Advanced Placement(AP)
AP, or Advanced Placement classes are created by the College Board, a company internationally recognized as creating courses and exams to assess the best and brightest of today’s students.
In essence, an AP course is designed to mimic the complexity of topics that would be discussed at the first year level of university. For example, the topics discussed in grade 12 AP Mathematics would be similar to the topics covered in first year mathematics. As such, a student who completes an AP course with a high score has effectively proven their capacity to succeed and thrive in university.
AP courses are sent only to qualifying schools. The curriculum for AP courses is created by subject matter experts. Generally, AP courses do not have individual assignments that are marked and reported on a report card; instead, they conclude with a major exam that tests all aspects of the course.
How do we incorporate AP at AIA?
After AIA recieves approval from the College Board to deliver AP courses, AIA’s instructors will be trained in the specific materials of the course. The student will earn the corresponding credit (assuming he or she passes the course) and then will be given the opportunity to write the AP exam. If the student scores well on the exams, post-secondary institutions are likely to look quite favorably at the student.
Some universities, in fact, will allow a student to skip the first year introductory course (be it mathematics, physics, english, etc) if the student has scored excellent on the respective AP course. For example, if a student completes AP English and scores 95% on the AP English exam, he or she may not have to do first year English, and may proceed directly into second year English — assuming the student’s intended major is English.
In total, AP courses ensure that students are taught to a higher standard. This standard is determined by a huge number of experts in the field and AP courses are quite demanding.