The Cognitive Benefits of taking AP classes at the high school level.
We have all heard about the AP exams, or Advanced Placement exams. You may have even heard they are important for juniors and high schoolers for college. But did you know they are also incredibly helpful at building Study Skills?
We wanted to review the reasons why they continue to be important for college applications and placement.
Here are a few reasons why AP exams are important for college:
College Credit: Doing well on AP exams can earn students college credit, allowing them to skip introductory courses in college and potentially graduate early. This can save time and money on tuition.
College Admissions: AP courses demonstrate to college admissions officers that students are challenging themselves academically and are prepared for the rigors of college-level coursework. Excelling in AP classes can strengthen college applications.
Competitive Advantage: In today's competitive academic landscape, having AP courses on a high school transcript can set students apart from their peers. It demonstrates a willingness to tackle challenging coursework and a commitment to academic excellence.
Here are our reasons why they are ultra important for building cognitive skills and study skills:
Improved Skills: AP courses are a big jump up from even honors classes at the high school level. From larger reading requirements to bigger essays, they require significantly more time commitments from students. The nice thing about AP classes is that they do require critical thinking, analytical writing, and problem-solving skills, which are valuable for success in college and beyond. The drawback is that if your student is not a critical thinker by nature, this will be a big jump. We suggest taking a look at the courseload and the reading/writing requirements of each class to assess how many your child should take before signing up. By taking AP courses and exams, students can enhance these skills.
Academic Preparation: The biggest benefit to AP classes is that they are a preview for students so they can begin to cognitively prepare for the workload. AP courses are designed to be equivalent to introductory college courses, so they provide students with a preview of the academic challenges they will face in college. Taking AP courses can better prepare students for the demands of higher education.
More recently, you may have noticed as a parent or student that more and more students are jam packing their schedule with APs. We suggest a nice balance of AP to non AP exams to make sure you are taking a balanced load.
