The Princeton Review
Depending on your high school, you might have the opportunity to take “college” classes — and perhaps earn college credit — prior to graduation.
The most common options for this are AP classes and the IB program.
You can earn advanced placement. If you pass Intro to Psych as a “college” course while in high school, you won’t need to take it again in college. Why study the same subject twice, right? Depending on your future undergraduate school, such classes may also satisfy core curriculum requirements. Basically, you can free up your college schedule so that you’ll be able to take more of the courses you want to take.
You can earn college credit or even advanced standing. If your future undergraduate school awards credit — rather than just “advanced placement” — for these classes, you can apply this credit toward your degree. If you gain enough credits, you may begin college with advanced standing — i.e., as a sophomore rather than as a freshman. (Sophomore standing may qualify you for various perks, including preferential course registration, student housing, parking, etc.) Overall, these credits will shave time off of your college experience. College is usually far more expensive than any of these options, so this substitution makes financial sense.
Before you run out and sign up for every AP class available (or take the IB program), take a minute to read a little bit more.
AP and IB
AP is done by College Board, the same people who do the SAT. AP is offered in many different subjects. A high school may offer a specific selection of these AP classes, all of them, or even none of them. Whatever the case, you choose among the AP classes offered by your high school. (In the future, AP class options should increase at many high schools with online AP classes.)
If you expect to do really well in the non-AP version of a class, the AP version might be a good option for you.
IB is less common than AP — it is a full program of classes in a variety of subjects. If your school does IB, you will probably hear about it.
AP and IB classes are hard and, as such, they look good on college applications. Here are a few other things to consider.
- There is a special end-of-year exam for each AP/IB class that you take.
- You often need to get a high score on this exam in order to be awarded advanced placement or credit for the class.
- Because they are hard, these classes can add more stress to your high school years.
- If you struggle and don’t learn the material, it’s not good preparation for college. Don’t do AP or the IB program unless you expect to do well.
- After reviewing your exam scores, your future college will decide whether to award you advanced placement or credit. Different colleges may award a different number of credits for the same score on a given exam.
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