"Wisconsin's high school class of 2011 led the Midwest in the percent of students earning college credits in the Advanced Placement program, according to a news release Wednesday from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Of the state's graduates 19.4% achieved a score of three or higher on the exam. Illinois came in second among the 13 Midwest states with 18.5% of students earning a three or higher, the threshold for receiving college credits. Nationally, 18.1% of graduates scored a three or higher."
-- Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel online
The cost of taking an AP exam--for some subjects--is well worth it when it comes time to enter college. If a student wisely chooses the AP courses s/he takes in high school, passing the AP exam with a score of 3 or better can be parlayed into college credits, shaving some costly time off their college tenure.
Alternatively, having these college credits can allow the student to expand his/her horizons and take many other college course offerings while staying on track for graduation in 4 years.
Finally, one often overlooked benefit of taking AP courses and exams for college credit is that the student starts off ahead of the average freshman. In most college systems, course selection each semester is on a first come-first serve basis in descending order of college credits accumulated. An incoming freshman can often be classified as a sophomore based on credits accumulated (via AP credits earned). This distinction gives these students a better chance at getting into desirable courses or classes with favored instructors.
The one caveat to students is to be wary of AP exams for foreign languages. It is very difficult, if not nearly impossible, to obtain a score of at least "3" (the minimum necessary to obtain college credit). We don't want to discourage students from taking foreign language AP exams, but please be aware that you are competing against native speakers of the language. That simple reality makes it a significant challenge. Ask your teachers for historical student performance on these exams first.
The bottom line is that taking AP exams and scoring well on them can be very beneficial to you in college.
Posts
