I’m a sophomore currently trying to decide if I should take AP Lang next year or not. In our school, everyone but one or two people make a B first semester and I really can’t have another B on my transcript. What are some ways to succeed in this course?
Have you ever taken an AP class before? If you haven’t, don’t be too worried about everyone getting B’s in the class, especially since AP classes are weighted higher. The class is very heavy on writing, you’ll probably do a lot of timed writes in addition to a few major writing assignments, most of which focus on analysis. If you want a consistent A in the class you’ll need to be a good writer, or if not, you’ll need to focus on improving your writing skills (and that should be part of the curriculum anyway). My AP Lang class also did a lot with vocab, though I don’t know if that’s a focus everywhere. Some teachers give a LOT of assignments, others don’t, so unless you already know about the teacher(s) at you’re school, you don’t really know what you’re gonna get. But if you normally take Honors classes and do well (A’s-B’s), then there’s no reason you shouldn’t take AP Lang, and if it doesn’t feel like it’s gonna work out you can always switch out early in the school year.
Do you know any of those people who have gotten A’s? Every teacher is different, so any advice you can get from people at your own school will be more valuable than advice people on the Internet can give. Now if you need some pointers for the actual AP exam…