Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered at our school along with many subjects such as AP math, english, art, and science. Those students who like to be overachievers usually go out of their way to enroll in these courses. Students start as early as their freshman or sophomore year to begin their journey with AP classes.
They use these courses to have a head start in high school by earning college credit. These classes serve as an introduction to college level work through rigorous units. Students are encouraged to persevere through the work assigned to them which pushes many to learn how to study. AP courses also bump up their GPA.
In May, students have to take the AP exam which may take about 2-3 hours to complete. A passing score is a 3 or above which can be used to skip introductory college classes.
AP classes are often thought to be difficult, but although they may require a lot of work they are also fun.
“Some classes feel slow and in AP courses usually teachers have a faster pace to cover all the units,” said Ulysses Villagomez, a senior currently taking 4 AP classes.
He encourages others to take AP classes because they are fun. Although the description of the course along with the amount of work may seem overwhelming and intimidating, teachers find ways to make the class fun. These include activities that help students engage with the material to learn it in different ways.
“Back during basketball season, I would skip practices to make time for tutoring,” said Patrick Elyass, in regards to how he would make time for AP Chemistry.
Due to the material needed to learn for AP courses, students have to take time out of their day to attend tutoring sessions. Students like Patrick, usually come during the mornings or stay after school. As a student with extracurricular activities, he has to balance his time with sports and his AP classes.
Not all students take the same amount of AP classes. For example, student Christopher Bernal is currently taking 1 AP class.
He says, “The hardest part about my AP class is memorizing the material”.
He has become more aware of the intensity of what a college level class could be like. Although he constantly asks himself why he decided to take an AP class, he feels it has taught him greater school values. Some of these include time management and learning how to study.
It’s no lie that AP courses are a bit more challenging than normal classes, but the hard work may just be worth it.
Written by Melany Moreno, Staff Writer