At 6:30 p.m. on March 14, all current and prospective AP students gathered in the CCHS Auditorium along with their parents for AP Information Night. At this after school event, students could learn more information about the AP classes they plan to take and collect their summer homework.
At the beginning of the night, the Guidance Director Clara Neeck gave a short overview of the differences between dual enrollment and AP classes. She also emphasized that students should be contacting the admissions offices of schools they plan on applying to and inquiring about what classes they should be taking. Neeck also mentioned in her overview that due to the abundance of students taking AP and dual enrollment classes, students are limited to taking 60 college credits before they enter college.
Additionally, she discussed that research on the Class of 2017 across the nation shows that many students dropped out in their freshman year due to anxiety, and colleges feel that this stems from students over-stressing themselves in high school trying to get into college. She also stated that trend for college admissions is now for them to look for students who get good grades and pass the AP exam, instead of students that take lots of AP classes who don’t pass any exams.
After her overview, Neeck dismissed the crowd and allowed everyone to go to their first out of four sessions. In these sessions students could listen to an overview of the courses they are considering and ask questions about that specific course. Students could also obtain a copy of the syllabus for their classes and the possible summer homework.
“I went to AP Night to educate myself on the potential classes I can take next year. I wanted to know what I was getting myself into.”
“I went to AP Night to educate myself on the potential classes I can take next year,” sophomore Tyler Wong said. “I wanted to know what I was getting myself into.”
One of the main reasons students attended AP Information Night was to pick up their summer homework so they could get a head start on it and schedule their summer according to their workload. This way, if students are confused about a portion of the assignment, they could ask their future teacher during the school year instead of being clueless over the summer.
“Getting my assignments now will make my summer less stressful, knowing I can get it done ahead of time.”
“Getting my assignments now will make my summer less stressful, knowing I can get it done ahead of time,” sophomore Julia Safrin said.
After all four sessions, students and parents could go to guidance to pick up missing information packets. Once they’ve learned all about the AP courses they are interested in, they were also given the option to opt into or out of an AP course in guidance.
“I am super glad I was able to change my classes at this point in the year,” Safrin said. “I can’t even imagine what next year would be like if I wasn’t able to change the classes.”
If students were unable to attend AP Night or didn’t get a chance to pick up the summer assignment for a certain class, it is recommended to speak to guidance or the teacher that will be instructing the course next year.
Photo by Lariat staff
