As the second semester of the 2024-25 school year progresses, counselors will start finalizing students’ schedules for next year. One option for core classes and certain electives is Advanced Placement (AP) courses. AP classes are an introduction to college and give students an opportunity to receive college credit.
AP courses are offered starting in ninth-grade history classes. Ms. Katlin Kratz teaches AP Human Geography, the only AP course offered to freshmen. Students have the option of taking normal World Geography or AP Human.
“I would absolutely recommend Advanced Placement for incoming freshmen,” Ms. Kratz said. “AP Human is an excellent introductory course because it’s interesting, engaging to students and relevant to the real world.”
Along with advanced coursework, students in AP classes take an AP exam in May. AP exams are scored on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the greatest. Students who score a 3 or higher on their exam could receive college credit for the course. Students must pay a $25 fee to take the exam, but unlike in college, the class itself is free.
“One benefit of taking Advanced Placement classes in high school is that you are getting a credit for a class without having to pay for the course itself,” Ms. Kratz said. “Who doesn’t love saving money?”
Not only can taking AP classes help students save money, but it can also reduce the amount of time spent in college. Depending on how many AP college credits a student earns in high school, they could potentially finish their Bachelor’s degree in three or three and a half years instead of four because they’ve already completed their introductory courses. Three out of four AP students enter college with college credit, and nearly half of all students entering a four-year college have completed high school credits.
“I may be biased because I teach Advanced Placement, but I always root for AP,” Ms. Kratz said. “Students get a 10-point GPA boost, which I think is awesome.”
Junior Olivia Luck currently takes AP Biology, AP Psychology and AP US History along with TCC English, Algebra and Statistics.
“I think that AP classes are able to push you harder than other classes do, and I think the college credit I can get is a nice bonus,” Luck said. “That being said, some classes are more challenging and the workload can be pretty overwhelming if you aren’t used to being in an AP course.”
AP classes, while more challenging, offer many benefits to students. 85% of colleges report that AP experience positively affects admission decisions. Compared with students who have no AP experience, college students who have scored a 3 or higher on previous AP exams are shown to be more successful academically and to have higher college graduation rates. According to research, even students who score a 1 or 2 benefit in that they are more likely to attend a four-year college and do better in introductory classes because of things they learned in class.
“AP classes are full of benefits,” Ms. Kratz said. “While they may be more rigorous for students, taking AP classes helps students with their time management, critical thinking and also prepares them for life outside of high school.”
In some cases, taking advanced classes is necessary to prepare for college. Since the rigor of AP courses is at college level, starting AP in high school can be great preparation. Ms. Sara Kamphaus teaches AP Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC to juniors and seniors at Legacy and encourages students to enroll in AP.
“I would definitely recommend taking AP classes to students,” Ms. Kamphaus said. “Specifically, if a student is going to take Calculus in College, they really need to take it in high school. It is very difficult to take it in college without the exposure.”
AP classes can be difficult for some students because of the larger workload and advanced curriculum. These classes are also very time-consuming, but consequently are great for teaching students how to manage their time and coursework as they head to college.
“AP courses require practice outside of class and students must have time in their schedules to complete work and study to be successful,” Ms. Kamphaus said. “Overall, the benefits outweigh the negatives.”
Benefits of AP classes span from boosting GPA to strengthening college admissions chances to teaching students important life values for life outside of high school.
“I wouldn’t say there are any negatives to taking an Advanced Placement class,” Ms. Kratz said. “It may be more time-consuming or more work, but everything we do is preparing you to be a better learner and more successful student.”
