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Introduction
Advanced Placement (AP) classes are a quite a beast in high school. Although they do offer some great benefits, the things that you’ll have to provide in exchange for those rewards are daunting and really make the reward seem as if it isn’t worth it one bit.
So, the great question is: how do I ace AP courses, no matter what?
Of course, this simple, but yet challenging question can not be answered in just one blog post. It’s too much too fit and it wouldn’t be suitful at all. For that reason, we’ll be breaking up the answer to this question over the next few posts to ensure that you can grasp everything.
Without wasting any more time, let’s get right into it.
Step 1: Determining the Course Difficulty
First, I want you to assess the difficulty of the AP course you’re taking in the first place. While you should have done this far prior to actually enrolling in the class, if you haven’t done it yet, it’s fine. That’s why we’re doing it now.
So, what does the internet have to say? Is it difficult, easy, aight?
Where on the scale is it?
For example, AP CSP (Computer Science Principles) is the easiest AP class to take, so acing it should be relatively easy.
But, taking a class like APUSH (U.S. History) may be more difficult and challenging compared to others.
You can take a look at the chart below to help you reach a conclusion.
Step 2: How Much Effort Are You Looking to Input?
Sometimes, and in some classes, we just cannot be bothered to legitimately do work and input 100% of our effort consistently. It’s too much for something that has a terrible ROI.
So, it’s important to ask yourself how much effort you’re looking to put in a class. If you want to do well, you must understand that it won’t come easy. You will have to try. You will have to put effort. And you will especially have to care.
Even if the work you’re turning in isn’t the best it could be, you have to be sure to ask yourself what you’re willing to do for that A+.
Bottom Line
If you’re willing to try, and give it your best (or at least close to it), then go for it. Otherwise, I would consider switching out of XYZ AP class and enrolling in something more suitful for you. If you can’t do that, then best of luck to you (not saying that you still can’t do well, it’ll just be a lot more difficult).
Step 3: Assess Your Network
It’s 11 PM and you forgot to complete an essay for AP Lang the next day. But, you also want to get some sleep and wake up fresh the next day. So, you turn to your network.
Is there anyone you can contact no matter the time of day? Even if it’s 1 AM, will there be someone to provide you a rapid answer to your question about anything school-related? Whether it’d be a friend, some random classmate, a counselor, or whoever, do you have something similar in your toolbox?
Even when you exit school, you will find that a network will serve you well. It can get you places, get you special things, and give you VIP access to something others can’t have. Similarly to that is a school-based network. Are they able to answer your questions no matter what?
Importance of a Network
The point I’m trying to reach here is that a network is extremely valuable if you can form a good one. With a strong network, you have so much power in the palm of your hands. It’s your job to use it well and carve it into a spear that can cut and slash through obstacle that it comes across.
If you have a weak network, then you seriously need to be on top of your game for whatever AP class you’re taking. But, if you have a strong one, then you might’ve hit the jackpot (meaning that you can slack off a bit and still be totally fine).
Step 4: Do you Procrastinate?
Procrastination is the huge enemy at the end of the tunnel that seemingly never goes away. Procrastination in humans is normal. The best of us does it too.
The real question here is “how heavily do you procrastinate?”. Do you procrastinate big time and need someone to consistently watch you and keep your phone away from you at all times in order for you to do work, or can you just keep it in your pocket and silently work with focus for hours on end?
If you procrastinate horribly, then whatever AP course you’re taking is going to be much harder than it needs to be. 1 hour of focused work is better than 3 hours of sloppy, unfocused work. Trust me, you’ll feel so much worse completing a packet in 3 hours knowing that it could’ve taken less than half of that amount of time if you just worked with 100% concentration.
If you don’t procrastinate too heavily, then you just dodged a bullet. For anything, procrastinating sucks. If you can just occasionally procrastinate and do it to an extent that doesn’t affect your work ethic and quality, then you’ve hit a gold mine that anyone can possess, but not everyone is willing to hike towards.
Step 5: Is the Topic Interesting?
Whatever AP class you chose to take, is the topic interesting? Or is it boring?
The more interesting it is, the easier it is to retain literally anything in that class. The more boring and forced it is, the harder it will be to retain information on a constant basis. For that reason, you need to answer this question directly.
Conclusion
I know that this may not have been the blog post that you were expecting or awaiting, but I had to start off with it. These foundational questions (thought right off the dome) will give you an idea of how prepared you are for an AP course, whether you’re able to take it, and if you should switch out (if you still have time, of course).
Many more posts coming soon on this topic and in respects to the question far above in this post. Stay tuned.
