As a senior counting down the days, I have found this opportunity to advise students in the grades below me to be very enjoyable. I will start with the first AP classes I ever took, which were AP Biology and AP Language and Composition. I will not lie, both were very difficult classes. If you are thinking of taking AP Biology I need you first to ask yourself if you will ever use the knowledge you will gain from it in the future, or in your intended career. That is always a good question to ask yourself when signing up for an AP class. If you answered no to this question, but still want to take the course, let me tell you about it. This course is designed to dive into several different aspects of the way life itself works, ranging from things like cell structure to the theory of evolution. This course is highly detailed and goes highly in-depth, and I suggest taking very careful notes when in this course. Make sure to always follow along with Mrs. Walsh who teaches the course, and I highly recommend doing the AP classroom videos for extra notes, as I have found them very helpful. 

Next, AP Lang and Comp, again I will not lie, was pretty brutal. Please do not go into this class with the utmost confidence in your writing, I can assure you that you will be knocked down to size. But please don’t let this discourage you, rewrites are an option, and you can rewrite essays as many times as you need to. I have to say that Mrs. Arroyo-Santos is the reason that I can type up a well-structured, acceptable essay in thirty minutes, and trust me when I say that that is a very desired skill. I highly recommend this class to anyone, even if you don’t want to use it for a career. I think that developing writing skills is very important because everyone will have to write something at some point in their lives. 

Now, let’s move on to this year. First, I will start with the AP Government. I am currently taking AP Gov online on VHS, and I can say that if you will do so, remember to read everything very carefully and take good notes in order to keep up with the bulk of the material. If you take the regular AP Gov. class, there will still be that basic set of ideas and skills you need to learn, like you will have to do a civic project throughout the year in this course. I recommend this course if you are interested in government and the way our system works, and if you want to go into politics or history for a career. Next, AP Chemistry which I highly recommend you do your junior year when more of it is fresh in your mind. They do not usually take seniors, although you can ask because there are some exceptions to this if they believe that you won’t be too far behind the juniors who just took chemistry. I recommend always making sure to follow the AP classroom videos carefully, and always make sure you fully understand something. Ask a lot of questions, and do not move on to try and understand something else until you have understood the material in front of you. In that class, it all builds on the previous subject. A good foundation is crucial. 

Next, I will talk about AP Literature and Composition. AP Lang was more essay writing, and learning about argumentative and rhetorical ways of writing, while in AP Lit, you may feel as though you have more freedom. I had an excellent foundation from AP Lang, and AP Lit helped me explore different writing styles and techniques that I never really looked at before. I recommend taking AP Lit to anyone, it is a wonderful course. 

Finally, I am taking AP Statistics. Other than the fact the teacher is absolutely excellent, I find this course generally fun because it feels a lot like applied math. You always ask yourself “do I really need to know this hyper specific math equation I will never see again?” and in AP stats you can say: YES! Statistics are used in almost every field, and are always a skill that is sought after. I highly recommend taking this math course because it will teach you math that you can actually apply to a wide variety of careers later on in life. 

Now, one more note: if you are going to take more than one or two AP classes, please remember to manage time. Set aside time for yourself, and make sure that you have space to breathe. Time management is crucial to keeping up with workloads. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out, I am always happy to answer them!