The AP course experience
By: Zoe Fuentes
May/30/23Carver is a college preparatory school that heavily encourages students to take AP classes in hopes that they will get a head start in college. The big question is whether the courses help current students in their college career.
As students have anxiety and built up anticipation awaiting final results from the AP tests. Students question whether they will get credit for all the hard work they put in all year. Joshua Kouassi, class of 2019, took US history, World history, chemistry, and psychology AP classes while at E&S. He is currently a Penn State graduate and was not able to use any of his AP credits toward his degree.
"I'm a political science major which is not related to any of the ap’s i took. I kind of used those classes as a more intrusive dive into topics I found interesting. It wasn't overly practical, but at least I know a lot about history and how thermodynamics work. Honestly I just wanted the credits but the ap exam made it not worth it every time."
In Joshua’s case the AP courses were more experimental. This could be good or students who are deeply interested in a topic and would be interested in taking the course for college credit which can be very beneficial. Of course for others who already know what they want to pursue in High School, AP classes could really set you up for your college classes. Another alumni, Kameron Currie-El class of 2022, had a more positive experience with his AP class.
“ Taking the AP class in High School really did help me when it comes to college classes. It prepared me for the amount of course work and how fast pace the classes move. When I was in my senior year I took AP micro and then eventually ended up taking regular macro economics in college my first semester. Taking micro in high school definitely prepared me to see the type of material there was in the college class so my transition was easier”
The amount of course work there is in an AP class can be very overwhelming and hard to manage. Sometimes you have to sacrifice important things to be able to complete the work in a timely manner. Of course having a job simultaneously can make things even more difficult. Kam worked while in school but was still able to get the workload done. He learned how to manage his time and work to what was more convenient for him.
“The work wasn't that stressful, it was just very time consuming and tedious to do. Especially in economics when the majority of it is using formulas to get a specific outcome, it just takes a while to get used to. It is definitely more stressful in college because there is less room for error compared to High School. If you do bad on a couple assignments that's pretty much your whole grade in college.”
Of course for all AP students the final test is the biggest hurdle to jump. As you can see in Josh’s experience it made him question if it was really worth it. Sitting in a testing room for hours on end under fluorescent lighting staring at paragraphs and answer sheets with the fact that how you do on this test determines your credit for the whole year. The AP test is a stressful experience between all AP students. Kameron took the AP microeconomics test and asked himself where does he even start?
“The test was very time consuming. I wouldn't say the material was hard because it went over all the material I learned throughout taking the micro economic class. But it is hard to sit in there for an hour at a time looking at difficult questions and thinking to yourself where do i start? How do I tackle this? You can get very unmotivated really fast to not finish.”
For students who aren't interested in taking AP classes there are still great opportunities to get ahead. Instead of taking AP classes, take more electives to experiment with different subjects. The more well rounded you are, when you get to college you will already have experienced certain subjects. You will be able to rule out what things you like to study and what things you don't.
"What advice do you have for students taking AP classes next year Kam?"
"pay attention in class and apply yourself."
"Would you say that ap classes are subjective and what you make of it?"
"If you actually care to learn to topic and take your time doing the work you will realize that it is really valuable"