Insight into different classes

Counselors will visit social studies classes to plan next year’s class schedules. Are you on the fence about taking a dual credit class? Are you thinking of moving up into the world of advanced placement classes? To help you determine which class to take, our staffers gave a bit of insight on taking dual credit, AP or general education classes. Before creating your schedule, check our guide to see what classes will fit your needs most.

AP: I’m senior Aarika Novelli, and throughout high school I have taken seven AP classes. I’ve learned a lot about those subjects as well as myself over the years and, for those who are trying to decide which classes to register for, I have some advice you might be interested in hearing. With my experience in AP classes, there are a few things you need to know before you decide to take the most challenging classes offered.

Dual Credit: I’m Sara Grosvenor and I’m a senior. I’ve taken dual credit Government and am currently enrolled in dual credit College Algebra and Economics. I speak from experience, so here’s just a bit of insight and I hope you take it into consideration before you sign up for classes.

General Education: I am junior Josh Radkowski. I have taken multiple regular classes through my years of high school. Regular classes aren’t the most difficult and are usually pretty easy going and fun.

Expectations

AP: I knew going in that I was going to have a heavy workload outside of school with my AP Classes because they’re designed to prepare students for the AP test, which, if you pass, can omit you from taking that class in college.

Dual Credit: Before signing up for the class, I was told that dual credit would not be much different from regular classes. I was told there would just be more notes to take. To me that didn’t sound too bad, but on the first day of class I was in for an unpleasant surprise.

General Education: When I sign up for regular classes I expect just a steady workload, not five pages of homework a night. There aren’t any mind-bending insanely hard tests that cause students to walk out of the class crying. General education teachers are usually here to help you succeed. The lax late work policies that give students that have trouble more time to turn in work is also beneficial.

Realization

AP: The tests aren’t going to be easy. You can’t simply look back at your textbook or notes to find the answers; you have to engage in higher level thinking. Self-discipline is the most important thing. No one’s going to be there to tell you when your assignments are due. You’re not going to get review sheets for tests, and most of your work is going to be independent and done  at home. You can’t turn in assignments late for credit, but it can positively affect your GPA. So long as you’re originally making a 70 or higher, each letter grade in an AP class counts as a grade letter higher. For example, if you are making an 85 in an AP class, it is weighted as a 95.

Dual Credit: There were plenty more notes to take, in fact we took notes every day. It was very lecture based. There weren’t many worksheets, but if you didn’t read the chapter, which was sometimes very long, it was very unlikely that you would pass the test.  I didn’t expect that the test would be as hard as it was.

General Education: Most regular classes are really easy. No matter what, they don’t require you to spend every EAST time in that class. A lot depends on which teacher you get because all teachers teach differently.

Workload

AP: To get to the point where you can pass the AP test, your teachers are going to challenge you with more homework than in a regular class. Some nights you could be studying for hours just for one test while other teachers are still expecting you to finish assignments as well

Dual Credit: The work load in dual credit can be pretty grueling. You earn three credit hours for the class if you pass, so the recommended amount of study time is three hours a day. Although you may not need the three hours if you do not study every day you will find yourself cramming for a test. Although there are not very many take home assignments, the reading of long chapters, the note taking and studying for quizzes and tests can take up quite a bit of time. I would say that the work load for a dual credit class is moderately high, but it’s doable.

General Education: The work is just normal work, not extremely hard. You are still assigned homework, but it isn’t overwhelming. Tests are usually close to the review and as long as you study, you’ll do fine.

Conclusion

AP: In the end, it’s worth the work to get the college credit, but if you aren’t self-motivated, the class is going to move too fast and you will have difficulty keeping up.

Dual Credit: I don’t mean to scare you away from taking dual credit if that is your plan. If you’re the kind of student who is pretty organized, has exceptional work ethics, doesn’t mind taking notes, doing quite a bit of studying, and does a good job at managing time, then you will do fine in dual credit. If you’re the kind of student who does what you can to just slide by, I wouldn’t recommend it. I don’t regret taking dual credit, but I wish I would have known what I was getting myself into.

General Education: Regular classes are ideal for those who are involved in other activities and may not have a lot of time to do homework.