Is AP Worth It?

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From the time a freshman enters a high school campus, they are bombarded with the idea that they have to take AP classes on AP classes in order to be a successful student and eventually get into a good college.

It makes sense. A student takes a class that they can get college credit for and hopefully show their future college that they can succeed in a college setting. But the reality of an AP class strays from this idea.

Students are told that an AP class will be hard, more work, more time, more of everything. A class hinged on boosting your GPA (as long as you get an A) and giving you college credit (as long as you pass one test that is taken in May provided by College Board).

So, students set out to, hopefully, get at least a 4.1 and are ready for college. Except, that isn’t where the story ends.

Not only do many students face the befuddling “B” (or less) on their report cards, but their unweighted GPA lowers. The amount of work begins to pile up, interrupt other classes, and cause students to look for a simple answer instead of a thoughtful understanding.

The workload of these types of classes, however, can be ridiculous and over-work students. By the time they get to college, they’re already burnt out from going so hard in high school. This feeling can cause students to get lazy, not want to do work, and possibly drop out of a school that they worked endlessly to get into.

That’s why it boggles my mind that teachers and staff don’t promote local community college classes as an alternative. These classes, that students can take online or at either LMC campus, are free to students. There are textbooks, which can be pricey if you buy them new, but other than that, it costs nothing.

A student taking a community college course doesn’t have to rely on getting a good grade on one singular AP test to hopefully get those college credits (that don’t actually apply to every school). Instead, the student just has to do the work, and pass their class with a letter grade of C or above to get transferable credit.

There is no comparison. College credit for an AP class that rests completely on one $100 test that you have to do good on, or college credit for an actual college class that rests on a compilation of essays, tests, quizzes, and assignment that you can get C or better in.

In the long run, community college classes can benefit students and are a great alternative to AP classes. The idea that a student must take 4 APs needs to be pushed out of our minds and we should seek college credits elsewhere in the community.