Dear Ms. Maloney,
I was recently informed of my rejection into the AP English course and I realizing why I was rejected, I'd like to respond to my rejection. There is only one reason why I was rejected, that reason being my cumulative grade point average. This is an unfair way of deciding who gets to take the course because it accepts those who simply maintain grades instead of those who actually excel in English. I regret the day I took the written test for AP, realizing that I wasn't being judged based on my ability as a writer, but for a history of inconsistency I cannot go back and correct or redo. The students who were accepted into AP have something in common. They've been in the same classes with each other their entire high school lives. I sat in the testing room pondering whether I should have just left, seeing all of the students who I knew had a higher GPA. If teachers such as yourself are going to take the easy way out and decide who gets the AP spot out of the fact that they are in the top of their class, then for what reason would a C+ student like myself have for signing up in the first place? When you think about it, it really makes no sense at all.
Last year, I applied for APUSH feeling confident that I would make it into the class. I looked around at all of the other students in the meeting thinking I was just as qualified, if not more, than any of them. I listened to Ms. Perkins list off the requirements for the class, not flinching a bit as she told us about the heavy amount of homework that would be given on a regular basis. I have a passion for history, as well as this great country, so it didn't discourage me. The application process required an essay, teacher and parent signatures, and a transcript, similar to your application. I completed everything and actually spent time with my essay to make sure it reflected how I felt about history, war in specific. Weeks later, I retrieved a letter of rejection, which listed many reasons why I wasn't chosen. The point is, most of those reasons were bullshit. The only reason why I wasn't chosen was because of my overall GPA. I understand if my grades in World History in specific were lacking, but that wasn't even the case. I passed Ms. Johnson's class with an A, no doubt being one of her favorite students, which says a lot considering her demanding teaching style. I might be stretching my argument when I say this but wouldn't a recommendation from one of the most challenging teachers in our school be enough for Ms. Perkins to overlook my mediocre math grade, which brought my GPA down? I haven't recently heard of any connection between math and history, but I may be wrong. A grade point average is not only an inaccurate measure of a student's potential, intelligence, or passion for a subject, but it is a way to filter out the "smart kids" from the "dumb kids".
When I opened up my letter today in my Psychology class, everyone watched with anticipation to see what it said. For a while, I put it in my backpack, telling those around me that I'd read it later. But my own curiosity caused me to open it anyway. I knew deep down that I didn't get in even before ripping the staple off of the paper. My friends in the class were shocked when I allowed them to read it. Some kids laughed. The students who were accepted, however, were those who had high GPAs, but from my experience with them, they were the same people who never participated in class. This upset me because I am placed in an education system where I can show that I genuinely care about what goes on in the classroom and display a passion for learning, yet it means nothing, no matter how much the teacher begs that kid with the 3.9 to share her idea, because at the end of the semester that kid will get an A anyway just for filling out homework pages. I'm not excusing my inadequacy as a student at all. I have made many bad choices in high school and I continue to make a habit out of it, even to this very hour. But I think it's immoral to give the student an opportunity when that student only wants it for superficial reasons. Has it ever crossed your mind that us C+ average students may need the extra grade point given in AP classes to raise our GPAs?
Thank God for giving me a mind that doesn't cease to stop learning when the last bell of the day rings. Because if that were the case, I'd be like many of the students who were accepted because of their consistency, not due to their excellence. Earlier this year I wrote an argument essay explaining why AP shouldn't be expanded at this school and I stick to my belief that it shouldn't. The best should be accepted and by best I don't mean highest GPA. GPA doesn't tell you what a student will have to offer to a classroom setting, how intellectual a student is, or how much the student appreciates writing as a craft. During class, Mr. Mitchell, my teacher for Psychology kept asking why I didn't get in but the only thing I could tell him is,"I don't have a high enough GPA." That's a big slap in the face to me, considering I didn't have to waste an hour writing a bogus analysis essay about one of the most overrated books in literature if I knew that it wouldn't matter if I didn't have over a 3.0. I don't seek revision of your decision regarding my acceptance into AP seeing as you've more than likely written me off as an arrogant, ideological, prick. What I do request, for the sake of incoming classes, is to tell applicants that they must have a 3.0 in order to be admitted as it would only be rational and fair.
Sincerely,
Trevor Phillips
