This year, Advanced Placement (AP) courses at Wilde Lake have less students on average than on-grade courses, according to Wilde Lake Student Services.
AP classes are offered in each subject and students can earn college credit for the class if they receive a four or a five on the optional end-of-year exam.
Nationally, only 19% of students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade took an AP exam in 2023, according to College Board.
Wilde Lake AP teachers report that their classes have 10 to 25 students on average, which is less than the class capacity of 33 students. This means that AP classes, such as AP Calculus BC which only runs during one period, do not have enough students interested in the class to reach capacity.
The lack of students opting for AP classes is concerning. AP World History Teacher Ms. Cynthia Platou says it’s very important for students to take challenging courses because it “builds confidence for students for whatever is coming next in their lives.” Ms. Platou says it is important for students to challenge themselves in all fields.
Ms. Platou says some students avoid AP classes because of the test at the end of the year that determines whether or not students receive college credit.
“Taking an AP course is a different type of pressure,” she said. “It’s a different approach to learning content, and if you don’t feel confident in the testing environment, that’s a lot for some students to prepare for.”
Senior Sam Brady says he chose to take on-grade level English this year because of his past performance on AP tests.
“I didn’t do well on my AP Government test so after that, I was always nervous about taking AP tests. I think a lot of other students get intimidated by the tests and they don’t want to move up to AP,” he said.
Some students who avoid AP classes because of the end-of-year exams still take challenging courses. Senior Bethia Thattil takes her English credit at Howard Community College, meaning she receives college credit for passing the class.
“Students like me don’t want their college credit in a class to be determined by the score they get on an AP test,” Bethia said.
