By Lisa Ward ‘13
Maddie McGillicuddy ‘13
Marissa Moutinho ‘13
Jeremy Lewis ‘13
EE Staff Writers
In recent years, Advanced Placement (AP) courses have become increasingly common amongst high school students across the country. However, for rising juniors and seniors who are currently applying or thinking of applying to college, AP courses are having a large impact on whether they will get into the college of their choice or not.
So are AP classes fair? While some students and teachers praise these courses for the weight they add to a student’s GPA, as well as how they aid in student preparation for college, others argue that AP classes are unfair to students since they give some an undeniable advantage over others who are not placed in AP courses.
Trumbull Public Schools was recently honored by College Board as one of 539 school districts in the U.S. and Canada that improved access to AP course work while also increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Exams. According to College Board , between 2010-2012, “Trumbull Public Schools has increased the number of students participating in AP from 185 to 233 while still enabling more than 70% of AP students to earn at least one score of 3 or higher.”
There are many students at Trumbull High who use the opportunity to take AP classes. According to senior Carly Goroff, AP courses have advantages such as smaller class size and more time to ask the teacher questions.
Goroff also said, “I like to take AP classes because I can get credit for college and just get the class over with now. The only bad thing is the work load with homework every night, on weekends, and over breaks.”
Another THS senior Grace Forster agrees, “Since I want to go into pre-med in college, taking AP classes that I could have to take eventually should definitely help me in the long run. I can also get some credits out of the way and save a ton of money.”
By taking an AP course and earning a score of a 3 or above on an AP exam, students and their families can save thousands of dollars in college tuition. THS students seem to be taking this opportunity to get college credit early. In one AP Psychology class of 25 students, 23 are planning on taking the AP test in May.
On the other hand, for students who are not enrolled in AP courses, the disadvantage they are faced with is incredible. More specifically, a student in an AP class automatically receives .7 weight added to their GPA just for taking the class. While this seems like an insignificant amount, this .7 multiplied by however many AP courses are being taken can push students’ GPAs to a 5.0, one whole point higher than the maximum GPA a student in ACP classes can receive.
Senior Cassie Urban states, “It’s really frustrating that people in AP classes have such an advantage getting extra credit for classes. I also feel like it creates segregation between students being in different level classes.”
This is a major concern to all prospective college students because now that more students are getting into AP courses, college expectations are much higher than once before making the application process even more competitive and stressful.
THS’s Writing Specialist, Mrs. Netting, shared her thoughts about AP courses and how they affect the students. She agreed that for some students AP classes are beneficial, but for others, the classes are over their heads. However, she does believe that “everyone deserves a fair shot at AP programs,” as she has personally seen students who did not have good writing skills their early years become excellent students after working their way up in higher level courses.