<p>So, my school doesn’t offer any AP classes in the humanities, nor do we offer any other tiered options like honors or enriched classes. Instead, we have semester-long elective options that are generally more specific in their subject area. For example, instead of AP European History, we have “European Revolutions”, “Dictatorships and Democracy in Europe”, “Russia from 1917-present”, etc.</p>
<p>The classes are interesting but it’s frustrating because some are much harder than others, yet we receive no weighted credit. They’re also too specific for us to take the AP exam just after the class, so we all have to self-study (and we can’t take these exams at my high school). I have to do a debate next week arguing for bringing more AP humanities classes into my school, because so far we only offer them in languages, math, and science.</p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone could offer any insights, arguments or statistics about the benefit of AP exams? Do you think that our students are at a disadvantage because we don’t have the same AP classes as a lot of other schools?
I’ve been trying to find the average number taken by college-bound seniors and things like that, but I’ve been having trouble.</p>
<p>Any and all help will be much appreciated!</p>
<p>It says here - <a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board; - that about 332,000 high school students took the AP English Literature exam in 2009 and here - <a href=“AP English Language and Composition – AP Students | College Board”>http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/english_lang/dist.html?englang</a> - it says that about 337,000 took the AP English Language in 2009. That’s a lot of students! (search AP ___ grade distribution into Google)</p>
<p>I think you should argue that AP exams not only help you gain college credit, but are an important factor in remaining competitive in college admissions. Look at all of the high school students across the country who are taking APs in the humanities, who will have an upper hand in both college admissions and in college maybe. </p>
<p>I think having courses in specific subjects is great - but not at the high school level. The point of high school is to become knowledgeable about general subjects - math, science, English, and history - to gain broad-based knowledge. In college you all will take plenty of specific courses. Now is the time to learn how to interpret literature and about the entire history of the United States (not just one era). </p>
<p>Taking these AP courses and learning about English and History not only give us more widespread knowledge, but also help us to decide what to do with our lives and what subjects we’re passionate about. It’s too early on to concentrate our learning so much. There’ll be plenty of time for that later in college and maybe grad school. This is the time to explore anything and everything - and that is what AP courses and exams allow us to do. Good luck with your debate, and I hope this helps!</p>
<p>For one thing, AP Exams can definitely help you to earn college credit at certain schools. I didn’t end up choosing UVA or UConn, but had I chosen to attend either over my current school, I would have entered as a second-semester sophomore - allowing me to either graduate in 3 years or attend for 4 years with a lot more freedom in choosing courses. For another, they’re definitely important in competitive college admissions - colleges want to see that you’re challenging yourself. With only basic humanities, colleges cannot tell whether the student is attempting to “challenge” him/herself, because only one level is available.</p>
<p>Second, I firmly believe that an AP course, especially in the humanities, definitely enriches your base of thought. My school offers Honors Global History I and II - we have to take Global I as a freshman, and then we can either take Honors/College Prep Global II, or AP World as sophomores. I picked AP World, and even though we started by studying the same civilizations as we had my freshman year, we covered them MUCH more in-depth. It was also a lot easier to understand cross-cultural connections and analyze how certain civilizations influenced the world we live in today. I think there’s a definite case to be made for seeing the “big picture,” which is usually the focus of AP courses (at least in World History), rather than focusing on smaller trends (i.e. “Russia 1917-present”) because while you still understand specific areas well, you get a more enriched understanding of the world around you as a whole.</p>
<p>In addition, other areas of the humanities - i.e. English - offer great advantages if the AP curriculum is used properly. AP Language was the most reading-intensive course I have ever taken - we probably read between 30 and 40 books throughout the year, and definitely wrote a lot of papers. The thing is, taking a class like that FORCES you to read, and it forces you to look at a lot of different aspects of literature/language that you never would have normally. As annoying as some of the papers were, I could definitely feel myself getting better, and I’m pretty sure that the reading alone helped my vocabulary for the SAT.</p>
<p>AP courses allow students to challenge themselves if they are feeling bored with the curriculum that they are in. For students who are more interested in the humanities, I firmly believe that the AP curriculum can help students to learn how to look at the “bigger picture” and gain a more enriched understanding of the subject as a whole.</p>
<p>I hope that helps!</p>
<p>More AP classes means that your transcript looks better for colleges and you have more chances for college credit. Two great reasons right there.</p>