My son is applying to universities now. Last spring he was taking 5 AP courses out of 8 required classes. The statewide decision to go to pass/fail cost him hug

My son is applying to universities now. Last spring he was taking 5 AP courses out of 8 required classes. The statewide decision to go to pass/fail cost him hugely in his weighted GPA, as he would have aced all 5 classes. Given that he attends a high school that is average at best, it really could have made a difference for him. Fortunately, he navigated the mess that was AP testing last spring and his test scores prove that he knew the material but as a parent who watched my kid work so hard, even through the remote learning portion, it was quite stressful for both of us. Now we wait to hear from the initial wave of applications. The system, as it stands, sucks but it is the system we have. Perhaps the great experiment starting with the class of 2021 may drive changes to make it better.