English scores means that I will be forced to use credits and time that were intended to go towards my engineering degree towards General Education instead. As a result, it will take me five years to graduate from college, costing my family thousands of dollars. This is a huge difference from the $180 dollars spent to take my AP tests.

    CollegeBoard and ETS should not punish my classmates and I for taking the AP tests, given that there was no evidence of inpropriety on our part, as acknowledged by CollegeBoard and Mills High School.

    I respectfully request that CollegeBoard releases our scores and finds a just method to resolve the seating issue without punishing those not responsible.

51. I, Prathna Maharaj, support this message.

    As a recent Mills graduate and soon to be college freshman, I had put very much time and effort in to my AP classes hoping to get some recognition for this work. Due to the invalidation of our AP scores, I may have to face an extra year in college since certain classes that I would have otherwise been exempt from have a high volume of students. The news of the cancellation of our scores came two days AFTER the deadline to submit scores to my university. This caused extra hassle for both me and my counselors at Davis to try and figure out what is to be done. Without these scores, registering for classes will be an even greater challenge because I will be registering for courses without knowing if I will ultimately pass the SIX retakes I will be forced to take.

    Overall, the effort made by the Mills AP students should not be ignored due to the mistakes made by testing and school administration. As students, we deserve to get what we worked so hard for all year: AP scores and credit.

52. I, Aaron Wong, support this message.

53. I, Tarum Fraz, support this message.

    The invalidation of our AP scores have caused us, the AP students, many dilemmas, problems, and stress in regard to our collegiate plans. I received the letter stating the cancellation of my scores yesterday, July 18th, when my AP exam scores were due to my college on July 15th. UCSC granted me an extended deadline of August 9th to turn in my scores, but that is around the time retakes are scheduled. After having my admission threatened, I called admissions just to find out that the scheduled retakes will most likely be “too late” to turn in. Also, I will be enrolling in fall classes next week at orientation, where I would have needed my scores in order to skip classes that I did not need. Basically, retakes are not a viable option for me, and for many other Mills graduates, simply because they would not count. It is very disappointing to see an entire year’s hard work go down the drain due to an issue that was not caused by the students. I did not hear of any cheating situations, and as stated above, students were given the opportunity to switch seats if they felt the need. This is a very unjust and unfair situation that is negatively affecting our future. If anyone knows Mills high and their students, they know how greatly we cherish and work towards our goals. As a result of countless all-nighters, hours of doing homework, and weeks of preparation for the AP exam, we have our scores invalidated, and are given the unreasonable option to re-take the exam. This simply is not fair. I therefore respectfully request the return of our well-deserved AP exam scores.

54. I, Yvonne Kwan, support this message.

55. I, Jessica Liang, support this message.

    In response to the news of the cancelled AP scores, even my dean at Yale University said, “I confess that I’ve never heard of this happening before,” which just further underscores the College Board’s uncalled-for decision. Invalidating scores for “seating irregularities” seems unduly harsh and quite misdirected, especially since it was not the students who arranged the tables; it was not our duty to do so. It was our duty to take the tests as instructed, and in return, it is the College Board’s duty to give us our fairly and rightfully earned scores.

56. I, Annie Zhou, support this message.
    Three hundred twenty-one students took at least one AP test this year, and each one of these students will be affected by the invalidation of these scores.
    For me, this will mean that I will not be receive exemption from unnecessary introductory courses. I will not be saving myself from attending an extra couple of months of college, and I will not be saving myself up to $30,000 like I thought I would. Even if I were to cram five tests’ worth of college cirriculum in two weeks and do well on the retakes, the scores would not arrive in time for me to register my classes.
    Did I, or any of my peers, engage in misconduct? No. Should we be penalized? No.

57. I, Nathan Li, support this message.

    I took 5 AP tests this year, 4 of which were subsequently canceled. These tests were the cumulative result of hundreds of hours of prep work both at home and in the classroom. Despite the challenges, I took the exams in order to receive college credit as a means of mitigating the increasingly high cost of college tuition. Even though I received an A in all of my AP classes, these grades have become essentially meaningless, as colleges ultimately only care about my AP scores. The cancellation of these scores negates all of the hard work and time that I sacrificed throughout the school year. I did nothing to deserve this. Furthermore, delay or cancellation of my scores will affect my ability to select classes for this coming semester.

    While College Board claims that a retake is the most impartial solution to this issue, it is unrealistic and unfair to assume that students will retain the same amount of information as during the time of the original testing, especially due to the extremely short notice.

    This doesn’t just affect me. Multiply my problems by a few hundred, and you will see the full extent of this catastrophe.

58. I, Natalie Tarangioli, support this message.

    I took both of the AP English tests in May. I wrote 6 essays and answered 110 multiple choice questions only to find out that I cannot receive my scores due to a problem that was not the students’ fault. It is entirely unfair that as a result of administration’s negligence, our scores were invalidated and cannot be used as college credit. Retaking these tests are not a real option, and would guarantee a much lower score than what I previously earned. Please give us our scores back.

    Natalie Tarangioli, class of 2013

59. One whole year of racking our brains full of knowledge and then pouring it all out in three hours. Multiply this by four, and that’s four years of my life spent on four tests.

    While studying for these tests, I imagined all of the money I am saving my parents. I saw myself one step ahead of the game by completing college courses even before I started college! But now? Not only are our future plans ruined, but we’re SPENDING UNNECESSARY MONEY ON CLASSES WE DO NOT NEED AND ARE BEING FORCED, BY PROVIDING NO OTHER OPTION, TO RETAKE MULTIPLE TESTS WITHIN A TIME FRAME OF THREE WEEKS ( which is nothing compared to how long we have prepared for these tests ). MOST IMPORTANTLY, THINK ABOUT THE INNUMERABLE HOURS SPENT STUDYING THAT WE COULD HAVE USED TO CREATE NEW MEMORIES WITH OUR LOVED ONES. I just want my scores, and nothing else. Don’t we have the right to that much at least?

    I, Dhvani Patel, support this message.

60. I, Alexandria Chan, support this message.

61. Its not fair. Everyone worked so hard or the ap test

62. I, Sandra Shu, support this message.
    I, as well as other AP test-takers, have spent countless hours throughout the course of an entire year to prepare for these tests. It is heartbreaking to know that I worked diligently for these exams, only for my scores(and hard work) to be essentially tossed into the trash.
    The decision to invalidate our scores has affected us all academically, especially since we took these tests knowing that we would recieve a score at the end of it.
    We have the right to recieve our scores under the fact that no acts of misconduct were committed.

    • Hello
      First off let me start off by apologizing that you guys have to deal with the whole AP test debacle. I have been a resident of Millbrae for over 16 years and my younger sisters are both Mills alumni so I have been following this story very closely. I am currently attending academy of art university and am working on my final. I was wondering if you had some time in the next week for maybe a short interview regarding your feelings about mills handled everything and the raw deal you guys got. I can e-mail you a copy of the questions and the interview will only be used in a mock tv script, it won’t be printed or presented so your opinions will be confidential.

63. I, Adrienne Coulter, strongly support this message. We, students, shouldn’t be held responsible for something we were not in control of.

64. I, Alyssa Coulter, support this message

65. I, Angelene Wong, fully support this message.

    I agree and support the previous posts made by my peers and fellow supporters; however, I would like to add how this situation personally affects me.
    I spent countless hours, both in the classroom and at home, preparing for my AP test. I went to tutoring every week for both semesters and used most, if not all, of the resources provided for me so I would be fully prepared for the exam. I took the exam nervously, but truthfully, and was confident that I tested to the best of my ability.
    Now, after being notified that almost all of Mills AP scores are invalidated, I am at a loss of time, knowledge and patience. This summer, I committed to an advanced college course as well as volunteer opportunities with the certainty that I would be free from all high school testing. I planned to travel with my family before school. I do not have the time in my schedule to attempt to study for a retake (with only a three week notice) of a test that should be a fair representation of nine full months of preparation.

    I would like to add that this was my first AP course as a junior in high school, and it was the most academically challenging experience I have ever had. That being said, I challenged myself the entire school year and was determined to receive excellent scores, both on my report card and on my AP exam. My course score on my report card reflected my hard work and sleepless nights, but I am not yet satisfied. I want the AP exam score and college credit that I paid for and deserve. Retakes or refunds are not good enough, as I am not prepared for the retake and have payed for my May testing scores, which I still want.

    My situation is nowhere near as stressful or devastating as those of the Class of 2013, but I am still negatively affected by this. College Board, I ask you to reconsider this situation and realize that we, the students, are not deserving of such great punishments. Thank you for your time.

66. I support this message. Mills students studying for hours to take the AP test and realizing that their scores were cancelled due to seating irregularities is just not right. There would be a huge portion of students not performing well on the retake, since some students forgot how to do certain classes due to a long period of time of not studying for any AP test. Students should not be accountable to the mistakes they did not do. Also many students have summer plans such as: summer classes, vacation, etc. With AP scores being cancelled, many students would perform badly due to little time of studying and later have to retake their classes in college and waste more money, time, and effort. So please give back our scores, so we do not have to take AP test.

67. I, Sarah Leung, support this petition.

68. I, Yvonne Wang, support this petition.

69. I, Elaina Kobayashi, support this message.

70. I, Julian Tam, support this message.

71. Students did not violate College Board testing requirements and as such should not be punished for the schools mistake. To my knowledge none of the 300+ students affected actually cheated. Regardless its obvious that not all of the students cheated, so why are all scores cancelled. Students spent countless days and nights this year working hard to prepare themselves for a test which we thought was behind us. Many students also have plans to leave prior to the retest, or are busy until only a few days before the test. Even under ideal circumstances students will have to lose more sleep and take on more stress, all for something we had nothing to do with. We need our scores, not a retake.

72. I support this petition, students of Mills have studied all year round to prepare for the AP exam. Yet we are asked to retake the exams after the school year has ended, meaning most students have forgotten the material, as well as some won’t even be able to make it back from vacations to retake the exam.

73. I, Jeremy Truong, completely support this message.

    As someone who totaled as much as 12 hours worth of testing and even greater hours in preparation for these AP Exams, I am completely disappointed as to the outcome of these cancellations.
    Already stated by my peers above, retaking the test August 5th-12th would place us at a huge disadvantage compared to those taken in May, a violation of the CollegeBoard’s belief in equal opportunity for all. Not only would it be illogical to somehow prepare for 3 AP Exam’s within 3 weeks of testing, it would be impossible.
    We were given atleast 6 weeks of instruction in each AP Class to prepare for these exams, and having forgotten a lot of the material 2 months into summer, we don’t even have the proper materials, textbooks and resources to prepare once again.
    My family has already planned a vacation during these AP retake sessions so essentially, my scores have been nulled and automatically cancelled because of reasons out of our power.
    The students have done nothing wrong, it has already been stated that the cancellations were not due to student misconduct rather, “seating irregularities.” The students themselves were given no control over such seating and neither were we aware that this seating was incorrect and against ETS Standards.
    Punishing the students for something out of our reach is wrong and should be reconsidered.

74. This is my story:
    My Physics and Calc BC test scores are cancelled. This cancellation has deeply affected my plan for the next two year in college. I was already done with registering for classes when I heard the news, and there were no more math classes available. During this summer, I experienced an incident that made me a victim of harassment. Traumatized, it is impossible for me to concentrate on study and reviewing for this test, especially in such limited time. Furthermore, I will not be able to attend the retake as my grandmother is sick and my family needs to stay with her in China for as long as possible. It is not fair that my one year of hard work is going to waste.

75. College Board, I need my scores!!

76. I, Kimberly Hopkins, support this message.

    I do not believe that the cancellation of the Mills High School AP scores was a fair decision. There was no student misconduct, which should imply that the tests wer taken fairly, with no cheating involved. Cancelling these scores punishes students for something that was out of their control.
    In addition, the cancellation has created a tremendous amount of hassle for the Mills class of 2013. Many students will have to spend hours with their counselors trying to figure out what classes they can now take, because some classes have a high volume of students. Some students even have their college admission riding on the results of their tests, and may be rescinded due to this cancellation.
    Students who paid over $400 dollars to take tests will now have to retake them, after two months of summer has already passed. Three weeks is not enough time to remaster material for what may be more than one class for many students. We will be heading into this retake depressed, and many of us will score more poorly on our exams because in all honesty, we do NOT want to take the test again. A whole year of work was wasted, and by Collegeboard’s own admission, it wasn’t even our fault.

    I will NOT accept a retake. I want my scores back.

77. I support this petition. How are we meant to cram back into our minds something that we have been preparing for, for an entire school year in three weeks? And with what time/material? I have other courses, summer homework, and internships to worry about on top of this and have been stressing out about my score since the moment the test ended. If it was absolutely necessary to do this, couldn’t we have been warned closer to the date we took the AP examinations? It’s not as if we sat incorrectly after the scores were supposed to be posted, so why such the late action and such the small amount of time I wonder.

78. I, Jiayin Amy Cui, support this message.

    Our brains have been idle for the past two months and to suddenly launch a retake date that is a mere two weeks away, expecting us to operate at our full capabilities, is absurd and unreasonable. If the fault of this incident lies with the administration, then sort it out with the administration. The students cannot be held responsible for following instructions.

79. I, Vaani Jain, strongly support this message. We prepared so much for these exams, and having our scores cancelled due to seating irregularities is not acceptable. We sat where we were told!
    The decision of invalidating our scores needs to be reconsidered.

80. I, Kelly Inuzuka, support this message

    I took four AP test and spent $360 and in this tough economy money is tight. My parents are not a charity case. College board has not only wasted countless hours of my life, but also my parents hard earn money.

    The test I took were Calculus, Chemistry, English Literature, and English Language. Before and during AP season I lost many hours of sleep preparing for these test hopping to pass and to skip them when I attend college. Without these scores, I will have to retake all four of the class, wasting more of my time and money when I already learned the material.

81. I, Gae Ping Kung Tee, was strongly affected by the cancellation of the AP Scores.

    • Hello
      First off let me start off by apologizing that you guys have to deal with the whole AP test debacle. I have been a resident of Millbrae for over 16 years and my younger sisters are both Mills alumni so I have been following this story very closely. I am currently attending academy of art university and am working on my final. I was wondering if you had some time in the next week for maybe a short interview regarding your feelings about mills handled everything and the raw deal you guys got. I can e-mail you a copy of the questions and the interview will only be used in a mock tv script, it won’t be printed or presented so your opinions will be confidential.

82. I,Marie, approve of this message.

83. In my situation I paid $360 to take four tests. All four will help me get credit towards graduation at UC Davis, and one of my English tests would have knocked off a writing requirement. Not only do I feel like I wasted precious time, effort and money during the school year to prepare for these tests, but I am SURE I will get a lower score than I would have in May with so little time to study. I am at my UCD orientation right now and leaving for a week long music camp as soon as I get back. I work/volunteer forty hours a week and do not have much time to re-study. I feel that I am being punished for a mistake that I had no power over. Now I have to stress over studying for four AP tests or else feel awful for not taking / doing poorly on the retakes and never receiving credit that reflects the amount of work I put in and knowledge I obtained during the school year.

84. I, Sharon So, support this message

    Taking AP classes has always been a challenge. But behind all the struggle rested a motivation that essentially pushed every student to persevere. We believed that our hard work will eventually pay off and every bit of time and effort spent on our ap classes would help us excel. We believed that though academic rigor, we can prove our full potential to both colleges and ourselves.
    Upon the cancelation of our scores, I came across college board’s “about us” page. It reads: The College Board is driven by a single goal — to ensure that every student has the opportunity to prepare for, enroll in and graduate from college.
    Likely we too are driven by this single goal as students.

    As the single goal that motivates college board, canceling our scores would be anything but your goal as it can clearly interfere with our opportunity to enroll in and graduate college on time.

    College Board, please give us our scores back as we both simply share a common goal.

85. To the Class of 2013/2014 and parents,
    I was in attendance at the school district office this morning with many students and parents. It was a good start where we told SMUHS they did not represent us with ETS/College Board. Due to mistakes by SMUHS/ETS/College Board, they are penalizing all of you. There are students and parents working to reverse this ill conceive solution to their mistakes. One student’s complaint should not have affected every other student.

    Getting the message out to our elected Officials, Educators, Television outlets and newspapers are critical to letting them see the light. Making a decision in a backroom and sending it out weeks after the due date was wrong. A parent said it well, we signed a contract to do our best, we paid the fee, in return your will give us a score. WHERE ARE OUR SCORES?!!!?

    The single goal of the College Board as noted by Sharon So is “The College Board is driven by a single goal — to ensure that every student has the opportunity to prepare for, enroll in and graduate from college.” How does this help to finish college? Their goal statement is hollow. College Board is on Twitter. Let the College Board and Twitter world know what is happening.

    https://twitter.com/collegeboard

    • Hello
      First off let me start off by apologizing that you guys have to deal with the whole AP test debacle. I have been a resident of Millbrae for over 16 years and my younger sisters are both Mills alumni so I have been following this story very closely. I am currently attending academy of art university and am working on my final. I was wondering if you had some time in the next week for maybe a short interview regarding your feelings about mills handled everything and the raw deal you guys got. I can e-mail you a copy of the questions and the interview will only be used in a mock tv script, it won’t be printed or presented so your opinions will be confidential.

86. I, Wonsik Kim, support this message

    Do you, the collegeboard, really think this is fair? Why are we, the students, taking responsibility for the mistakes of our administrators AND the collegeboards? I just do not understand why we have to be penalized. This is our future we are talking about. I took this test so i can save more money later for college. This will cost me one more year in college which is $45,000. I’ve already taken loan out for my college tuition and you expect me to take out more?? ill be in debt for the rest of my life. I am really furious.

    Won Kim

87. I, Colin Wang, support this message.

    I just can’t help but think that the hard working students at Mills deserve better. I personally dedicated an entire school year to pass these tests and save me thousands of dollars and money, only to find that scores are invalidated and I am unable to make retakes because I will be in Nicaragua doing service work. The action of invalidating the AP scores makes me think that whoever involved and responsible is NOT acting on behalf of my interest, nor that of every single student who had/has to go through the struggles of AP.

88. I, Derek Chow, support this message.

    Hundreds of Mills students took AP exams this year. Each followed directions and did exactly what they were told to do, and yet were rewarded with a letter that informed them that the hundreds of hours of intensive study and labor they had endured were now rendered worthless. “Preposterous” does not even begin to describe it. We students have spent an entire year going through rigorous preparation for what was no doubt the most arduous and mind-numbing exams we have ever experienced. Telling us that all of our efforts have been for naught is no less short of a blatant disregard for every students’ dedication and commitment to taking these exams.

    There is no pretending that a retake is a feasible solution, and the reasons for this are as numerous as they are obvious. We are all now halfway through summer, and only now have we been told that we must take the AP exams again. An equivalent scenario would be to ask an athlete to run a marathon after the celebratory dinner! How can any reasonable person expect students to perform with the same academic readiness and skill that they had at the prime of their school year? Does it make any sense to give students two weeks to prepare for a series of tests that had previously taken them nearly ten months? There is nothing in expecting the same results. What of the students who are on vacation and have no means to study? What of the students who are out of the country and are unable to even be present for the retakes? The proposed retake addresses none of these problems, and as such should be discounted entirely.

    The mistake at the center of all this does not lie in the actions of the students but instead with the administration of the exam, so why then must the students themselves be the ones burdened by the consequences of an error that was not their own? Seating irregularities that only MIGHT have resulted in unfair test-taking does not warrant the invalidation of the entirety of AP exams taken by the Mills student body. I had thought the AP exams were meant to accurately assess our knowledge and understanding of course material. I find it difficult to understand how the lower score of a midsummer retake or the absence of any score at all can be an accurate assessment.

89. This has been highly distressing for me, and will have a devastating effect on my college career. I requested my AP scores to be sent weeks in advance to my college, but they continued to be delayed. Worried that they would not arrive to my college in time, I ordered a rush report, spending a total of $40 ($15 for regular report, and $25 for rush). Obviously my scores were never sent out. I would like a refund for all the trouble I have been put through.

    I think it is ridiculous that my whole school’s scores have been invalidated due to this “seating irregularity” which did not affect the integrity of the testing situation. The senior students are unable to send their scores to colleges on time. AP retakes are in mid-August, which is ridiculously late, and our students are not ready. We are being forced to take tests we are no longer prepared for, putting us at a great disadvantage. Also, the students who cannot make it to the retake sessions will not be refunded their money, or receive the college credit they deserve. We hope soon to revoke the unjust decision College Board has made.

90. I, Rachel Ng, approve this message.

    As many of my classmates have said, it was devastating and disappointing to lose credit for the work on which I have invested so much time and energy. I understand that, in the bigger picture, your decision to cancel nearly all AP scores for Mills High School was aimed to establish a strong stand on the rules and security to which you are entitled. This situation will sure set as a tragic and grave example to remind us and other schools the importance of following every detail of your guideline. However, please also understand that this situation puts us students at an extreme disadvantage. In our perspectives and those of the public who are not affected, the invalidation of the AP scores was a harsh punishment directed at students not responsible for the violation. Although this action was not meant to be a “punishment,” the circumstances that the students now have to face alone as a result would make us and others deem it so. Fortunately, I am a rising senior and do not need the scores immediately to proceed onto secondary education, but it is definitely difficult for all of us to review, practice, and relearn material that we have not revisited in the past two months since our school ended in May. Without teachers’ guidance, corrections, and explanations or textbooks’ examples, illustrations, and exercises, we lack the instruction and material reasonably necessary for us students to show our true potentials and abilities. Compared to a whole school year followed by at least 4-weeks of review in class, the 17 days which I will have is not a fair amount of time for me to prepare for four AP tests. If you were already investigating in May, I would have appreciated if you had warned us earlier so that a fair and equal second chance would be feasible.

    Please do not think that we meant to disrespect the rules you have established. During the four AP exams that I personally witnessed, the proctor giving directions definitely adhered strictly to the rules. When I lifted my calculator an inch off the table by habit to see more clearly, the proctor came to me immediately and threatened to take my calculator away the next time it detaches from the table. I remember sitting at a square table with another student; however, the proctor stressed to everyone that we must sit at the opposite corners of the table to maximize the distance between us and the diagonal across the table could have been about five feet. In my opinion it would not be plausible to look at and copy others’ answers. And of course, we could not make eye contact, give hand signals, communicate in any form with others, use electronic devices, eat, discuss test materials, etc. The proctor and students enforced and followed the honesty policies and test security rules that were clearly stated on the test material or read aloud. In this situation, it is unfair to us students since we were not aware or in charge of the seating arrangement. We students followed the test policies as best as we could.

    It was unfair that students were seated apart a feet or two less than required; however, it is unjust for us students, who did no misconduct, to lose the scores we earned and instead have this retake that is a neither equal nor practical assessment. Clearly, the students and proctor gave an effort to follow the rules, but the administrators had a flaw in seating arrangement. After considering the two sides of reality, please understand and remove the invalidation. There are other ways to enforce your rules without causing as much harm to the students, such as suspending the school or proctors from administering standard tests for a year or more.

    Thank you for your time and consideration.

91. While the invalidation of my scores has not affected my enrollment/schedule this fall at university, it will affect my class standing. Priority for registration at UCLA is determined by class standing (senior, junior, etc…). Without the units that come with these invalidated AP scores, I’ll be going into university with half the units I should.

    What does this mean?

    It means my peers who have taken the same number of APs as I, but have actually received their scores, will be prioritized above me for registration come winter quarter because they’ll have more units than I. They’ll be able to register for the numerous IMPACTED pre-requisite courses required for my and many other life science majors.

    It means I may have to forego any future plans to participate in innovative research or studying abroad in places I’ve only had the pleasure of googling because that time has to be spent taking classes I would have already taken if I had the units from my APs.

    These courses and tests were not only suppose to be a means of challenging my intellect, but they were also suppose to give me a head start. I studied and worked tirelessly for my head start and it is unacceptable for it to be taken away from me or anyone else based on a lame technicality.

    It’s easy to say that these are just test scores, but they’re not just that. College Board NEEDS to reconsider and CHANGE their decision. They need to understand that their decision will have a ripple effect on the lives of all 321 individuals that had their scores invalidated this year.

    • I am doing a final for academy of art and was wondering if I could conduct a phone interview with you in the next week? I’ll email you the questions and the script I write won’t be published its just for teaching purposes.

      Thank you for your time.

      Ricardoayar@icoud.com

92. I, Dong Hee Kim, approve of this message.

93. My AP scores were due on July 8th. My university deadline for my AP scores was due on July 15th. It is now July 19th and my scores are WAY OVERDUE. My college process has been disrupted and delayed because I don’t know which courses to sign up for! Without these scores, I am no longer competitive with my fellow college classmates in terms of class standing.

    Having students retake this test with only a full two week notice is absurd and isn’t even a feasible option. So many of my peers and myself included, over the course of the ENTIRE school year, studied countless nights in order to achieve the best scores they can on these tests. By simply disregarding our time and hard work due to a seating infringement, which NONE of us had control over, is downright inconsiderate. Please reconsider your actions and release the scores we deserve.

94. I, Angel Guan, support this message.

95. I, Paul Winakur, support this message. I concur with everything Mitchell Wong has said.

96. I, Grant Murphy, support this message.

    I am a student who took AP tests with the intention of receiving college credit, which would be used to ensure on time graduation from college. Without these scores, many students will not be able to graduate when expected, as college scheduling has become increasingly difficult. The financial burden from unexpected additional years in college is devastating. By making students take the AP tests three months after any instruction or exposure to course material, we are being put at a significant disadvantage. In order to receive college credit, we must score at least 3. For students attending private colleges, scores may need to be higher. A three-month period of no classes or preparation makes it far more difficult to score well enough to receive credit. College Board’s decision to cancel our scores and have a retake is unwarranted, insensitive, and extreme. We students are not at fault and should not be unjustly punished.

97. I support this message

98. I, Brandon Dare, support this message.

99. I, Henry Chan , I am a parent , Support this message, Every one worked so hard on the AP test,

100. I, Henry Chan , Parent and I support this message , Please reconsider your actions and release the scores to the kids .

101. I ，Shirley Chan ，I am a parent ，Support this message ，I concur with everythings Alex Chan and all other students said ，Please reconsider your actions and release the AP scores to the students of Mill High School.
     Thank you for your time and consideration, GOD BLESS YOU ALL

102. I, Henry Chan,Support this message ,Please release the AP scores to the Students .
     Thank you

103. I, Joseph Can ,approve of this message,I am a parent , my kids have invested so much time and energy for more than 4 AP test, this is not fair for the students , please reconsider your actions and release there AP scores .
     Thank You

104. I, Lydia Kwong, approve of this message.

105. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! MY SON SPENT A LOT OF TIME STUDYING FOR THESE EXAMS AND NOW THEY JUST SWEEP IT UNDER THE FILTHY CARPET AND WANT TO READMINSTER THE TEST NOW WHEN HE’S ALREADY DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!~

106. As a parent, it is disheartening to learn of the College Board’s decision to invalidate the test scores of the entire group due to situation out of their control. What kind of life lesson are we teaching our children? That hard work and dedication meant nothing compare to seating arrangement? That it’s ok to be punished for someone else’s neglect? Please give the scores back to the students, many lives had already been negatively affected. Instead of insisting on penalizing the students, insist on a plan of correction that prevents similar future occurrence.

107. I, Peggy Peel, support this message.

     I am a teacher at Mills High School and the parent of a senior AP student. This action by the College Board is outrageous and unfair. The timing of this decision could not be worse for matriculating college freshmen who are participating in academic advising and course selection during their orientation sessions. These students are starting their college experience with a sense of insecurity and doubt because of this inexplicably unfair situation. The fact that this decision was made public after the date that the colleges require the score reports creates an exponential degree of chaos for the students, their parents and the colleges that are trying to appropriately schedule their freshmen. If these students were not found to be cheating, their scores need to be reinstated now.

108. I, Travis Kwee, support this message.

     I am a student at Aragon high school. I apologize if my comments are unwarranted and will delete this if necessary.

     Mills high school is the only school in the district commonly thought to be more academically ambitious than Aragon. While we appreciate the College Board’s efforts to retain a standardized and fair testing system, I know Aragon students would be as outraged as the Mills students are to have countless hours, sleepless nights, and months of our young lives discredited and taken for granted for something as arbitrary as a college board proctor’s failure to identify “seating irregularities.”

     I hope for my fellow students at Mills that the College Board will come to the morally just decision to validate all of their scores.

     -Travis Kwee

109. I, Becky Rui Ling, support this message.

110. I Arjun Banerjee fully support this message. We were not cheating. Collegeboard found no evidence of cheating. This minor violation of seating was something that the proctor was responsible for, not the students. There will be a severe drop in all of our scores and many seniors are left with a serious disadvantage as a reult of not knowing what scores they got.

111. As a parent of 2 Mills High School student, it is difficult to see the disillusionment in my son when he learned ETS will not release the test results. My son worked hard all year, i.e., studying late in the night/weekends, attending after school tutoring, assisting other students needing help, etc. and sacrificing time from sleep, hanging with friends, playing sports, gaming, social networking, and watching TV to squeeze in that extra bit of time to study for finals, SAT and the A.P. exams, believing it will payoff somehow. The hard part is encouraging him when the “system”, meaning ETS and the A.P. Testing arrangement, fails him due to no fault of his or any of the hundreds of Mills students. What kind of message are we sending our kids? My son worked hard preparing for the test and quite frankly, reading all the stories of how this has adversely affected so many hardworking students is heartbreaking.

112. I plead with College Board to rescind its decision to remove credit for the AP scores for 2013 exams for the Mills students for several reasons. First of all, I honestly claim that the class of students that I taught in AP Chemistry in 2012-13 was one of the finest, brightest, most hard-working, and most HONEST that I have ever had the pleasure to teach. Day in and day out, they gave their all and worked very hard. I’ve had fewer problems with student integrity and cheating than I’ve had in many years. I believe this group of students have performed very well on the AP exam, and they deserve to have their rightful scores.
     I believe collective punishment of Mills students is the wrong thing to do. Cancelling the scores of all students without direct evidence of individual wrong-doing is inappropriate action and casts a poor light on the AP program. Students have invested too much time, energy, and money in their efforts to be treated this way.
     As they have expressed in other posts, many of these students have their life plans thrown into jeopardy. They will end up repeating courses they have already demonstrated mastery in (if they can still get enrolled in these courses), wasting their time, costing them untold thousands of dollars in tuition costs, possibly delaying their entrance into the workforce, and possibly making it so they cannot attend the college of their choice.
     It is not practical to assume they will score as well on a retake as they did in May when they were well prepared and at the top of their game. Due to summer activities, many students will not be attend or prepare for the make up sessions.
     Finally, it is the popularity of the AP program that lead to this problem in the first place. Mills has so many students who want to take AP classes and AP tests that it has become very difficult to accommodate them all. There are many students from the local area clamoring to get into Mills specifically for our excellent AP program. If the scores are cancelled, many future students may think twice about taking AP classes and attending Mills.

113. My name is Nils Headley and I support the reinstatement of the students’ scores.

     It is telling that no evidence of an unfair advantage was found. Certainly it is also coincidental that many of the students taking the AP Statistics Exam would be fully qualified to point out the lack of statistical evidence to justify the ETS’ decision. If anything the proximity of the seating and the absence of evidence of cheating would speak to the integrity of Mills’ students.

     If we want to point to unfairness, it would be the timing of this notice in July instead of in May when the tests were administered. Ironically, maybe this will be a step in the direction away from AP and toward another curriculum for the instruction in college level instruction and learning at Mills. After all, ETS doesn’t have a monopoly on instruction or assessment.

114. I, David Lu fully support this message.

     I am an incoming sophomore at Mills High School. Even though I have not taken the AP tests yet, I have witnessed countless fellow upperclassmen students working hard day and night to achieve and prove their academic greatness on their AP tests. They are my role models and deserve the fair ability to get their scores back.

     I will be taking a few AP classes and tests next year and this incident has destroyed my trust towards the collegeboard to give fellow students a fair test. This incident does not only hurt the students at Mills but also the reputation and trust of the community towards the administrators at the collage board.

     Please give back the scores that Mills AP test takers rightfully deserves!

115. I’m a parent of a senior student who took 4 AP exams. I have read the AP Coordinator Manual’s rule on “seating”. The manual states that the seating irregularities “could” invalidate the scores. But, where there is NO evidence of any cheating, cancelling all scores is unjustified, arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable. The seating rules are not “mandatory”. While there was a seating irregularity, the purpose of the rules is to prevent cheating. But, if there is no evidence of any cheating, the CB and ETS is putting “form” over “substance”.

     Even as to the seating irregularity, in my son’s case, the seating at Mills was at least 5 feet apart as required. The tables my son sat at were large square-ish tables and the students were seated diagonally/kitty corner from each other with only 2 students per table.. So, in fact, (at least in my son’s case – AP Calculus BC, Physics, US Govt and Macroeconomics ) the only violation was that the students were not all facing forward. But, without evidence of cheating there is no justification for the blanket cancellation of scores.

     The ETS can quickly and statistically determine whether there was any cheating. This can be done because the school can identify students who sat facing each other (diagonally) and by comparing the “wrong” answers, determine if there is a pattern of the wrong answers being the same. (See below confirmation from ETS.)

     In 2011, Oakland’s Skyline High School was investigated for testing irregularities. But, there ETS conducted the statistical evaluation and determined that only 30 students had to retest, and not the entire school. https://www.skylineoracle.com/news/2011/10/31/investigation-voids-ap-exam-scores-ets-cites-%E2%80%98testing-irregularities%E2%80%99/

     In the Skyline case, “Some scores, such as those from the Calculus BC Exam, were released on time. However, the vast majority of the AP subjects taken by Skyline students was delayed. Thomas Ewing, Director of External Relations at ETS, said this was to allow time for review of scores. ‘[ETS investigators] compare a student’s answers with the students next to or across from them,” said Ewing. “What we look for is agreement of wrong answers, not agreement of right answers . . . we get probabilities on the magnitude of, say, one in 10 billion chance that these students got the answers wrong in the same pattern.’”

     In contrast, in Mills’ case, Mr. Ewing’s harsh response was that the seating irregularities was a “deal breaker”. Why, however, is he taking such a hardline approach with Mills? The ETS conducted a full investigation in Skyline’s case to identify whether any cheating occured. There is no justification for the disparate treatment of Mills HS. At Skyline, the focus was on cheating. This should be the same approach at Mills. The handling of the seating irregularities at Skyline sets a precedence for how ETS should be looking at Mills.

     The focus should be on determining if there was any cheating. Absent any such evidence, the seating irregularities should be addressed NEXT year, and students should not be punished where they have engaged in no misconduct.

116. While I am not a Mills College Student or Faculty member I fully support the students in this decision. Let’s look at it from this perspective. I have read the stories online and have worked as a student recruiter for a local community college.

     1. Students spent long and hard hours preparing for the exam. During the course of the preparation there were no unethical or unfair acts committed. If a student were to plagiarize in such a class they would be dropped from the class and enrolled in a regular section of the course. All students followed the conduct code as provisioned by the California State Educational Code.

     2. Students signed a legal and binding contract before taking the test which lists reasons why a test would be invalidated due to cheating. The students ethically paid the $90 test fee and were allowed to enter the testing site with their ID.

     3. The test proctor started and ended the various sections at the stated times.

     4. Was the test proctor even authorized to proctor such a test? If not the board should have found another proctor to administer the test.

     5. Who found out that the seating arrangements were not adhering to the standards of the AP test? Who reported the violation? Is there even a violation documented?

     6. The AP testing board gave an unreasonable amount of time to retake the test. Where in the Bylaws of the testing board does it mention the invalidation of test due to seating arrangement problems?

     7. If the testing board failed to uphold their end they are the one’s responsible. It is unfair and illegal to drag on an investigation without proper communication throughout the process. It does not take that long to score the tests as they are done electronically via a Scantron.

     8. Students should have been made aware on June 1st of any issues and that a petition can be entered by a certain date.

     9. The Universities that students have applied to should not withhold or hold back a student due to an administration issue of the test taking procedures. This case is an administration issue that has nothing to do with any scores.

     10. Scores should be revalidated and the advisory board should work with the schools and hold mock testing sessions where they can see if indeed the seating arrangements need to be fixed. What i mean by mock testing is that select students would enter the test taking facility and take a practice test of no more than 20 minutes and board members and administrators would observe all methods. From this a report must be submitted for public view.

     11. In the letters above it said students were allowed to change seats if they were not comfortable with their seating arrangement. The test needs to be administered in an environment where the students feels comfortable so as long there is sufficient spacing. Its not about the test company making money and trying to cover their bases.

     12. I believe the AP test should not be outsourced rather the AP teachers should be the ones to administer the test during a set time. A counselor or principal should oversee the process too and come in early to the testing site to see that all requirements are met. The $90 fee should not even be charged.

     13. The AP testing board should release a statement on behalf of the student with their score on the test and state that this letter shall grant the named student all privileges granted to the AP student such as skipping basic courses and give priority to allow the student to enroll in advanced courses . The AP board should state that they take full responsibility for delaying the process.

     14. A class action suit needs to be started if indeed there are financial hardships. The AP board needs to compensate families and students for any extra courses or work with the university to waive students out of the basic courses in stead of credit by examination use the score in place of the test.

     15. If the student score was low the AP Board had to let the student know in early June that their score was low and to offer a retake in a time suitable for the students due to summer.

     16. If the AP tests were done in April would this make it easier for the reporting of scores? Possibly having testing dates one in the fall one in the spring and one in the winter so students who want to get their tests out of the way can do so if they are prepared.

     All these issues hopefully can be added to the current petition. As someone from the community who cares about education I would hope the AP board really rethinks their decision or else face a lawsuit that could put the testing service out of business.

     Shouldn’t the California State Department of Education be the one administering AP, SAT etc tests as opposed to an outsourced for profit company? I think so.

117. I am a Mills parent and support the release of the AP scores. As per Mills Principal, Paul Belzer’s letter, “It is important to note that these scores were not invalidated as a result of student misconduct.” The punishment by College Board/ETS is misplaced, overly harsh, unprecedented and unwarranted.
     Our family will incur significant financial costs if the AP test scores are not released in a timely manner, due to, but not limited to, the loss in college credits.

118. I, Shayna, support this message.

     As a student who was unable to take AP classes this year and ended up self-studying, I was already doubly nervous for tests that most students are nervous for, even with a full academic year of learning from a qualified teacher. To even think of undergoing the stress of again-studying, again-taking the tests, and again-anxiously awaiting scores makes my mind numb. As all of my fellow classmates about to enter college would agree, numb minds are the last thing we need right now.

     The students that take these tests put faith in College Board that if they study hard enough, their work will be fairly compensated with college credit. For many of us now, it is too late to receive all the credit we rightfully earned. Even if students do well on the retakes, it will have little effect as most score deadlines have passed, registration will have begun, and classes will be incredibly hard to get into. Clearly in this situation, validating our scores, thus allowing students to act on the little time they have left, is what is best for the students’ sakes.

     If validating the already graded scores does not happen, then students who took the May testing, but are unable to take the August retesting, should at least be compensated financially for their trouble. It cannot be expected of students and their families to drop pre-made plans to accommodate this unforeseen situation. Instead of leaving these students and their families with less than what they expected from Advanced Placement, repaying them would at least put families at ease by giving them a clean financial slate (ignoring the money they spent on study tools and the thousands more they’ll probably now have to pay in tuition). These students should be reimbursed not because it would help ease some tensions, or because it would help College Board save face, but because it is the right thing to do.

     As an organization whose mission is to “connect students to college success and opportunity,” College Board should deeply consider which action will do just that.

119. I, Jonathan Cheung, support this message

120. I, Cindy Kim, support this message.

121. I, Amelia Guan, support this message.

122. I, Jonathan Ho, support this message.

     Because of the AP score release delay, I didn’t know if I was excused from taking the Calculus Readiness Exam for my college so I had to take the exam anyway during the orientation which resulted in me missing out on several planned activities to get accustomed to the college and make new friends. It also made it stressful for my faculty adviser and me to choose my courses during my college orientation. Reluctantly, I ended up deciding to retake two courses that I might have been exempted from. Retaking courses would be a huge waste of time and money when I could be taking different courses to fulfill other core requirements. If I can get my scores before school starts, I would be able to switch to other courses.
     Retaking AP tests without adequate preparation time and reference materials will be unfair to us. Please reconsider in giving back our scores.

123. I am the parent of two Mills alumni (Classes of 2007 and 2011). ETS has stated that there is NO EVIDENCE of cheating (and this is very easy for them to analyze), so this wholesale invalidation of scores strikes me as completely unfair to the student test takers. If there is, indeed, a problem with how students were seated and there is no evidence of cheating, then punish the school, not the blameless students. Penalize the school by making them pay for ETS officials to come and oversee the training of proctors and to check the testing rooms and seating arrangements during the next testing period to make sure ETS is satisfied that there are no seating irregularities. Better yet, since paying such a fine would be a burden on the school and take away resources that are better spent educating students, ETS should eat the cost as a lesson to their own organization on how to better inform schools and prevent these problems from happening in the first place. ETS seems more concerned about their reputation than about the students, so they are the ones who should ultimately bear the burden since there is no evidence of cheating.

124. I, Emily Chan, support this message.

125. I, Stephen Chin MD, approve this message.

126. I, Shannon Allison, support this message.

127. WHY PUNISH THE STUDENTS. I support the students all the way.

128. I, Joanna Jiang, wholeheartedly agree that these students should not suffer due to the administrators’ errors.

129. The cancellation of scores has already had a profound impact on my college experience. I recently received my class schedule from the college that I am attending and they placed me in pre-calculus instead of upper-level calculus because my AP Calculus BC score was never sent in, and won’t be for another few months. I could test of precal, but I will still have to repeat several quarters of calculus that I already learned. This wastes my time (and money) since the scores will not be sent in until either ETS finishes its extensive search for cheaters, or I am forced to retake the AP test and wait for Collegeboard to slowly grade them and send them a few months later. Either way, I will already be in school.

     I feel that the delay of scores has already done enough damage to our class and the only reasonable response to the situation is to give us our scores back as soon as possible and punish the administration this coming year.

130. I, Theresa L., support this message.

     As a graduate from the Mills High School Class of 2012, I have taken my fair share of AP tests. I can say from personal experience that learning the material and preparing for these tests all year is quite the challenge. It is unfortunate to hear all the students’ scores have been invalidated without a legitimate reason. Having taken these AP courses have helped me enter college with a higher class standing so that I was able to enroll in the classes of my choice without an issue.

     It is very important, especially to the seniors who have just graduated, that they receive their scores that their colleges expect. Although it has caused a lot of stress and frustration, it is still not too late for CollegeBoard to release the scores so that further trouble may be avoided. If we want to talk reason, it would not make any sense to retest the students as many have mentioned, and to just give them their scores. It definitely means a lot to the students, and it is the least CollegeBoard can do to fix the larger problem at hand.

131. I, Eril Morales, support this message.

132. I am a parent of a recent graduate and an alumni. I strongly support the release of the students AP test scores. ETS official admitted that there was no proven student misconduct due to seating irregularities. How did ETS exercise its discretion to harm 240 diligent responsible students? What is the real reason for invalidating the test results? We don’t want a retake, we don’t want a refund. The loss of time, energy, opportunity to do something else in the past year as well as in college is not measurable. Most of all, ETS, you have lost your credibility.

133. Students should not be penalized by the school’s mistake. They deserve to get their scores.

134. As a parent and a college professor, I too find ETS’ decision is too arbitrary, irresponsible and terribly shocking. These is about nearly 300 students’ hard work and future. Such an arbitrary decision is completely unacceptable!

     Many students took multiple AP classes. I witnessed how hard my daughter worked on her 3 AP classes Just about every weekdays, she worked deep into night till about 2:00am. There are numerous days, I saw the lighting in her room at 3:00am. I often have to “order” her to go to bed… . How could someone simply throw away our kids’ hard work in such a random manner?

     If not resolvable in time, I suggest that we file a lawsuit against ETS, and challenge them about their investigation process, about their disparity in handling different cases, and about realistic practices of ETS tests around the nation.

135. I, Alvin Chan, support this message.

136. I, Priscilla Kwan, support this message.
     We, AP test takers, spent countless hours and months studying for the exams. It is not fair that our scores have been cancelled and our efforts were wasted. A year of hard work cannot be replaced with a rushed two week preparation. The students were not found guilty of cheating so it is not right to cancel their scores. Please reconsider the cancellation of our scores.
     Thank you for your consideration.

137. I am very saddened to hear about this fiasco! Please do not punish the AP students for the irregularities that have occurred. I encourage the test administrators to work to resolve this situation. The student test scores should be restated. In future the test administrators should be more careful in administering the test.

138. I am absolutely appalled at ETS’s decision to cancel the AP scores of hundreds of students when they were not the ones at fault. My senior year I took six (6) AP tests, and to know that they would have been invalidated had this been reported only a year early would have left me absolutely irate at this injustice. This is the credit that I depended on to advance to higher level courses at Wellesley College. Though my college does not charge classes per unit, I know many who are graduating this year that are attending those colleges that charge per class. This decision not only leaves them empty handed after paying $90 a test and studying for the whole school year, but now forces upon them thousands of dollars of college tuition that otherwise could have been avoided in lieu of higher-level courses.

     Additionally, a significant number of affected students will be unable to attend the retakes because of summer vacation plans that were made months in advance. To ask the affected students to cancel summer plans, especially those who would be overseas, is absurd and unfair to the students that had worked so hard for the tests in May. Unless the ETS would like to provide any concrete evidence of cheating on the AP tests, they should rescind the decision to withhold AP scores, a decision that has put many students’ academic futures in jeopardy.

     Catherine Ho
     Class of 2012

139. My son is one of the Mills High School seniors who took AP tests in May 2013. It is so heartbreaking to learn that all of his hard work throughout the year was wasted because of “seating irregularities.” The reason for this punishment has nothing to do with the students at all. There was no evidence of cheating. We were shocked and surprised when we received a letter from the school notifying us that the scores we were waiting for were cancelled.
     I do not know whom to blame in this situation. I have always thought that the AP administrators and proctors represent College Board when they administer the tests to the students. Should College Board have monitored the proctors to make sure that everything followed regulation? Should College Board hold responsibility for this error/mistake? Why blame it on our students?
     My husband and I attended both meetings at Mills High School on Monday and Wednesday. It seems like the Mills Class of 2013 is especially a bright, smart, and energetic group of students. Mills has always had a high reputation among high schools in San Mateo County. Many families, including ours, moved to Millbrae solely because the school’s reputation. During the Wednesday meeting, there was one comment from one of the parents that concerned me. She mentioned that someone saw an article about the score cancellations from the front page of a local newspaper and said, “That’s the school that cheated.” What will happen to our reputation? What will become of the future of Mills High School? If ETS still insists on withholding our scores, it will hurt both the students and the school.
     Although “seating irregularities” were discovered, there was absolutely no evidence of cheating found at Mills. If anything, ETS/College Board should take this case as a warning and should be more preventative of allowing other testing violations to happen in the future. The current punishment does not only hurt the students – it hurts Mills High School and the San Mateo County community.
     ETS/College Board, please reconsider your decision for the sake of many innocent people. It is not too late to make this right.

140. I, Kelley Chao, support this message and our efforts in filing lawsuit.

141. I, Calvin Chin, support this message.

142. I Darren Fong’s Dad.

     I have a new strategy/thought to put infront of the students, parents, Mills administration and school district.

     You all have done such a wonderfully focused job of getting our story out to the media, politicians, etc. I think it is now time to add a third leg to our PR campaign against the draconian decision made by the college board and ETS.

     I think we should canvass the colleges and universities with our plight and get them to voice their opinions to the media, politicians and most importantly the college board. After all, the college board’s most important stakeholder is the universities and colleges. They are the end user of the information provided by the college board. If we can get the universities on our side, it will be very difficult for the college board to keep up their lonely fight against our demands.

     Please contact your schools dean, admissions officers, counselors, etc. to find out who you can talk to about this case. It would be helpful to get this issue in front of your colleges newspaper editors too.

     If we can get a number of leading universities to write letters to the college board and ETS, it will be near impossible for them to deny us our scores. After all, who’s interest are they “protecting” by invalidating our scores if the very universities that they are sworn to protect demand the release of your hard earned scores!

143. Why don’t you guys start a Change.org petition. I feel like that will be a louder statement, and you guys can get a lot more supporters that way. Just an idea.

     • Hi, we actually do have a petition that you may sign:

       https://tinyurl.com/apexamsback

       Thank you for your support!

144. I, Sushmita Sujit, support this message.

145. i find this absolutely outrageous. the college board should be ashamed of themselves for forcing everybody to retake this test. they are selfish and self-serving. that’s what the occupy movement was about this is corporate greed and i am glad to see the photo of the protest above. this is part of a larger movement against elitism and corporate greed

     im completely shocked

146. Just saw this covered in Chinese news channel 26

147. support this message