Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck in AP Classes

By Sean Scarpiello

With the cost of college being so high today, many students are enrolling in Advanced Placement (AP) classes during high school in hopes of saving money in college. When taking an AP class, students are essentially taking a college level class. Then, at the end of each AP class, students can take a test to determine if they can receive full college credit for the course. If a students do well enough on their AP test, skipping a class can allow them to take other classes to work towards a double major, or even shorten their college experience down to three years, saving them money altogether. Yet, while there are many financial benefits to this option, there also seem to be a few problems with this arrangement.

Many different colleges have different opinions on AP classes. Some schools have very strict policies on them, while others are very relaxed. Therefore, it is very important for students to look into these college policies when choosing a school. For example, at my college, if a student takes AP Biology 1 and 2 in high school and receives a 4 on the AP test, they can skip General Biology I in college. If a student scores a 5 on the AP test, they can skip both General Biology I and II. Other colleges have different polices and will allow students to skip classes with lower scores on the AP tests. And while this sounds like a great idea, there are even more specifics students should look into when choosing a school, AP classes, or even a graduate programs. Because while colleges have their own opinions on AP coursework, so do many other institutions.

Referring back to my example, if a student scores a 5 on the AP test, they can skip the two general biology classes and jump right into upper level biology classes. But does a student really want to do that? Many graduate and doctorate programs in the sciences require that students take the general science courses at a four-year college. Therefore, it would be a shame if a student chose to bypass these general biology courses early in their education, and then had to retake these courses later to get into a graduate degree program. Further, while AP courses technically are the equivalent of a college level class, they are not equal in a few ways. The biggest way in which they differ is that AP classes lack the lab component of many science classes, which, for science majors, is very important. A student who tests out of general science course with a lab may struggle through the lab components of their upper level classes. This is because they enter higher level courses without the ability to properly write abstracts, read scientific articles, and use proper lab techniques which are the fundamentals taught in first year science courses.

Even when taking non-science courses in college, high school classes such as AP Statistics, AP History, or AP English simply lack the college course layout. Sitting through a college class is much different than those in high school. College classes are generally shorter, require much more independent work outside of class, and students have much less one on one contact with their college professors than they do with their high school teachers. Therefore, I feel as if AP classes work well as a jumping off point for students when they get to college. This is because students learn all of the material of a college level class in high school, but when they take the same class in college, they can focus on the course’s structural differences and get used to what it takes to succeed in a real college class.

Another option that works well for students planning on taking AP classes for college credit is to take AP classes in subjects you do not want to major in during college. While it is still great for students to take AP classes in fields their interested in, AP credit works best for the students who can avoid certain types of classes altogether in college. A great example of this would be a political science or business major who took an AP science course in high school. Most colleges require just a few science distribution courses, so if the student can bypass courses they need to take for distribution through the use of AP credit, they have an upper hand. Plus, this political science or business major, who may never use this science again or in their career, can completely avoid having to take the difficult science course with expensive textbooks and long labs. With this option, they can completely cut their college experience short a year by finishing distribution and general education classes before they even arrive at college. Otherwise, these students can cut out these general requirements and pick up a double major or take classes they can greater benefit from during their four years at college.

Overall, while AP courses are fantastic, it is important to approach them strategically. By doing this, students can take the AP classes will most benefit them financially in college by allowing them to cut college short and save on tuition or for focusing on more important classes in their major. In fact, if high schools increased the numbers of AP courses offered, students can save a lot of money not just in tuition, but also textbooks, lab fees, and more. In all, AP classes are great for education as they provide it at a lower cost for many students across the United States.