SLAS Times Q2 2019-2020 SLAS Times: Fall 2019 | Page 17

LAS alumnus Matthew Zhou
saved over $15,000 and one
year off of college by taking Ad-
vanced Placement (AP) classes
while in high school.
but also help them to know their
responsibilities when it comes to
handing in their work and study-
ing independently. Zhou did not
like doing AP homework, how-
ever, he mentioned that he was
Zhou took nine AP classes at given enough of a choice to focus
Shanghai Livingston American more on projects and tests.
School, and as a result, he will be
able to graduate quicker from col- “There are a number of advan-
lege while saving a year’s worth of tages such as saving money on
tuition. He stated, “You need 120 tuition, impressing college ad-
units on average to graduate. For missions officers, developing col-
me, I’m a Computer Engineering lege-level academic skills, and so
student, requiring 132 units to on. However, to me, the greatest
graduate.”
advantage I gained from AP cours-
es is that I can graduate college
Because of his hard work while quicker. For each AP course from
at SLAS, he will not need to take SLAS, I can transfer from 3 to 6
summer courses in college, as is credits of university units, of which
common with other computer en- you need 120 on average to gradu-
gineering students.
ate. Each University unit is an hour
of class per week per semester.”
The Advanced Placement system Zhou stated.
allows high school students to
take college courses for college International students often pay
credit. AP classes also help high more for college than local stu-
school students prepare for the dents because of the national
rigorous work that college stu- privileges that many of the local
dents experience. “The material I residents has. Zhou explained,
faced was more demanding than “Each unit for international stu-
the material from regular cours- dents costs $399. In total, I have 39
es. There were more reading and units; therefore I saved $15,600 in
homework assignments, and the tuition.”
grading policy was harder, de-
pending on the teacher.” Zhou Moreover, the advantage of AP
said.
classes also includes the academ-
ic performance many students
High school students are often re- can get from taking those classes.
minded when to start doing their High school students can also get
work and when it is due. Howev- an overview of college-level work
er, college students mostly study that would help them in organiz-
independently and are responsi- ing their time better in college.
ble for all of their work that they
miss. AP classes would not only Zhou advised high school stu-
help students become consistent, dents who are taking AP to, “ac-
tually listen in class. Classes are
designed to help you master con-
cepts. You can party however you
want and not do your homework,
but you need to actually listen in
class to pass the exam,”.
Some credits are required to be
completed before students can
graduate at SLAS. Students can
choose which type of diploma
they want, whether it is a regular
or advanced diploma. Two of the
different kinds of the diplomas
also require students to take spe-
cific classes. For an Advanced Di-
ploma, students are required to
take AP English and another AP
course of their choice.
Here at SLAS, students from 10th
grade to 12th grade can pick se-
lect AP classes from more than
ten different subjects. Zhou listed
out AP classes he took since his
sophomore year in high school:
Chemistry, Micro-Economics, Mu-
sic Theory, Physics 1, Physics 2,
Language and Composition, Chi-
nese, Japanese and Calculus AB.
Zhou stated that he had felt pres-
sure from the amount of work
that AP classes gave him, and
how the concepts of the subjects
were more detailed than in regular
classes.
Zhou graduated from SLAS in June
of 2019, and he is now attending
UC San Diego in California. It is
not cheap to live in California as a
student, so Zhou is very thankful
for having the opportunity to have
completed his AP coursework in
Shanghai.
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