Navigating AP

By Josh K

It’s time to talk about AP - Advanced Placement courses. The mere utterance of that word may send chills down your spine, or cause you to break out in a cold sweat. Yes, AP courses are tough - they’re supposed to be, as they’re college level courses meant to be taken in high school. Naturally, this means more effort and time is necessary to do well; you can’t “cruise control” through AP courses like you can honors or standard, unless of course, you’re aiming to fail the class! Not to worry though, most (if not all) people can survive AP, as long as they chose wisely and understand what they’re getting into. Allow me to explain:

How to succeed in the AP program

1.) Know what AP means

AP is short for Advanced Placement. The whole idea behind AP classes is that high-school age kids, like you and I, should have the opportunity to take college level courses while still in high-school. By doing this, you can be prepared to take an end of year AP exam; should you do well enough on that, you can earn college credit and place out of the course entirely. AP exam scores range from 5 to 1, 5 being top-notch, and 1 representing no recommendation to receive credit. Generally, people shoot for around a 3 to a 5. The College Board (the people who are behind the SAT and the AP program) insists that AP: a.) Looks great to colleges, and b.) Can save you money in college. Both of these are true, assuming you do well in the course. A bad AP score/grade is simply a bad score/grade. It definitely won’t be doing you any favors.

2.) Choose the right area

What does this mean, you ask? Simply put, you have to choose classes and subject areas that you’ve traditionally done well in, and have a genuine interest for. For example, if you’re an amateur journalist/poet/author/writing guru, you should consider taking a course in AP English. Keep in mind the word “consider”; while you may good at English, you should really make sure you understand the dedication required here. For some people, AP just doesn’t work. And that’s absolutely fine. If you try to take an AP class in a subject like psychology, and you hate psychology, you’re going to have a bad time! Like I’ve said in an earlier post, achievment requires passion - if you’re going to achieve in an AP course, you have to have the passion for the subject.

3.) Choose the right number

“I have an idea - I’ll take a full load of AP courses since that’s what colleges love to see! I’ll get into Harvard/MIT/Caltech/Yale for sure!!!!” - NO. Whatever you do, understand that just like many other things in life, quality is stressed over quantity when it comes to AP classes. An AP course typically merits 1-2 hours of homework a night, depending on your teacher and subject. Therefore, if you take a full load of AP’s (full load = 4 classes), then worst-case scenario, you’re looking at 2 hours x 4 classes = 8 hours of homework. Plus, most people participate in extracurricular activities, which takes time away from the AP course at hand. Unless you’re an academic masochist (and if you’re one of these people, by all means go full blast), most people stick to around 3-4 AP’s a year. For example, if you’ve taken 3 your junior year, consider doing 4 senior year. The point here is to keep your load manageable, whatever manageable means to you.

4.) Be aware of the work load

Like I mentioned earlier, AP’s are college level classes. With that comes the extra-responsibility and dedication needed in order to learn and do well on that AP exam, come the end of the year. AP classes are intensive; they really make you think, and on occasion, will stump you beyond relief. That’s OK - the important thing about getting knocked down is having the discipline to pick yourself back up. Fail to do that, and you’ll be miserable, drowning in the sea of AP.

5.) Don’t take them if you’re not ready

“Even though I’m a sophomore still getting used to high school, I’m going to take 2 AP’s like all my friends do and hope for the best.” - this is planning to fail. Last year at my school, there was a large influx of sophomores who considered themselves ready for AP, and took the historically known “easy AP’s”: AP Psychology and AP Environmental. Suffice to say, these classes weren’t that easy, and a sizable number of them ended up doing horrible. They were miserable in the class, they felt bad about themselves, and it was just an awful time. Don’t be like these people - if you’re not ready for AP, for whatever reason, don’t do it. Oh, and FYI: there’s no such thing as an easy AP.

So after reading that dissertation of a blog entry, you may be wondering why you should even bother with AP. The answer is different for different people, but often times, taking AP courses comes from a passion for learning. If you want to work and have a great reward at the end (college credit is pretty cool), AP is for you. I honestly hope I didn’t scare any of you out of it; most people, if not all, should consider AP. There’s a variety of courses to choose from, whether you’re an artist or a scientist. Just remember: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work” - Thomas Edison.