By: Hailey Shen
(Photo Source: College Board)
As class scheduling begins, many students may begin to question whether they should take AP Seminar, AP Physics 2, or U.S. History Honors. This article will contain opinions from the people taking these courses, along with general advice and suggestions.
AP Seminar:
Jacob Lee (current AP Seminar student): “It is fun as long as you are not procrastinating. It can help with study habits. Mr. Olivo is a great teacher and helps a lot. If you are not going to do your work, don’t take the class.”
Jayden Kim (current AP Seminar student): “I definitely recommend AP Seminar to the underclassman because it helps with teamwork and research and presentation skills. I thought that, for the most part, it was fun. There were times where it felt fast paced, and there was a lot of work. I would say that it is a solid 8/10 class.”
Hailey Shen (current AP Seminar student): “AP Seminar has taught me a lot of valuable skills and helped push me out of my comfort zone. You should be comfortable with public speaking. Good time management is vital. Most of the important deadlines are near the end of the marking period, so you would have to understand how to manage your time to prevent stress later on. I would not recommend taking the class if you are not prepared to do the work necessary and if you are only taking it because you want to take an AP class.”
Emily Samuels (current AP Seminar student): “It is a class where you have to be prepared to do the work and work with others because it takes a lot of time out of your day just to be working on that. You have to be able to hold yourself accountable when it comes to actually taking advice.”
Daniel Pak (former AP Seminar student): “AP Seminar is a rigorous course, and you will need to commit a lot of time and effort into it if you want to do well in the class. However, it is very rewarding and provides skills you would not learn in other classes. I would only recommend physics if you want to pursue STEM in the future.”
AP Physics:
Cristina Fuschetto (current AP Physics student): “The first unit was more difficult because I was not sure how to navigate the AP material, but after a while I was able to get accustomed to it, and it was not as hard as I initially thought. Looking back at the first unit, it was a lot easier than I thought. I was overthinking it. As long as you study, the problems are not as difficult as you think they are, and the wording may be weird.”
Anonymous (current AP Physics student): “I think AP Physics is a good class. It went a lot deeper in the information than in Physics Honors. It is less math-based and is more concept-based. If you are interested in physics, then I would recommend the course. You would have to be committed and study a lot. I really like it.”
Dionysia Diakomihalis (current AP Physics student): “AP Physics forces you to think a lot about concepts. It is good if you have cognitive thinking. It is hard to adjust to the class at first since you have to be a free thinker. It explores the science behind things, and I end up noticing it in the real world. I don’t regret taking it. I had a hard time in the beginning, but now I really enjoy it. If you are not going to put in the work, ask questions, and study, then the class is not worth it.”
Anonymous (current AP Physics student): “AP Physics 2 is a hard but good class, especially for those who want to go to stem-related fields. The resources the teachers provide are good. However there are times you need to teach yourself the material. I would recommend it if you really enjoy physics or have a need for it. But don’t join just because “I need to take an AP class;” you will struggle.”
Anonymous (current AP Physics student): “It’s a worthy class if you want to major in stem, and I feel like it makes you think differently; when you see something, you try to make sense of it in a “physics” definition. I do not recommend it unless you are planning on majoring in stem because it is definitely not an easy course. If you understand it, then that’s wonderful, but if you don’t, it would be the class that kills your GPA.”
U.S. History:
Anonymous (current U.S. History student): “I would rather take U.S. history over any of the other classes. It is sometimes a lot of work. It is consistent work, and annotating is not fun. If you have a lengthy annotation due, you would have to break it up.”
Anonymous (current U.S. History student): “There is a lot of notetaking to do. Make sure to pay attention in class, because just having the notes is not enough. You should also be comfortable with public speaking, Harknesses, and presenting.”
Jaslyn Mitchell-Drake (current U.S. History student): “You have to take it eventually, so you might as well get it over with now. You can also have more space in your senior year.”
Pavitra Patel (current U.S. History student): “I would take U.S. History if you don’t feel interested with the other APs. I like U.S. History, but since the style of testing was a little different from what I was used to, it was difficult in the beginning. But I got the hang of it. You just have to make sure you study.”
Anonymous (current U.S. History student): “It is a requirement to take U.S. History, so just take it if you do not like AP Physics or AP Seminar.”
