Dartmouth eliminates AP credits. Bad move. Vox Clamantis Too Broad a Brush To the Editor: The College’s new policy to stop granting credits for Advanced Placement courses is disappointing (“Registrar to restrict AP, IB credits,” Jan. 9). The AP program is a series of 34 introductory college-level courses and exams that students can take in high school for which they may receive college credit and the courses are vetted by college professors throughout the country. College students, taking equivalent subjects, field test the AP exams and their scores are compared with their end-of-course grades. AP exams are graded each year by college professors working in concert with high school teachers. AP course materials are college-level. For example, the textbook I used to teach AP psychology was the best-selling textbook in both the AP and college markets. High school teachers typically attend training workshops during the summer to help ensure that they have the necessary skills to teach AP classes. Not only is Dartmouth’s new policy likely to cost the school hundreds of applicants who will instead attend colleges that grant AP credit, but it will also drag down Dartmouth students who are forced to repeat introductory subject material they have already mastered. Dartmouth and other schools should certainly examine AP critically and regularly to ensure standards — the College Board makes recommendations, but it is the duty of individual departments at various colleges and universities to make sure that a particular AP class is equivalent to an introductory course they offer. The problem with Dartmouth’s new policy is that it paints with too broad a brush. While particular AP courses undoubtedly will not fit individual department requirements, many will. The faculty should revisit this issue after the various departments have had a chance to review individual AP courses, syllabi and exams. Patrick Mattimore ’72 Chiang Mai, Thailand