The College Board is changing the date that students need to register for the AP exams from March back to November. While 4 months may not seem like a big deal, it really is. In November of a school year, the students are just getting into the subject matter and they don’t have a sense for how well they might do on the big AP exam that is taken in May. They’ll have to pay the $94 for the exam, and if they miss the registration deadline, they’ll have to pay an additional $40. Then, say in March, they realize that they’re not doing well in the class, they would then have to pay yet another $40 to cancel the May exam. Students who take the AP courses are not required to take the AP exams – they get a course grade that is not tied to the College Boards AP exams.