What’s the fuss about AP courses anyways?
You’re looking up college applications, and all the pages keep asking about AP courses. It seems to be the ‘smart-kid’ course, at least in your school. It’s hard, but it seems colleges love this. You’ve heard your guidance counselor talk about it. But how exactly is it useful for college?
What is an Advanced Placement course?
The College Board, which organises the SAT/ACT exams each year, runs the Advanced Placement courses program to give high school students the opportunity to take introductory college-level courses. It was created in 1952 to cover the gap between college and high school education. It allows high school students to experience college-level education and deadlines. Grading for this is through the nationwide AP Examination that is conducted by the College Board. Every year, more than a million people sit for this examination in high school nationwide. It is held in the month of May each year.
NOTE: If you take an AP Course, also give the examination. However, you need not take the course to give the final paper, which is great if you’re home schooled or if your high school does not offer the AP course of your choice.
How do I benefit from taking an AP course?
1. If you’re applying to a demanding major, reviewers look for hard courses that you have taken to challenge yourself academically in high school. Taking an AP course does exactly that.
2. College degrees have a lot of benefits, but they are also incredibly expensive. Being able to do some courses earlier lets you complete your degree requirements faster, and pursue one of three things :
• Graduate Early: You save on a lot of debt and time by graduating early, and get a head start on your career. An early graduation also shows that you can consistently manage a good workload, impressing potential employers.
• A Double Major or a Minor: When you have the free time, why not take up some extra fun courses or gain another specialization? Having a minor or a double major makes your skillset much more interdisciplinary and lets you improve your critical thinking and industry application ability.
• Specialization: You can specialize in your major, for example take more Machine Learning courses if you are pursuing a Computer Engineering major. These are fun courses that will help you get more advanced positions when you apply somewhere, or even start your own enterprise!
3. You can explore advanced courses that you would be majoring in when you go to college. This is extremely helpful because many things are taught differently in college than high school – physics, chemistry, mathematics, etc. It makes sense to understand the structure of your course before you do this.
4. A college admissions committee will judge you by your transcript. Even a 4/5 in AP English might seem better than a 5/5 in Psycology. However, be sure to discuss this with a dedicated counsellor such as at masterclassspace.com before doing anything.
5. If you apply for merit aid, these courses might give you a small head start and let you get higher aid. You still need to work hard to maintain it, mind that, but these courses help you get reviewed favorably.
How does Masterclass Space help me with my AP exams?
The thing to understand with AP courses is that the examination probably matters more than the course. For getting university credit, or to impress reviewers, it is important to pass those exams along with a good SAT course.
At Masterclass Space, you have access to:
• Dedicated counsellors to help you choose AP courses that you can score better in
• Mock tests and coaching for SAT/ACT/AP exams to improve your score
• Help with college applications
• Interactive Online classes and doubt solving by teachers for your AP course
• Specially developed course material and notes for quick revision and efficient learnin
THINK AP, THINK MASTERCLASS SPACE