VIEWPOINT MAGAZINE Volume 2.1 October 2013 | Page 16

Achieve More
With Advanced Placement
By Peter Cho

R

ecently, Mountainview has been offering various Advanced Placement courses to the students such as AP
World History, AP Language and Composition, AP US history, AP Psychology, AP Environmental Science, and
many more. This sudden increase of AP classes is considered one of the main changes in MICS, because AP
classes were relatively rare a few years ago. As a result, only a limited number of people took AP exams.
However, many teachers now volunteer to teach AP classes or help students to prepare for the AP exam, and
this greatly increased the number of students taking the AP Exam.
Before going further to discussion, the definition of Advanced Placement needs to be clearly explained. It is a
college-level course that College Board, an educational institution in the US, designed to challenge high school
students by offering them college-level courses and corresponding evaluation exams.
Unfortunately, AP requires college-level critical thinking ability, which high school students often fail to fully
acquire. Therefore, studying and preparing for an AP exam requires strong commitment and hard effort. For
some students, AP becomes another burden that they have to deal with, along with the overwhelming loads of
school work and after-school activities. So is AP really
worth our time and effort or is it just another pointless
effort that would eventually stress us out? And if it is
worth it, what are the benefits?
First of all, good AP Exam scores (3 or higher)
will impress the college you are applying to because they
look for students who has taken challenging courses in
high school. This will undoubtedly help your chance to
be accepted to a more prestigious college.
Secondly, studying and preparing for an AP exam helps
students to develop a college-level skill of processing
information. These are essential skills that many high
school students must develop once they start studying in
college. Therefore, it’s better to learn these
semi-mandatory adeptness in high school rather than
learning it through hard ways in college.
Another reason for taking an AP class is that it helps
you to save money. Yes, AP exams are quite
expensive, especially for those who live outside the US.
But in the long run, it can be very useful to acquire the college credits in high school, because once you have
acquired college-level class credits in high school, then you don’t need to take the class in college, which all saves
more tuition fees.
Lastly, studying for AP helps you to choose your major quickly. By studying various fields in-depth through
rigorous classes, you will most likely find a certain area where you feel most interested. Once you have figured
out your preference, it will relieve the stress of finding and choosing you major in college.
Preparing for an AP exam is a tough task for high school students because it requires persistent
commitment. Nevertheless, these stresses are only temporary and miniscule compared to the benefits of AP
credits. I challenge all of you guys to take advantage of the abundance of AP classes in MICS, because with hard
effort, you will get the results you deserve, which will help you to plan and apply to your dream colleges.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this page do not, in any way, represent the school’s opinion. These
are owned and freely expressed by the individuals per se.

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