AP courses, also known as advanced placement classes, are known to be harder and require a larger workload than standard classes; however, many high school students take them to make them look more academically successful on their transcript and college applications and to bring a bigger challenge among themselves. At Mission Hills High School, students have benefitted by taking AP courses, but a handful have experienced some downsides.
“AP classes look good on my transcript and give me a better understanding of college English classes,” senior Remy Escobar said. “They also have helped me expand my memory about politics and the government branches.”
AP courses have helped students with their transcripts and their knowledge of other areas that they usually would not look at.
“AP Spanish has helped me use accent marks because I never knew how to, and about the variety of Latin cultures,” senior Yessi Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez claims that AP Spanish has aided her in getting a deeper understanding of the language as well as the punctuation of some words.
“AP classes as a whole have helped with my college applications because they have helped my GPA become weighted, causing my acceptance into Oklahoma University,” said Amy Guerra.
Amy explains how AP classes have helped her overall GPA increase and gave her a great college to attend for the next four years.
“Some disadvantages [include being] sleep deprived for days from studying and the workload. I was also stressed out due to AP exams,” Remy Escobar said.
The overload of stress on Escobar also caused him to start sleeping later due to having to finish work, which affected his mental health. This shows that a heavy workload can also take a negative toll on someone’s health.
“I have felt less confident in my abilities, and I have a lot of homework and get easily unmotivated,” Rodriguez said.
AP classes have made her feel less confident in my abilities and have given her a heavy workload.
“Some negative aspects are the workload and overload on notes,” said Amy Guerra.
Throughout these interviews, it is shown that AP classes are highly beneficial for college applications and challenging the student’s abilities. Also conveying the downsides like work overload and mental issues. Before signing up for advanced classes, look at the downsides and upsides.
