A quiet revolution is picking up steam in the nation's private secondary schools, with broad implications for college admissions and for teaching and learning on both sides of the transition from high school to college. About 50 of the nation's leading college-preparatory schools have opted out of the College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) program, preferring to offer curricula designed by their own teachers. The growth of the AP program in public schools has been well documented, but the exodus among leading prep schools has also accelerated in recent years. The AP curriculum is not the cause of all that ails the transition from high school to college. It has raised the sights of many schools, particularly those that serve less-affluent populations and will no doubt continue as a significant force in secondary education. But a growing number of teachers on the secondary side feel the need for a new direction. They understand that in moving away from AP courses, they are taking away one benchmark that colleges use to evaluate students. Without AP, competition and stress go down, while student engagement goes up. Instead of working backward from a test to find their curriculum, teachers can begin with teaching and learning, then design assessments that support their pedagogy. This article discusses the other alternatives to AP. [This article has been condensed with permission from The Chronicle of Higher Education. For full version see EJ794112.]