The majority of students of Morton East have at least taken one AP class during their high school years.

In a random survey of 105 Morton East students, 68 said they had at least one AP class.  The survey shows that 38 out of the 105 students felt pressured from a friend or family member about taking an AP class. Then 58 students out of the 105 students didn’t feel any pressure about taking an AP class. While 17 students said that there was a possibility that they felt pressured.

According to theprincetonreview.com in an article called “5 Benefits of Taking AP Classes in High School,” “AP classes can be as challenging as introductory college courses. They are fast-paced, cover more material than regular classes, and require independent work like research and analysis. Getting a dose of a college-level curriculum early on could ease your transition from high school senior to first-year college student.” At first it really benefits you once you go off to college but during the classes many students may feel stressed over the materials you learn since it’s faster than a regular class.

Another websites called inlingsnews.com the article “Students pressured to take AP classes during course selection” shows, “On top of the pressure to take challenging classes, the expectations are for students to remain in the AP class once it begins. Dropping a class or being in a class that is too demanding, can have a negative impact on self-esteem and a student’s GPA.” This shows how not many students don’t really benefit from taking AP classes but instead make their grades worse than taking a regular class. AP classes are basically worth more credits than any other regular class.

The last source shows in an article called “Students pressured to take AP classes during course selection” in usnews.com says “Success in AP courses, which are developed by the nonprofit College Board, can boost a student’s transcript and save families thousands of dollars on college tuition. But experts caution that there are other factors to consider when enrolling in AP, including your teen’s workload and stress level.”

Daisy Pina said, “Was it really worth it? The only reason a person takes an AP class is to get college credit.”

48 out of 105 Morton east students have taken an AP classes for the college credit. According to collegevine.com, “Some more selective schools won’t accept AP scores as college credit. More still accept certain subjects but not others. While you may not receive credit, taking the course and the exam will still demonstrate that you’re up to the task of handling rigorous, college-level work.”

A former student/AP student Nailea Chavez said, “Taking Ap classes could really help your GPA and if you passed the test it could help you earn credit for college, but if you didn’t pass the test, it wasn’t the end of the world so it was pretty chill.”

A website called bestcolleges.com says in “Honors vs. AP Classes: What’s the Difference?” it states, “At many high schools, honors and AP classes both offer more heavily weighted training compared to regular classes. While honors courses usually add 0.5 points to your GPA, AP classes often add 1 point. In other words, a 3.5 GPA would be boosted to a 4.0 in an honors class and a 4.5 in an AP class.” Although it can improve your GPA it can also bring it down if you got a bad grade in the class in general. According to bestcollege.com it says, “If you fail an AP class, then your GPA will likely drop as it would for a normal class. This grade also shows up on your transcript. However, you may be able to retake the class the following year to raise your grade and increase your GPA.”

According to one of the counselors Monica Melendez, “An A is 5 points, a B is 4 points, a C is 3 and the rest is graded the same. At the end of each semester you add all the grade and divide them by the number of classes and that’s how you get your GPA.”

While many AP students just assume you get automatic college credit by just taking the class and trying your best that’s not the case.

“A credit that is not guaranteed. If you fail the AP test all of your hard work is wasted on a one hour test,” said Daisy Pina.