AP (Advanced Placement) Courses

AP Courses are typically more difficult and strenuous. While it is a good idea to take maximum AP courses, it is a double edged sword. Especially if the child is not able to cope up with the requirements of the AP courses.

AP Exam:

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At the end of school year (mostly in late April or early May), there will be an AP exam for each of the AP course. This exam typically carries 50% of the weight.

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AP Exams are scored on a scale of 1-5. An AP Exam score combines the scores received in the multiple-choice and open-ended sections of the exam. These scores tell the colleges and universities, who receive them, how well a student performed in a college-level AP course. A score of 1 indicates 'no recommendation' while a score of 5 translates to 'extremely well qualified.' A score of 3 is the minimum required to demonstrate you are 'qualified' to successfully complete an introductory college course in the given subject

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Receiving College Credit for AP Exam Scores

If you are seeking credit or placement for any AP Exam scores, you must ensure that the colleges and universities in which you're interested receive copies of your official AP score report. You may select one college or university to receive a score report on your exam answer sheet, and you can send your scores to multiple institutions from your official College Board online account for additional fees.

Policies on granting placement or credit on the basis of AP Exam scores vary by institution. Most colleges and universities, however, will provide credit for scores of 3 or more, though not all colleges and universities accept all AP Exam scores. To determine which scores your prospective college or university will accept, visit the official College Board AP website to conduct an AP credit policy search on the institution.

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Some experience based details of AP Courses:

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1. AP Computer Science Principles and AP Java are relatively easy.

2. AP US History is very difficult and I have seen kids literally crying for this course. In my daughter's school, there is an unwritten rule that all kids have to take AP US History. However, my daughter is not interested in History. Hence we made a decision to take normal US History. We are not sure if it’s a right decision, but I did not want my daughter to go through the pain for an entire year, especially when she doesn’t like it.

3. AP Physics 1 and 2 is a 1 and half period course. That means, the student has to spend an additional half class for the entire year. For a student to take AP Physics C, AP Physics 1 and 2 are mandatory to be taken in an earlier year. If the student is interested in Physics or Engineering major, it is recommended to take AP Physics 1 and 2 in Junior year or earlier. This allows AP Physics C to be taken in senior year or earlier.

4. Some AP course have AP exam as well as final exam. Ex: AP US History. This final exam covers year-long syllabus.

5.  The AP exam score is not reflected or counted in the grade given at school.

AP vs Honors:

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Honors courses are not AP, they do not have an AP exam. They are relatively harder than a regular course. The only similarity between AP and Honors course is in the way weighted GPA is calculated. For both AP and honors courses 0.2222 gets added to the semester weighted GPA.