What is Advanced Placement?
The AP program offers ambitious and capable high school students an opportunity to take college-level courses that will provide intellectual challenge as well as to prepare students for the academic rigor of college. An added benefit is that many colleges will give successful AP students college credit (saving tuition) and/or exemption from introductory courses in college, enabling students to move ahead in areas of interest. Colleges grant credit or advanced status based on the student's performance on a national exam given for each subject in May. Some colleges also use exam scores and/or performance in AP courses in determining a student's eligibility in honors or other special programs. Each year, about 400,000 students entering college receive credit and/or advanced placement because of their success on these exams.
How difficult are AP courses?
Compared with regular high school courses, the AP courses will be more demanding. You will be asked to read and write more, to analyze writing in great depth, to synthesize your own ideas, to design your own experiments and to evaluate the ideas of others. Remember that AP courses are designed to substitute for introductory college courses, so they move rapidly and cover a lot of material. It is assumed that you possess a solid background in the subject and independent learning skills to keep up with the pace. Even though these courses may be more challenging than a regular course, if you are willing to accept the challenge, you will not find your AP class to be impossibly difficult.
Advance Placement Courses in the Senior Houses at SESAt SES, there are three courses that will be taught in conjunction with the senior Thematic Studies. On your report card and transcript, your AP course will be listed in place of the regular theme class component: AP Environmental Science instead of Environmental Science, AP Literature & Composition instead of Communications 12.
Follow one of the links below to access descriptions of the Senior House AP courses:
| AP Environmental Science- description | soils lab | toxic spill | fish data | |
| AP Human Geography - description | |
| AP Literature - description | |