Are Advanced Placement Classes Worth the Stress? The Advanced Placement (A.P.) program began in 1956 with the intention of allowing top-performing students to graduate high school sooner. This would also allow these students to enter the work force sooner. At the time of the program’s creation, America was involved in the Cold War with Russia and was on a constant high alert for impending war. Allowing students to graduate sooner allowed the country to defend itself better by having a greater working force should war break out. At the end of the school year, students take the A.P. exam, which determines how much college credit a student earns. The lowest score possible on the exam is a 1, while the highest score possible is a 5. A passing …show more content…
Classes have been promoted because they are supposed to help students prepare themselves for a heavy workload in college. Yet, what if students aren’t prepared for the workload that A.P. classes bring? Students could easily not be academically prepared for the challenges college level work brings while still in high school and are being set up to fail academically (“Advanced Placement”, 2009). A study done by Philip Sadler of Harvard and Robert Tai of the University of Virginia found that students who took AP Classes in high school and received good scores on the exam did not do significantly better in college than those who didn’t take AP. Those who took AP had only a two percent advantage on their average grade in a class than those who took honors classes but not AP (“Advanced Placement”, 2009). Another study done by the University of Texas found a much different result; this study found that students who took A.P. classes got better grades in college and graduated sooner (“Advanced Placement”, 2009). This study was paid for by College Board, the organization that the A.P. program is a part of, and the results very well could be biased, especially since the company profits from the A.P. program. Yet, even if those results are legitimate, another question still needs to be addressed; are A.P. classes the cause of that result, or are students who are harder workers drawn more to A.P. Classes? Even if A.P. classes have a correlation with better grades in college, it is still unclear whether A.P. classes are the cause of better
In his essay, "Why Colleges Shower Their Students With A’s,” Staples claims that student grades are increasing for the wrong reasons, causing college degrees to become meaningless. Staples provides evidence that average grades have increased significantly over the last several decades, but claims that it is not because students are working harder. The real explanation for grade inflation, he argues, is the effect of grades on both students and their professors. Teachers give more A’s to receive better evaluations and increase job security. Students give more importance to their grades as a result of the rapidly increasing cost of a college education. Staples argues that modern
Recently the guidance department of Boston Latin School has instituted a new policy that limits the number of Advanced Placement classes students can enroll in during junior year. Previously students after being granted a waiver could take a maximum of four AP classes. However under the new guidelines all juniors are restricted to three. This is unfair to students who seek to reach their full academic potential.
We see a constant struggle between students and professors when it comes to the grading scale. These differences make learning a hassle. “I am placed in the position of having to figure out new ways to trick them into learning by designing ingenious new ways to grade,” says Vogel (339). The present grading system pushes students to take easy classes. Students on scholarships are afraid of taking hard classes because they run the risk of loosing financial aid if their grades don’t meet the average (Vogel 339). Farber agrees, “Getting graded turns people away from hard subjects,” (334). He offers his readers a utopia free of grades. This new...
Alexander had a rigorous Health Science Magnet program that admitted around 120 students each year, and I was one of them. Students in this program were admitted based on an achievement test given the summer prior to their freshman year in school. If admitted, all students in the program were required to take only Pre-AP and AP classes throughout their 4 years in school. Outside of the program there were AP, Pre-AP, GT, regular, and remedial classes that were readily available to any other students. There were always those students who spoke in the hallways about the kids in “regular” classes who were “too dumb” to be put in Pre-AP or GT. Or those stuck in remedial classes because they didn’t pass their TAKS test requirements. But there were other students too, including some of my best friends. They were the ones who had the capability of succeeding in an AP course, yet they were put in regular classes. I never had any problems with this process since my status in the magnet program automatically ...
I offer an immense amount of academic strengths and skills to the Advanced Placement program. To begin with, I excel in science, English, geography/ history and visual arts. My primary interests are in marine biology and the life sciences. However, I use my incredible work ethic to help guide me to success. Science is definitely my strongest subject, but I have the determination to improve in other areas I am not comfortable with. Being surrounded by competition regularly motivates me to work hard and put in quality effort that meets my expectations. I use my
As the cost of college tuition continues to rise each year, many individuals are questioning if a college education is worth the time and effort needed to obtain a college degree. In today’s society, however, a high school education or diploma is not enough to insure a chance at having a good future. For many students, the decision on whether or not he/she should pursue a higher education is a major conflict for many young adults who are graduating high school. Therefore, while some students wonder if going to college is worth the price tag, in the end, the benefits associated with earning a college degree are proven to uphold numerous opportunities for individuals in the future.
In Barnett and Hughes’ (2010) article that focuses on the “three important milestones” that lead to college completion, the authors dissect the best practices used across the country by colleges and high schools to get their students on the track to success in college. They found that dual enrollment of classes, which occurs when high school students are allowed to take college courses at the same time, and earn college credit upon completion, addresses the three main milestones identified. Dual enrollment also adds value for students and assists in helping students become acclimated to college. Although some states have restrictions on who can take dual enrollment, (ex. Must have a 3.0 GPA) the focus seems to be shifting away from those restrictions to target the populations that may not have been interested in post-secondary education (Barnett and Hughes, 2010).
“Students also increasingly see AP credits as a ticket into college” stated Viadero, Debra (Viadero,Debra). The College Board craves to see applications with loads of AP classes listed on the application. The classes show that one would be able to survive in a college level class at their university. At nearly every college in the country, your academic record is the most important part of your college application. The people in the admissions office want to see that you have taken the most challenging courses available to you (Grove, Allen). According to the chart above, it shows how many people put an importance on these AP classes
The traditional high school A-F grading system no longer reflects an accurate measurement of student success. Providing a new system where grades are measured by the rank of the student in the class will provide a system more honest than before, it will benefit students and prospective colleges. Changing the grading scale to a system where students are ranked from a curve based off the total percentage of points potentially earned in the course.
While viewing this film, the audience was able to see how Arizona State University is portrayed as strictly a "party school." The university was named the number- one party school in the country. Students here are spending less time studying, reading, and writing and more time partying. It was noted that a large number of students are spending less time in the classroom and more time distracted by the temptations that are associated with partying. Students are attempting to take the least demanding courses possible in hopes to get a better grade than they would receive in a more challenging course. This corresponds with any college experience, and it can even be present at Assumption College. It is inevitable that a number of students will go to any extent to make the college work load less rigorous for themselves, whether it be dropping a course that "seems to difficult" before the first week of classes is over, or using websites like "Rate My Professor" to discover which professors will be the most lenient. At Assumption College, it is also easy to find that a fair number of students would prefer to spend their Sunday night partying with friends opposed to studying for Monday morning's exam. As a result, this can create larger problems. As college tuition prices continue to rise, parents are spending more money for their
College preparation is not the only area in which schools are failing students. According to Achieve, Inc. (2005), 39% of high school graduates in the workforce say that they have deficiencies. When asked about being prepared for future jobs, forty-six percent say that they are deficient in the skills needed. These shortcomings in the education system will escalate when in the next 10 years, 80% of job openings will require education or training past the high school level (Achieve, 2010). One third of jobs will require a bachelor’s degree. Lower educational attainment is a national problem. Competing countries now boast more workers with associates degree...
As students in college classrooms sit and listen to their teacher’s requirements and lectures, students often asked themselves why am I here? Why am I taking this class? Is it relevant to my major, my life or career choice? College-level institutions of learning have a hard time figuring out what is the best way to teach students and what works for the student’s best. According to John Dewey “how students are taught is as important as what they are taught” (415). College level students should be taught the skills and abilities that are needed to survive in the work force as well as in society as a whole. Students will face challenges after a college education leading to a different path in life rather than the one they were chasing or hoping
Within recent decades, college has become a more easily available path than it has been for the past generations. In a current news release, The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that, “Of the 2.9 million youth age 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and October 2014, about 68.4 percent were enrolled in college in October” (BLS Economic News Release from April 2015). When a student graduates high school, most of them intend to continue on to college. They have the idea that, while there, they can break away from all the general classes and just focus on what they want to learn. However, for almost all students, they find that this is not the reality. Just like high school, they find that they have to take approximately two years in general studies in order to attend and graduate with the major of their choice. General education classes should not be required because a majority of the information learned has already been covered in past years. Most of the courses do not benefit a student 's major, and the total amount of required hours for these classes can become a big waste of time and money.
Imagine college as if it was the culmination of a life-long dream. The ideal scenario involves high school students continuing on to the college of their choice with no troubles or college debt thereafter. While there, they focus only on their education with hopes of achieving the ultimate 4.0 GPA. This manifested example continues with hopes of numerous job opportunities awaiting all graduates. Unfortunately, this is not the reality for many hopeful college students. Instead, their time is split juggling school and employment responsibilities in order to just fulfill the staggering costs associated with a college education. Rising college tuition costs affect prospective students as well as graduates by
Students are encouraged at a young age by parents and educators to plan well in advance for college and pressured to do great on a daily basis in school. Some high school students do not put forth enough effort to plan for college until their senior year. Some high school seniors think by making great grades they do not have to worry about getting into college, while others plan and prep as if it is the only thing that is important...