It is that time of year again, stress is weaving its way through each student’s mind as they envision themselves gaining acceptance into college, heading to college, or simply finishing off a year with a final triumph.
The wave of colorful course selection sheets are being passed around, creating looks of concern written all over the students faces.Advanced Placement (AP) course takers are gearing up for their launch into studying and taking the test for college credit.
AP classes provide the most thought provoking, college preparedness level than any other course or dual credit class offered at Bowie.  AP classes give students an opportunity to excel at their academic area, become prepared on a college level, and save money for future college tuition payments.
Gifted and talented students or even students with a spark of interest in a particular subject can excel to their fullest potential in AP classes.
AP classes give students direct feedback on the positive and negative aspects of their work ethic, which in return allows the student to improve in areas they need help in before college.
Some students desire a challenge to test the uncharted waters in front of them with their big toe in the lead while others simply watch from a distance on the beach.
When someone has a talent they must show it off to the world just as a pearl shimmers alone under the protection of the oyster.
AP can allow those pearls to truly shine and polish themselves for the rest of their life.
The AP students going into the treacherous deep end are giving themselves the opportunity to become prepared on a college academic level. The academic rigor of AP is not your average ABC’s and 123’s, but what comes from within oneself in order to test the limits.
There is a fire within us all that burns deepest when hungry to grasp more knowledge.
In the future, AP courses will save students money because with a solid score on the course ending test the will earn credit for the class on a college level.
Most of the time this requires at least a three on the exam, but some schools have increased the required number to four or five on that test. Some schools have completely different requirements for AP students.
AP classes can provide a great way to save money in college if the results of the student’s AP test(s) are acceptable towards the selected college/university.
There is a solution to this scary situation of not getting credit for an AP course that a student spent time and effort working on. The solution lies within the direct results of the actual class.
For example; the student makes all A’s in their AP Chemistry class then that could be factored into the overall scoring of whether or not a student should get college credit for the course.
A hybrid of the AP test and the AP class grade would be the perfect combination to allow colleges to gain an understanding of whether or not the student deserved course credit.
AP classes are a perfect opportunity for a student to get a real feel of a college environment and allow students to prepare themselves to boldly go where no man has gone before.