You Asked: Are Advanced Placement Classes Worth the Effort?

You have questions—we have the answers.

As students plan their course schedule for the 2020-2021 school year, many parents and students are asking if they should take advance placement courses instead of honors or standard selections.

Our answer: yes, but in moderation and if you are taking them for the right reasons.

While the allure of the Advance Placement program is that students might get college credits for their high school work, thus reducing the time and money spent in actual college, the truth is that for most students it does not reduce their college course load or costs, and for many, the most they will gain is entry into higher-level freshmen courses and no free college credits.

Like with most academic considerations, it is important to consider your individual circumstances when deciding on the AP subjects you might want to take and the total number of AP classes you will carry for the year.

Why Take AP Classes?

Here are some reasons you should consider adding one or more AP classes to your load:

1. STEM: You are set on following a certain STEM track in college and want to learn at a higher level now. You should research your target schools well enough to know that they see value in AP courses and are willing to award you with advanced placement or credits.
2. Follow Your Interest: You are interested in the subject enough to push yourself to learn more about it at an advanced pace. This external motivation can reinforce good study habits and lead to better academic results in the future as you become a better student. This self-reliance and motivation will be important to completing coursework in college where you have fewer parents and teachers around to motivate you.
3. Staying Competitive: You know you are applying to competitive programs where other applicants will have APs on their transcripts. If you are considering this level of school or program, you are already aware of the challenge and know the expectations for applicants. We just caution our students to consider which classes they really need to check those boxes at the school. We find students who load up on all APs in order to “stay competitive,” even though they are not interested in half of the subjects, fare poorly over the course of the year. Five APs and a lower GPA will hurt your admissions chances more than having not taken that one extra AP class in a non-pertinent subject for your intended major.

Why Should You Not Take AP Classes?

Here are some reasons you should consider not taking AP classes if other alternatives are available (honors, co-credit, IB):
 

1. Limited Credit: A 2016 report from the Public Policy Institute found that 86 percent of top colleges and universities restrict the awarding of AP credit, some cap the number of credits you can earn, and a limited number even go so far as to award nothing at all for AP courses. As we mentioned above, you can check the specific policies of your target schools on the College Board website, but we caution to also check directly with the schools. We have found inconsistencies in the past.
2. Not All 3s Are Honored: One detail you will notice when researching your target schools’ AP acceptance policies is that many schools fail to honor the core principle of the AP program that a 3 on an AP exam is worthy of college credit. Schools may require a 4 or 5 (we see you Harvard) on the exam to consider a student eligible for the advancement benefit of credit or placement. College Board has lobbied somewhat successfully for schools to more broadly accept 3s, but it is at the school’s discretion what they choose to accept. Even more discouraging is the practice at some universities to not accept for consideration every AP course sanctioned by the College Board. So while you may have scored a 5 on the exam, your target school may not recognize that achievement in any way. Schools can base this decision on a broad rejection of the subject altogether or on individual cases if they have a prejudice against the AP program at a particular high school. As AP classes have been offered at more and more high schools, college admissions teams are cognizant of the efficacy of certain school’s programs compared to others and will apply that judgement to students’ transcripts when weighing an applicant’s academic track record.
3.  Honors Is Still Valued: If you have to choose between an honors and an AP class, and you know the AP is not an absolute requirement for your college track, we would recommend considering the honors course. Most honors courses carry the cache of AP while affording the teacher and students the opportunity to learn more freely on a subject. Since the course is not built around preparing for a standardized test, the lesson plan and course work can explore a wider variety of material, freeing teachers and students of the external pressure present in AP classes. We find this increases engagement, participation, and enthusiasm—all necessary components of completing a year of difficult coursework.

Local Reaction

The topic of AP classes in our area elicits many reactions and speaks to the confusion many parents and students experience about the choices they feel they have/need to make to keep the doors open to future opportunities. In 2018, a group of seven local private schools said they would stop offering AP classes (this even though the number of private schools offering them nationwide has grown to more than 5,000 in recent years).

Conversely, MCPS’ superintendent has spent the past three years working to expand access to AP classes in MCPS high schools. The 2019 book Learning in the Fast Lane: The Past, Present, and Future of Advanced Placement digs into the effort and the ups and downs of growing AP participation in a manner that supports the students and the rigor of the courses (Don’t have time to read the book? Here’s a great summary.). And these efforts can be successful. A great local example is a recent program in Howard County that has shown how to achieve better results at the individual-school level while expanding access to the classes to more students.

Class of 2018 Data

There is no denying that Advanced Placement courses are widely taken, but these facts about the Advanced Placement program may surprise you:
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1. For the class of 2018, 1.24 million U.S. public high school graduates (~39% of the class) took 4.22 million Advanced Placement exams during their high school years. That means that more than 60% did not take one AP class.
2. Only 24% of these students (~750,000) scored at least a 3 on one exam.
3. Maryland ranked #4 nationally with ~32% of the state’s 2018 class scoring at least one 3.
4. 20,000 MCPS students took 40,400 AP tests in 2018, ~one-third of test takes statewide. This number was closer to 40% in 2019.
5. Students scored a 3 or higher on ~two-thirds of these exams.

 
We certainly see value in the AP program and have seen good results for many students. But we urge restraint from AP-overload and due diligence in what is really required to get into your target schools. Be smart about it, and you will thrive next year while setting yourself up for continued academic success in college and beyond.

Have a question you need answered? Call or email us; we’re always happy to help.