AP stands for Advanced Placement and is often simply referred to as AP. I can translate it into ‘excellent placement’ in Korean, but in simple terms, I can say that high school students take high school courses.
The purpose of opening the AP program is to give high school students a higher academic opportunity. As you know, high school in America has a lot of educational gap. A good student gets bored of the usual academic classes. To stimulate them, the university and high school cooperated to train teachers who can teach college-level subjects in high school. These teachers organize special classes in the high school to teach outstanding students to college subjects. Of course, it is more difficult than ordinary subjects.
This is called an AP course. The College Board is responsible for all these processes. This program offers students three benefits. One can experience intellectual fulfillment by listening to college-level subjects in high school. Second, in many cases, the credits earned at this time are recognized at the university, so it has the effect of pre-college credit. Of course, in order to be recognized for these credits, you have to take the AP exam and get the score of Sun Jun. In fact, the greatest benefit to students is that they are “prominent” in the university admissions process. Many universities, especially those with excellent colleges, want to see the AP subjects and grades they have taken. This is because the student knows how aggressive the student is about their studies. Each year of the end of the school year, I take the AP test for each subject in May.
The AP exam is slightly different in the number and type of questions per subject. However, it is common that 1) it takes about 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours for each subject, and 2) it consists of section I which is largely multiple-choice and section II which is free response. Specifically, for example, in English (= English Literature and Composition), Section I consists of 1 hour 55 questions and Section II consists of 2 hours. Biology (= Biology) consists of 120 questions in section I 1 hour 30 minutes and 4 questions in section II 1 hour 30 minutes.
The AP exam is held every May. Unlike other placement tests, AP exams take place once a year. I spend two weeks every May. As with the SAT II exam, the AP exam is a test of achievement in the subject, so it is a good idea to prepare for the AP at the end of the school year. Test scores are announced annually in July.
It is not fair to simply compare the grades received during the AP course to the results in the normal course. AP courses are much more difficult. Therefore, when calculating the grade, the grades of the AP subjects are added to the score. If you have taken AP courses and received credit 4, you will be awarded 5 points with 1 point added to the score. It is called “Weighted”, and it is called “Unweighted”. It is called “Weighted”.
The score for the AP exam will be announced in 1-5 grades as follows:
5 points – When you take the same subject at university, you can get A.
4 points – When you take the same subject in college, you are able to receive B.
3 points – When you take the same course at university, you can get C level.
2 points – When you take the same subject at university, you can get D.
1 point – no meaning.
Every September, the College Board presents students with awards for excellence in AP exams. Although there are no prizes, students who receive this award have the benefit of being notified of this fact as well as their grades with great honors.
There are various AP program related awards as follows.
AP Scholar: awarded to students who earn three or more points each from three or more AP exams.
AP Scholar with Honor: awarded to students who receive an average of 3.25 or higher on all AP exams that have earned three or more points on each of four or more AP exams.
AP Scholar with Distinction: awarded to students who earn three or more points on each of the five AP exams and an average of 3.5 on all AP exams.
AP State Scholar: Each state in the United States receives the highest number of subjects with three or more subjects and one student with the highest average grade in all AP exams.
National AP Scholar: awarded to students in the United States who receive an average of four or more points on all AP exams and four or more points on eight or more exams.
DoDEA Scholar: DoDEA students are awarded one of the highest scores among the students who score at least 3 points in three or more subjects, and who have the highest average scores.
AP International Scholar: Students who earn three or more points from three American International Schools outside of DoDEA, and who have received the highest number of AP exams and one student with the highest average score.