By Kellie Mullin
Staff Writer
This year, enrollment in Mira Costa’s liberal arts Advanced Placement classes, such as AP European History, AP Government and AP Economics, has significantly dropped from that of the 2012-13 school year. Students who are interested in social science, but are intimidated by word of mouth and the stigma of extra work, are losing an opportunity to better explore their interests.
AP enrollment statistics show that the number of students taking AP European History, AP Government and AP Economics this year is half that of the 2012-2013 school year, according to Executive Director of Educational Services Carolyn Seaton. A significant preference among students for college preparatory classes is clearly evident. For students who are uninterested in social science, it is not detrimental to lose out on the added depth AP classes provide. Other students miss a chance to more thoroughly study a subject that fascinates them.
According to most students, the reputation of these AP classes deter students from taking them. AP European History, AP Government and AP Economics are always referred to as extremely taxing, which has been a major source of the loss of enrollment in AP courses this year. However, this is all by word of mouth and usually is based off of only a certain student’s personal experiences.
According to Modern World History student sophomore Hadley Thomas, he would have taken AP European History but felt it was too daunting because there is not a required history class during freshman year and going from a CP to an AP level in a subject is intimidating. Many sophomores opt out of AP European History for this reason. It is unfortunate that this prevents students from experiencing one of the only AP’s offered to sophomores and turns kids away from excelling in a subject they enjoy.
According AP European History student sophomore Sophie Dafesh, the class is as challenging as one would expect from any AP class, with a sizable amount of homework, but it is manageable. AP European History serves as a good introductory AP class for sophomores because it prepares students for future advanced classes and demonstrates the standards expected of AP students.
The passing rate of students at Costa on the AP Government test in 2012-2013 was 64 percent, distinguishing the course as one of the harder AP’s given at Costa. According to AP Government teacher Glenn Marx, there appears to be a trend among students, specifically seniors, to try to take AP’s that will be easiest to earn an A grade in, in order to build their resume, bump up their GPA and help them get into their desired schools.
Although expectations are high in AP classes, as students are forced to build a greater work ethic in order to succeed, this should not scare students away. Those who decide against taking an AP class out of fear of the class’ difficulty miss out on a way to look deeper into their interests and develop important analytical skill.
AP teachers hold meetings for students considering certain AP classes; however, these only help students who are already somewhat committed to a certain AP.
Students who are on the boarder of taking an AP class should opt on the side of taking one because of Costa’s newer and lenient AP drop policy. Therefore, a student can attempt the class and drop later if it does prove too challenging. This is also a way to potentially counteract the amount of students who are influence by the distressed reviews of others.
Students who choose not to at least attempt an AP class could easily lose an opportunity to be exposed to higher learning.
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