With the school year ending soon, AP tests are on many students’ minds. This May, BCCHS students took their AP exams for classes such as AP Chemistry, AP Calculus AB, AP Statistics, AP English Literature, AP English Language, AP Computer Science and AP World History. AP, or Advanced Placement exams, are annual tests meant to determine how much students learned over the course of the school year. The AP tests are standardized tests similar to the ACT and SAT, hosted by the education company College Board. AP classes, college level courses designed to give students more rigorous class options, have recently grown in popularity around the U.S.; as of 2022, there were a total of 1.2 million students enrolled in AP classes and around 4 million tests being taken that year. These numbers have only increased as more and more schools are adding to their list of AP classes. Here at Billings Central, several AP classes have only recently joined the class list. At BCCHS, AP classes are offered for ages ranging from sophomore to senior. Those who are willing to try and take these advanced classes now have the opportunity to do so.
Achieving a score from a range of 1-5 can determine if you get college credit for your hard work. A 3 is considered a passing score, while higher scores, 4-5, can strengthen your chance of receiving college credit. With content covering either a semester or full year of a college course, students need time to prepare for these difficult exams, and their teachers spend months prepping them for the month of May, when all AP exams take place. Teachers employ a variety of tactics to train their classes because the AP exams are no easy task to complete for high schoolers.
Take AP Language for example, a junior class taught by Mrs. Tate. AP Language was introduced this year, marking new beginnings for many Central teens looking to strengthen their chances for different colleges. Porter Stevens, a junior in AP Language stated, “I have worked on practicing my essays and my writing skills, along with working on my grammar.” Stevens explained how he practiced a lot with how he writes his essays for AP Language because in the exam, the essay portion is worth around 55% of your score. Teachers train their students in all sorts of ways. Doing work outside of school is just as important as doing work inside school.
Overall, AP classes are a great way to gain knowledge in difficult topics. AP classes are supposed to challenge each and every student enrolled in those classes. AP classes are growing at a rapid pace, and the courses continue to show how students can learn challenging subjects and prove their knowledge when they take these exams.
