With exam season approaching, and many AP students spending their days trying to study or simply stressing over how they will perform, the question is raised on why students decide to take AP courses in the first place.
Julia Guicheteau, a student who has not taken an AP course before, classifies AP classes as “the most difficult,” but adds, “they are good for college.” When asked how APs are good for college, Julia explains that they “boost your GPA.”
Due to the fact that these AP classes are at college level, it is agreed among AP students such as sophomore, Gus May that a benefit one can gain from an AP is “how much it can challenge you.” Junior, Cody Natali adds that the “challenges from APs” can also help develop one’s “reading comprehension and arithmetic skills.”
But a benefit to taking APs that many students, especially upperclassmen, find to be the most significant is how an AP credit can benefit a student financially. Natali breaks down that, “Depending on how you perform on the [AP] exam, if you get a 5 or a 4, sometimes even a 3, colleges will accept them as college credits and potentially allow you to graduate early.”
May states, “If you’re paying tens of thousands of dollars for college and get to graduate early, that’s good for you, your family, [and] your financial situation in general.”
Junior, Madeline Lodge has also taken multiple AP classes during her high school career, and she admits “it is important to know your limits” when it comes to deciding whether or not to take an AP class, but explains that by only taking “APUSH (AP US History) and AP Gov, you can save up to 4,000 dollars,” which she believes to be “a great way to thank your parents through saving money.”
