AP classes are offered at Colton High School. An AP class is an advancement placement class that high schoolers take in order to get college credit. Several students take this opportunity because if they pass this class, they don’t have to take it again for college, which is very beneficial. Today I got to talk to one very dedicated student who is taking the course, AP World History at CHS. Her name is Marlene Perez and she gave us advice, inside information, and pros and cons.

Perez firsts starts off with her subject, which is AP World History. As a sophomore, taking this course is a lot of work, however there are ways to get by. Some advice she wanted to give was, “Each day, you should always study your textbook, just read a chapter or two.” This class requires several tests, and within that, studying is a huge tip. Perez explained the class is very dedicated to their work. Dedication is a major factor of passing the class. Putting your mind to it is very important as well, especially when it comes to homework.     

There are several pros and cons for taking an AP class or classes. Let’s start off with pros. Perez said, “You learn certain facts you didn’t know way faster.” She has a point because several people don’t learn this until they get older but some of our sophomores here at Colton High School are getting ahead. Another pro to taking this course is if you pass the actual AP test and class, then you don’t have to pay for this when the time comes. You are saving so much money, which is great. You’re taking control of your future, which everyone should do.   

However, there are a few cons to this according to Perez. To start off with, you can lose a lot of sleep, due to studying. This class isn’t a normal honors class, it’s AP. Several people have already dropped this class because they weren’t ready for the pressure. But they can always try again the next year. Having an AP class while having honors classes is “a struggle.” It’s hard to prioritize what you need to do first. “Taking this course requires many days of continuous reading and taking notes but some days you don’t understand the concept of chapters.”

Overall, AP classes have their beneficial reasons for taking them. But you must be positive that you can handle them properly to get the grade you need. You need to know how much dedication it will take and that this is all for you and no one else so you must take this course seriously. There’s so much more that goes into this course than just reading and notes, you need to dedicate time to finding that out and that class with be easier for you to handle. However, to the students who are taking this course, good luck for the rest of the year with your studies.