It’s class selection season! Are you not sure whether to take an Advanced Placement course or an honors class? Well, this is the place for you!
Honors classes are a great step up for students who are willing to put in a little more effort. Depending on the class, they are at a bit of a quicker pace than academic-level classes. They may go more in-depth about specific topics and pick your brain to see the meaning behind the information.
For some students, a slower pace works perfectly for them. For others, a quicker pace may allow them to thrive as they may understand the work more quickly. Honors courses also weigh more towards your GPA than college-prep classes (8 points). Gateway offers honors-level classes in all grade levels for all required classes, specifically English, math, science, and history, as well as language levels beyond level two.
AP classes are more advanced courses that follow a curriculum provided by the College Board, which is designed to pass the AP exam for the specific course. The classes are taught at a fast pace and contain numerous amounts of lessons. For some students, this can be very overwhelming and cause them to do poorly in the class. To succeed, you need to be determined, disciplined, and hard-working.
The courses are difficult, but they teach you more than the requirements for the subject. Junior Billy McCauley shared his thoughts, “The workload is a lot, and I would have more free time if I took non-AP classes, but it pays off in the end and prepares me for college.” He also utilizes his AP classes to boost his GPA, since AP classes weigh 10 points more than the college-prep and honors levels.
AP courses include and go beyond the basic English, math, science, and history. Here at Gateway, we have AP Psychology, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Government, AP English classes, AP math classes, AP science classes, AP history classes, and AP levels of our languages!
Personally, AP classes are difficult but do-able. In all of my AP classes, I have received all A’s besides in AP US History, in which I still received a high B. There is a lot of work to be done in and out of class, but all of the hard work pays off at the end of the year, whether you pass the exam or not.
AP classes have shown me that grades should not be your main priority. Coming from someone who is in the top 5 of my class, I’ve decided that the competition is not my focus, but rather how much I am able to improve myself. However, I would not have gotten here without the lessons from difficulties that come from taking AP classes.
With that being said, I encourage you to evaluate yourself as a student. If you are willing to put in the hard work you need to succeed in an AP class, then enroll in the class! If you figure out that AP is not for you, you can easily move to an honors level instead. If you decide honors is not helping you succeed, you can jump up to AP or move to an academic level!
Our guidance counselors here at Gateway are always willing to help. So if you have any questions, email your guidance counselor, or reach out to one of Gateway’s many AP students or AP teachers!
