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Advanced Placement Program

What is the Advanced Placement Program?
The Advanced Placement Program is an opportunity for students to take college level classes while still in high school without leaving campus. By taking a national exam, you may earn credit or advanced placement from thousands of colleges and universities that participate in the Advanced Placement Program worldwide. All colleges and universities in Washington state accept AP (Advanced Placement ) credit.

What are the benefits?
The work you do in an AP course will help you develop skills and study habits that will be vital in college. For example, you will learn how to analyze problems effectively, improve your writing skills, and prepare for exams. These are tools that will serve you well throughout your college career and beyond. Once you are used to being challenged you are more likely to continue with advanced studies.

Recent research (Adelman, 1999) found that high school seniors who took only one AP class nearly doubled the likelihood of graduation from college (59% compared to 33% of those who did not take an AP class). Students who took two or more AP Courses raised the likelihood to 76%. This study also found that the academic intensity of course work taken in high school is the best predictor of student success in college, regardless of socioeconomic status or ethnicity.

How difficult are AP courses?
Compared with regular high school courses, AP courses are usually more demanding. Depending on the subject, you may read and write more, analyze material, synthesize ideas, solve problems, and evaluate. Most AP classes are comparable to sophisticated college courses, so they aren't easy, but they're not impossibly difficult either. You take these classes from qualified teachers in your own high school who are dedicated to your success.

Colleges and universities recognize that applicants with AP experience are much better prepared for the demands of college courses. Admissions officers are well aware of the difficulty of AP courses and exams since they are based on a national standard, as opposed to Running Start which is a local standard from a community college.

What are AP exams like?
Each exam is given in May and is a three hour test of multiple-choice and free response questions that require essay writing, problem solving and other critical thinking skills. You risk nothing by taking the AP Exam, since you determine which colleges, if any, will receive your grade. Once accepted by the college or university, your grade is a permanent part of your transcript.

Scoring is conducted by the Educational Testing Service to insure consistency and accuracy. The Advanced Placement exam is a national standard and is accepted by the vast majority of colleges and universities in the United States and in many countries around the world.

What is the cost?
By taking an AP Exam, you will be investing in yourself and your future. If you receive a qualifying grade on an AP Exam, your $78 exam fee investment can translate into major savings. A course credit at a university would cost much more. The College Board has a fee reduction policy for students who demonstrate financial need. Ask your counselor for more information.

How do I get involved in the AP Program?
Work with your counselor in middle school, 9th and 10th grades to help plan your courses and decide which Honors and AP classes to take.

Which Honors and AP Classes are available at Wenatchee High School?

• Honors English, Grades 9 & 10
• Honors CWP, Grade 12
• AP English Literature
• AP Biology
• AP Chemistry
• AP Calculus
• AP Physics
• AP U. S. History
• AP Art Studio (Directed Study)
• 4th year Foreign Language Students often take the AP exam

For more information, contact your high school counselor or visit the College Board website at www.collegeboard.org

Questions? Contact Terri Bawden (bawden.t@mail.wsd.wednet.edu)