College Prep (CP) Courses
College Preparatory(CP) courses in high school are the standard classes that are designed to prepare high school students for a higher institution - college/university.
Honors (H) Courses
Honors classes are most familiar to incoming Freshmen because these courses are offered in middle school.
Honors classes are higher level than CP, but driven by the same curriculum. The difference is the courses are more rigorous, fast paced, and more in-depth. Honors courses were created for those students who want more of a challenge.
Advanced Placement (AP) Classes
Advanced Placement Courses were designed by College Board so that high school students would get a chance to receive college credit by taking an exam. These classes are designed to test your ability on the subject you took throughout the year. The benefit to learning in these courses and excelling in the exams is: students who pass every, or even one exam they take in high school can earn their undergraduate degree much faster and save money!
- At the end of each AP course you have the option of taking an exam. It is graded on a 1-5 point scale basis.
- If you receive a 3, 4, or 5, you receive college credit and will no longer need to take that class in college. Keep in mind that some colleges only take scores 4 and 5. So, if you receive a score of a 3, a college you may have been accepted too might not offer you the college credit.
- In some regards, it is similar to the SAT subject test - the AP exams measure your understanding of the course taken.
- Not all high schools offer all the AP courses constructed by College Board, however you do not need to take the course to take the exam for college credit! If you feel strong in the subject you can pay to take the exam and possibly still earn college credit!
- The duration of these exams depends on the specific exam taken.
- The Physics exams take approximately 1 and a half hours, whereas on the other end, several take 3 hours and 15 minutes.
- The price of these exams varies upon each year. In the 2020-2021 academic year they were $95. However, some schools do allocate school funds to make them completely free for all students.
- They are highly suggested if you plan to go to “higher” level schools like the UC’s (UCLA, UC Berkeley, etc), NYU, USC - taking AP’s play a pivotal role in showing the admissions officers how you can excel academically.
- Taking AP courses and scoring a "passing grade" (3,4, or 5) can also give you an upper hand if you fall short in other area! Especially take them if the subject interest you! Such as the environment (AP Environmental Science) or psychology (AP Psych).
- The exams can be waived, sometimes by your school or district if they pay for them, or with the help of college board fee waivers!
- As mentioned before, you do not need to take an AP course to take the AP exam. Thus, you can study on your own throughout the year for the exam, and then arrange to take it at a nearby high school that will administer it!
Important To Note: If your high school does not offer any of these courses, that will not hinder your chances of getting into that institution.
International Baccalaureate (IB) Courses
International Baccalaureate is an international program developed to give students more of a global education, whereas the Advanced Placement courses were developed by the College Board and only offered in America.
- Since the IB Program is an international one it is not common in many high schools in America.
- However that does not take away from how these courses will look on a college application. You can take IB courses and exams individually, but these courses were designed so that students would be driven to complete the IB Diploma Program.
- In order to earn the diploma a student must take the classes from the six subject groups - three classes must be taken at the “high level” and not “standard level,” and a student must pass the IB exams.
- The six subject groups are: Studies in language and literature, Language acquisition, Individuals and societies, Sciences, Mathematics, and The arts
- This diploma has huge advantages as it could help you fulfill all your General Education classes in college. Meaning that you will get college credit with this diploma and will not need to spend more time or money in college.
- With this regard, it is said that an AP course can be compared to a “standard level” IB Course.
- The exams are scaled 1-7, 7 being the score to achieve. If you get a 6 or 7 that is considered an “A” and you have passed. With a 5 you can still earn college credit at some universities.
- Now, the exams themselves are based around the six core subjects you took. There is a more traditional “external” exam portion and then an “internal” assessment portion done by the teacher which can include lab report or oral presentation.
Important To Note: If your high school does not offer any of these courses, that will not hinder your chances of getting into that institution.
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