Without a doubt, college is expensive. And finding ways to cut the cost can be difficult. But one option (probably) exists in your high school.
Called Advanced Placement courses, these are college level classes you take while in high school. At the end of the year, you have the option to take an exam that can earn you college credit.
How are These Classes Different than A Regular Class?
AP classes are without a doubt, harder than regular classes. That’s not to say they are impossible, but you will be required to complete more work. Not only is the work more challenging, but grading is usually harsher. The bare minimum will not get you an A. My personal opinion is that AP classes typically work like normal classes should. That is, only a few students will get an A, while most will receive a B or C. After all, an A should only be given for exceptional work, not average.
Many schools will weight your grade in an AP course. What does this mean? It means that your grade in an AP class is worth more than the same grade in a lower level class. For example, my high school weights AP classes by one GPA point. This means that a B is actually recorded on my transcript as an A. This also means that an A equals a 5.0 on a 4.0 GPA scale.
The exam at the end of the year is pretty grueling. I’d say it sucked more energy out of me than the ACT. Also, this exam costs $86.00 (as of 2009). While this seems like a lot of money just to take a test, realize that college tuition is MUCH higher. My community college charges $80.00 per credit hour. Considering that an AP Exam can earn you multiple hours of credit at many universities, the cost of an AP Exam is actually a deal.
Should I Take AP Classes?
Since AP courses do suck up a lot of time require actual work, consider them carefully. Talk to your teachers and guidance counselor to see if they think you’d excel in these types of classes. Many schools have GPA requirements before they will enroll you.
Ask yourself if you honestly want to be challenged. Ask yourself if you’re actually interested in whatever subject you’re considering. For me, I liked the idea of staying up until 1am to finish a paper (I didn’t do this often!). And I was OK with working hard in order to get a head start on some college classes. If these things don’t sound like a good time to you, don’t enroll in an AP course. I also tried to be practical and I was confident that I would do well on the exam. For me, a few sacrifices in high school were worth it if it meant I wouldn’t have to take an introductory course down the road.
To get a feel for what AP classes are like, check out the College Board’s official site. They have example test questions and explain what each course’s curriculum looks like.
Take home message – If you’re looking to be challenged and also want a chance to earn some college credits, strongly consider AP courses. But remember, straight A’s in regular or advanced classes will look better than F’s in an AP class on your transcript.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I would advocate this as well. I was able to take advantage of all of the following:
1. I took “AP” courses as you’ve mentioned in the article.
2. I took “honors” courses. These may be specific to my school system, but I did receive college credits for these.
3. During my senior year in high school, we were able to sign up for “dual enrollment” courses with a local community college.
4. After part of a pre-engineering program, I was able to take college courses in the afternoons (after school) for FREE.
5. The summer before college, I participated in a program for transitioning (from high school to college) students. I was able to get college credit for classes I took there as well.
All in all, by the time, I arrived in college, I was 3 hours short of being a sophomore. In fact, I worked hard my freshman year. By the end of the year, I had enough credits to be considered a “junior.”
It’s a great feeling, especially since all of the courses I took in high school were FREE (minus exams)!
Wow, that’s impressive. I won’t have that many credits, but enough to probably make me half a freshman.
Non-traditional students have so much to think aboutthan traditional college-aged students. They have the demands of children to contend with as well as the stresses of trying to find student loans that will allow them to go to university.
So true. I have a lot of respect for those who are able to make it work.
Man, Im so worried because i will be taking two AP classes next year.:’( AP English and AP Us History. Hopefully, I atleast get a B in both classes..:D
A.P. Literature and Composition wasn’t too bad. Just lots of writing, which is to be expected I guess. Never had history. In my experience, A.P. classes aren’t really “harder” than regular classes, but require more work like reading and that sort of thing. Good luck! Thanks for commenting!