Getting Ahead of the Game

by Aiden Preston staff writer

Highlighting the benefits of taking college classes in high school

y entire high school career started back when I was in first grade and my teacher offered a test to me that would allow me to pass into the next grade’s math level. The test was offered to three people: me, my friend, and another classmate. We all took a multiplication test before we were taught how to multiply numbers in class, and out of the three students, I was the only one who didn’t pass the test. That failure motivated me to do better, and the next week I retook the test and passed. After my success on the test I was moved to a math class with all the second graders, setting myself in a more difficult course. From that point forward, I would stay in a more rigorous educational environment to challenge and better myself. That one multiplication test from almost ten years ago leads me to where I am today: I am currently in my sophomore year of high school taking college-level history, Honors Science and English, and a senior-level math class. Having a good experience with a class can be all that is needed to maintain interest in the subject. This happened to me in my ninth grade history class, and my liking of the class was one of the most important factors in my decision to

Mdo Advanced Placement (AP) World History. AP classes are college-level courses that are offered to high school students. The classes are challenging throughout the year and offer a test at the end of the school year that allows students to accrue college credit based on their scores. While I’m only currently taking one, there are many AP classes available at Central, spanning from AP World History to AP Drawing. “In AP drawing, what [students] have to do each year changes a little bit. They have to do a sustained investigation, [and] they have to make a question of inquiry,” says Lisa Peoples, the AP drawing teacher here at Central. Unlike most AP classes, AP Drawing does not end with a final test to determine college credit. “Then their goal throughout the year is to create a portfolio that answers that question visually. They have to make 15 works over the course of the year that somehow portrays the skill level of college-level work.” The main purpose for joining AP classes is to take the credit test at the end of the year. Prior to enrolling in AP World, I wondered how much the credit test actually helps and if there are better alternatives for early college, like dual enroll-

Graphic: A. McGraw

Photo: E. Hermel

ment. Brandee Ludka, one of the counselors here at Central, shared some of her extensive background knowledge on what colleges look for in applications. “University of Michigan, for example, would look at a transcript, and they would rather see AP classes on your transcript rather than NMC, as long as we offer the class here as AP. They like seeing AP just because they know AP has a standard across the nation,” Ludka explains. Knowing colleges would rather see AP classes than NMC classes, I wondered what colleges care more about in regards to grades. “Your grades in all of your courses are the most important, then the grades in your college prep courses, so they might eliminate electives and just look at grades for core classes,” Ludka clarifies. So, while doing well on the AP test can reduce the amount of classes you actually need to take in college, grades are still the overall most important factor in the application process and should be a student’s main focus throughout high school. Because these classes are more rigorous and time-consuming, students need to be wary when signing up for AP classes. If a student is starting to

fall behind, the best thing that they can do is consult their teacher to see what they can do to help. If grades, time, stress, and other school related things get too bad, and their teachers can’t help them, students should opt out of AP and focus on getting good grades in core classes, as this is what colleges would rather see. Going into this school year, I was heavily considering the notion about the significance of grades. I knew my AP class was going to be difficult. Still, I didn’t know the full extent of the workload. Seeing my textbook for the class “So, while doing well on the AP test during orientation was like a can reduce the amount of classes wakeup call that I was really you actually need to take in going to need to focus this college, your grades in all of your year if I wanted to succeed. classes are still the most important factor in application.” As Peoples puts it: “go into it knowing it takes extra work. You’re trying to get collegelevel classes out of the way, so don’t plan on thinking that what you do in an hour everyday is enough to be successful.” Time management is something that seemingly all AP teachers stress, and they are right in doing so; AP classes take a lot of a student’s time between studying, doing homework, and working on projects. But in the end, the time, hard work, and dedication are all a worthwhile investment. //