For many students at Osbourn, taking an AP class means balancing difficult assignments, stress, and big goals. But what is the experience actually like for AP students?
Despite knowing AP classes would be difficult, many students still chose to challenge themselves early on. Jaquelyn Figueroa said, “I took AP Human Geography in 9th grade because my Civics teacher at Metz recommended me for the class. I agreed, because it would be great if I could potentially get college credits for a class I’ve taken in freshman year, which is my goal for taking this class.” Jose Rivera stated, “I decided to take an AP class in 9th grade, because for me, Honors classes didn’t seem challenging enough. Taking an AP class sounded fun.” Janet Nguyen said, “I took an AP class to challenge myself and to experience being in an AP classroom, to help decide if it’s a type of class I’d like to continue taking in the future. I also wanted college credit.”
One of the biggest adjustments students face when entering their first AP class was the unexpected challenges that came with it. Janet stated, “The coursework was a little more rigorous than expected, and it was definitely a lot more challenging.” Jose said, “My biggest surprise when switching from Honors to my first AP class was how much self-studying we actually do for the AP class.” Zoe Rojas stated, “The most surprising thing to me was the fact we had to learn stuff on our own and get quizzed on it the next class.”
Although AP classes can be stressful, students had similar opinions on whether the experience was worth it. Zoe said, “I think taking an AP class is worth it, because eventually you’ll get accustomed to it and be ready for college.” Jaquelyn stated, “Although I think it’s a bit early to take a high-level class, it is most definitely worth it, because you don’t have to take the class in college if you get the credit.” Nathan said, “I think if you’re getting the credit, then it’s worth it and you should struggle to get the experience. You also get a good amount of credit if you pass the test.”
Every student faced obstacles throughout their AP course. Zoe said, “A hard part of the class to me is definitely keeping up. If you miss one class, you miss around three topics,” Janet said, “The hardest part was the quizzes and assignments, but learning the stuff is easiest.” For many students, taking an AP class changes the way they view success, compared to before taking the class. Jose said, “Academic success for me now is when I don’t understand something, but then I take my time trying to understand it until I finally do. Before AP classes, academic success to me was straight A’s and B’s.”
Lots of things can be considered time wasters for students in all classes. Jose said, ” My biggest time waster was going over stuff I didn’t even understand after hours of studying.” Janet said, “Some stuff that wasted my time was spending too much time studying units or things that weren’t super important for the exam.” Nathan said, “Honestly, for me, a time waster was probably reading the book that I would lose track of. I didn’t really comprehend it.”
Support systems also play an important role in helping students succeed. Jose said, “When I was stuck on a topic, I turned to my friends and asked them for help, because they always had something in their notes that I had probably missed.” Zoe said, “My friends helped explain the material in a different way I could understand.” The daily workload of an AP class also looked different than regular classes.
After having taken an AP class, there were a few reflections from students. Janet said, “I would tell myself from the beginning of the year to focus more and spend extra time outside of school reviewing the material.” Jose said, ” I would tell my past self to spend more time reviewing my notes and actually understanding them on a deeper level.” Jaquelyn said, “I would’ve told my past self to study, write notes, and listen in class way more, instead of goofing off with my friends. It’s easy to fall behind, but you can always get back up.”
Outside of academics, students also had to learn how to manage AP coursework with clubs, friendship, and sleep. Janet said, “I try my best to do work and pay attention during class, in order to avoid giving myself extra work to do at home.” Jaquelyn said, “I balanced my AP class work with other parts of my life by going off of a schedule. I would dedicate a certain amount of time in a day for my studies on a certain day of the week, so it doesn’t collide with my sleep schedule or other important things.”
Have you taken an AP class? What did you think of it?
