Why Take AP Courses?

By Jordan Schonig – Grockit instructor

For most high school students, the decision to take AP courses can be quite daunting. Enrolling in AP courses requires measuring the benefits against the possible drawbacks. The first question students almost always ask is whether the advantages of AP courses exceed the increased difficulty and workload that comes with such courses. Before you make your decision, you should know of all the advantages AP courses can offer.

1.       College Admissions

It’s a common misconception that SAT scores and GPA is all that matters when admissions boards examine your high school education. In fact, the kinds of courses you take are almost as important. Admissions officers want to make sure that their applicants will thrive at their institutions, and one of the best ways to predict undergraduate performance is to look at your performance in AP courses.

2.       Prepare for College Courses

AP courses are designed to emulate college courses, so taking APs will help ease the transition from high school to college education. The critical thinking, problem solving, and writing skills required of you in APs—not to mention the added responsibility of preparing for the AP exams—will prepare you for your first year of college more than regular or even honors high school courses. 

3.       Earn College Credit

Perhaps the most versatile benefit of APs is the college credit you will earn. Scoring well on your AP exams will often help you earn credits for general education courses (those courses required by all students regardless of major) in college. This can have tremendous advantages for an incoming freshman. Because the AP credits will help you finish general education requirements sooner, you will have more time to explore elective classes that you want to take. Having the freedom to take a variety of classes means you’ll be able to try out different academic disciplines, thereby helping you narrow down your choice of major.

4.       Save Money

The most tangible benefit of APs is the money you could potentially save. If you score well on enough AP exams, you could earn enough college credit to graduate early by a semester or two. So while you shouldn’t just graduate early just because you can, you can see how cost-effective AP courses really are. After all, AP exams cost very little in comparison to a semester’s tuition.

Remember, getting the most out of your AP course requires you to score well on the exam, so come exam season, we recommend you invest in study materials, including test prep books, test prep websites like Grockit.com, and course material.

5 Things I Wish I’d Known About PICKING COURSES When I Started College

At Grockit, we’re all about education and getting you ready to move on to the next stage in your life.  But we’re not just teachers; we’re all former and/or current students, too, and we’ve got more than just test preparation tips to share with you!

By the end of my freshman year in college, I had already changed my major twice, and as a result, I picked up a lot of random knowledge about different kinds of classes across several disciplines.  Read on to learn the easy way from a few lessons I got the hard way!

1. Two words: PASS/FAIL.  Don’t overuse this option—it looks lazy on your transcript if you’ve taken tons of pass/fail courses—but if it’s available to you, take advantage of it when its appropriate.  Talk to your advisor if you’re not sure how it works.  There’s no better way for a liberal arts scholar to explore astrophysics, or for an engineering student to learn about Chaucer, than by doing it pass/fail.  Once the grade pressure is off, the learning pleasure can really kick in, and you might discover a new academic passion!
2. Start with your foundation courses, then move on to the specialized ones later.  You might change your mind a few times about what you want to major in, and if you’ve taken a bunch of English courses before deciding that you REALLY want to be a math major, you might not be able to use all of those credits.  Try to get your general ed requirements out of the way at the beginning; those credits will usually be good no matter what major you end up pursuing.
3. Often, credits will transfer from another institution but the grade won’t—make the most of this!  If you’re worried about what getting a C in that dreaded foundation course will do to your GPA, try taking it during the summer at a community college and transferring the credit to your university later.  Of course, see an advisor to make sure that the credit will transfer and will fulfill your requirement, but with a little planning you can save some yourself both money and stress this way; this is a particularly popular option for math-haters who have to take a basic course in the subject to graduate.
4. The rule of thumb is that each credit hour of class will translate to about 3 hours of homework.  You should be prepared to spend 9 hours each week prepping for a 3 credit class, so don’t overload yourself by taking more credits than you can handle the out-of-class responsibilities for.
5. Learn a little about the professor before signing up for the class, if you can.  Do some research online or ask upperclassmen.  A great professor can make a boring subject captivating; this also goes the other way.  Don’t pick a course just for the topic—try to learn from professors who interest you, too.

What kinds of things have you learned about picking courses, and what do you wish you knew?  Share it in the comments!

About Grockit: Grockit is a fun and engaging learning community that encourages students to learn from group study, game play, expert tutorials and solo study. Students that prepare with Grockit have proven to achieve higher scores on college admissions tests. 

About the author: Andrea Alexander is a current graduate student in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. She's been teaching test prep for about eight years and have picked up lots of helpful knowledge along the way. She specializes in the verbal aspects of test prep, since her education and career experience as an attorney, freelance writer, and editor have given her the background for that.