How Advanced Placement courses can help benefit you in your college career
Advanced Placement courses (AP) can save you both time and money. They can also give you a lead in the application pool in some of today’s highly selective colleges and universities.
The national AP program is administered by The College Board. AP classes are taught at more advanced levels than normal high school classes. When taught well, they are as challenging as many freshmen-level college classes.
At the end of an AP class you can choose to take the AP Exam which is administered across the country in May. The exam is difficult, but if your AP class has been taught well and you have earned an A or B in the class, you should be fairly well prepared to take the exam. The AP exam also gives you a chance to earn college credit.
The AP Exams are scored on a scale from one to five, with a score of five being the highest. Each college or university determines if they will accept AP credit and, if so, what score you will need.
Once you’ve decided to take an AP class, it’s easy to enroll. You can schedule a meeting with an AP teacher or the AP coordinator at your school about the course you are interested in taking. At this meeting be sure to discuss the workload and any preparation you might need to take before the course begins.
AP courses allow you to explore the world from a variety of perspectives and to study subjects in greater depth and detail. Not only will you improve upon your academic skills, but you will develop the study habits necessary for tackling demanding coursework.
College Credit
Depending on which university students attend, most AP classes will earn them a full college course of credit if they score decently on the corresponding AP test. Some AP classes count as two college courses. As long as students pass the test, they will most likely earn at least elective credit. This could translate into taking less of a work load in college, graduating a semester / quarter early, or if one takes enough AP classes, graduating a year early from college! That could save someone a ton of money.
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) & SAT Subject Test Preparation
Taking AP classes can improve a student's score on the SAT, especially if students focus on AP classes for mathematics and English subjects. If a college requires the SAT Subject Test, then taking an AP class that matches the material for that specific test (for example: taking AP Spanish to prepare for the SAT Spanish test) will enhance a student's chance of doing better on that particular test. This same logic can apply to other standardized tests as well.
Extra College Points
Like community service, participating in sports and clubs, or playing in band - submitting AP courses on a college application will usually earn a Advanced Placement students further consideration by admission reviewers and help push their chances that much closer to the bar
College Placement Exemption
Many colleges require students to take course level placement tests from mathematics and English. Earning a passing score on an AP Calculus or AP English test can exempt students from taking placement tests.