When you send your child to college, you want the assurance that he or she is adequately prepared for the challenge of university-level courses. The faculty at Saint Joseph High School, a private school in Metuchen, NJ, say that taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses is an excellent way to make sure a student is prepared to succeed in college.
Below, they explain three reasons AP classes are key for college preparation.
Prepare for College Workload: AP classes equip students with the tools they need to excel in college. They focus on writing, critical thinking, and problem solving--three skills university professors will expect their students to have. Additionally, they dive deeper into subject matter than ordinary high school classes, providing
As a highschool student we come up with many goals that we want to achieve each year. My three main goals for my junior year are to get good grades and maintain a good G.P.A. to stay active and play sports, and to start looking for colleges to apply for. Usually, it is hard to achieve all your own personal goals, especially if it involves working extra hard or doing other tedious activities.
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.
In high school, my AP English and Economics courses have been the most challenging, yet rewarding. The number of homework, classwork, and critical thinking honed my ability to focus and converted me
AP Seminar was my first experience in an environment that was completely dedicated to learning, without the fixation on the letter grades that ‘determine’ success. My peers were my teachers. I discussed, debated, and collaborated with peers that shared various viewpoints on thought provoking issues that challenged my own. I learned to ask the ‘Whys?,’ ‘Hows?,’ and ‘What Ifs?’ and dive deeper into discussion. The environment fostered differences in interests, mindsets, and intellect. My attraction drew me to seek an intellectually diverse learning environment that challenges my preconceived opinions and ideas. Columbia, through the Core system, acknowledges and uniquely accomplishes the same goals of learning as my AP Seminar class. The prospect
Education prepares students for their future. College is advanced education that is specialized in certain ways to the career choice of students. College prepares students for the future by specializing in their education.
Throughout high school, the English courses were very time consuming and over whelming resulting in me disliking the subject even more. The assignments and readings that were usually given took up the majority of my time; this resulted in work from my other courses being left unfinished. My last two years of school consisted of research papers and in class compositions. But nothing compared to the tedious work that I encountered my junior and senior year when I decided to challenge myself by taking AP English courses. Many people said it was just like any other English course with a little extra writing involved; my view was completely different. The AP English class...
Mathews highlighted the differences between their views on AP classes: “Wakefield teachers urged everyone to try AP and got award-winning results” (Mathews) as opposed to T.C Williams High School which does not urge all of its students to take AP classes. Mathews supports his argument with facts by stating that, “The percentages of tests passed by Wakefield students were higher: 51 percent to 39 percent.” The author used data from the success of Wakefield on the AP Exam, compared to T.C Williams, to refute Welsh’s claims. Logically, one could conclude that a school performs better on AP exams when AP courses are offered to all students. The author discussed the success of Garfield High School in East Lost Angles where 85 percent of their students were low-income in 1987. The teachers took a bold risk and decide to improve courses in order to prepare their students for the AP exam. As a result, “85 out of the 129 students got a passing score of a three or better” (Mathews). Mathews included rhetorical
Furthermore, my most challenging courses throughout my Junior year were Ap US history and Ap English Language. As for Ap US history time management
For me, being a college writer means writing well-organized essays that readers enjoy reading. Being a well rounded writer was also important. Each unit in this class challenged me to write in a well-organized, concise way. During each unit, we conducted some sort of revision activity where I was exposed to other students’ writing. As I read their work, I picked up on their use of transition words and separation of paragraphs to make the essay flow. Naturally, I began implementing more transition words in my own work and learned the appropriate ways to split paragraphs. The structure of the class was key to the organization of my ideas which was crucial to the development of my essay. During the third unit of this class, we were asked to identify an issue on campus, conduct research on the issue, and finally propose a solution to correct the issue. At first, it was difficult to get my ideas down and figure out what it was I would research. What I learned in class allowed me to first identify the issue I would research, write a rough draft, and hear what others had written before the final paper was due. This helped me to identify the main points, brainstorm and figure out what additional research I would need to find to support my argument. Being able to organize my thoughts from the beginning made writing the paper a much easier process. This course has helped me to grow as a writer and make
It is time to turn the tables and test the teachers on the challenge of college. Throughout high school, students are told all about how difficult college is and what to expect. Not yet having experienced it, the students typically prepare for the worst. They teach themselves how to study based on the standards of their high school. They write papers, do homework, and participate in class in the attempt to meet the expectations of their teachers. They base their picture of college off their teachers’ standards and what their peers say. While many high school students have developed accurate expectations regarding the difficulties of college, the study skills acquired in high school may not be enough to ensure success at the collegiate level.
I have been taking advantage of educational opportunities such as AP classes and Honors throughout high school because these courses will prepare me for college. In addition, an AP class will help me save money on tuition, and it will also help me graduate sooner. I decided to take my first AP class my sophomore year because I was encouraged by one of my previous teachers. I am glad that I took AP Spanish Language and Culture my sophomore year because that gave me an idea of how much work to expect when I attend college. Since, I was very dedicated to passing the AP test, I developed new study skills such as asking questions, making flashcards, and taking cornell notes. All of these study skills were very helpful because I passed the AP exam.
Growing up in a competitive academic environment with a rigorous class schedule, I am familiar with the demands that advanced classes require. While participating in the Honors College at the University of Arkansas this semester, I am taking two honors classes and can clearly notice the difference in rigor between the two honors classes and the rest of my schedule. I strive to be able to challenge myself by taking even more honors classes at Texas Tech in order to not only learn more but to continue developing my sense of self-discipline and perseverance. Both in high school and at the University of Arkansas my advanced and honors classes included a much smaller class size, which helped tremendously in learning and truly understanding the material.
My school does not offer that many AP classes for many reasons. I took advantage of what was offered to me and took as many classes that my schedule allowed. My schedule was already limited, so to add AP classes to it I had to budget my time wisely. I would cut out anything from my schedule that I didn’t find to be useful. I spent hours studying and doing my homework before doing anything else. All the time and effort that I put into AP classes was worth the while in the sense that it better prepared me for college classes and challenged me academically. It helped prepare me for college classes by exposing me to much more difficult coursework than that of which I was used to. I also had to adopt better study habits that would be useful for
College is an exciting time of one's life, it is a time of discovering and learning new things that are more than just about academics, it is also about learning more about one's character and facing new challenges along the way. College education provides numerous academic, personal, and even financial challenges, and the students who have the necessary qualities to succeed are the only students who are best equipped and better prepared to face these challenges.
Failure is inevitable. Every single person experiences failure in their life. These failures can be rather insignificant, or they can be catastrophic. But, no matter the size, all failures are painful. For some, failure hurts the most whenever one has been trying to succeed for a very long time, and then fail. So much time and effort is put in to achieving a goal, but all is lost when strikes. Unfortunately, this happened to me. I had put a lot of time and effort into becoming an honor graduate of Hempfield Area High School, but I became ill with “senior-itis” and never met my goal. Although failing to become an honor graduate had an immense impact on my parents and I, it helped me set high goals for college, and realize important lessons