The Significance of AP Courses by Kitty Li
Have you ever wondered why students are recommended to enroll in AP courses ?
Advanced Placement ( AP ) courses are college-level courses that can provide various advantages for students who wanted to study in the United States . At SLAS , as students enter their high school year , they gain the privilege to enroll in the 21 AP courses provided in SLAS ( a total of 33 AP classes that CollegeBoard provided ).
However , some students may fear these college-level courses being overly challenging for them and decide not to take these classes . For instance , Kate Norraine Cabante , an 11th grader , stated , “ When I enter [ ed ] the first grade of high school , I was afraid of the challenging AP courses , so I didn ’ t take any of them until 11th grade and now I am somewhat regretful .”
Therefore , I believed that the benefits that AP courses provide should be addressed in order to ease students ’ fear , especially freshmen who are overwhelmed by the number of AP classes that SLAS provides .
The most significant and obvious benefit that AP courses provide is students can gain college credits if they receive the necessary AP exam score . For example , the University of Washington in Seattle provided 10 to 15 college credits for a score of 4 or 5 in AP Biology , Chemistry , Chinese , Japanese , English , Spanish exam , etc . This means that students can graduate from university earlier with the credits they earned in high school .
Further , AP courses can provide an advantage in college admissions . Penelope Rajczyk , an admissions officer at Columbia College Chicago , said , “ If I see success in AP courses , I have more data to work with in order to make a sound decision about admitting a student . Also , the increase to a student ’ s weighted GPA increases their scholarship offer .”
Additionally , students can be prepared for college-level work when enrolling in AP courses since according to collegeboard . org , Advanced Placement ( AP ) courses are college-level courses that are offered to high school students who wanted to study in American colleges . Moreover , collegeboard . org stated , “ AP students learn essential time management and study skills needed for college and career success . They dig deeper into subjects that interest them and learn to tap their creativity and their problem-solving skills to address course challenges .”
Nevertheless , Hanon Maruta , 11th grade , said , “ I do not believe that one should take AP courses as soon as they enter high school because they are mostly still not ready for AP courses , [ in which the courses ] will be too challenging [ due to the lack of ] basis for most of the lessons .”
Overall , AP courses can help students who are willing to study in the United States to be prepared for college-level classes , gain huge advantages in college admissions , and college credits that allow them to graduate earlier . Thus , students should not be fearful of AP courses and should try out some courses that they are interested in without giving themselves under huge pressure since AP courses allow students to gain valuable knowledge and skills .
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