Junior year of high school has a reputation for being the toughest year of high school. Students are expected to prepare for the SAT, start thinking about colleges, play a sport or participate in a club, and do all of it while maintaining a respectable GPA.
At the high school, junior year is also the first year most students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Unfortunately, the only non-elective courses (like US History and Chemistry) offered are considered some of the hardest APs due to their fast-paced structure and extensive workload.
Now, you might say, “If you don’t feel prepared enough to take a hard class, then you shouldn’t take it.” But that’s not always the case. For example, I am an honors-level student who has always considered history to be one of my stronger subjects. My sophomore teacher recommended me for AP US History (APUSH) with confidence, so I came into the class expecting to do well. Unfortunately, the content-packed tests and the substantial amount of homework knocked my grade to a C+ for the quarter, and I ended up dropping the class.
The truth is, I was good at history, but it was never my favorite subject, and I’d rather do almost anything besides losing sleep over some notes on Hamilton. So the bigger question is, why did I even take APUSH in the first place? Easy: it was my best option.
The high school offers 21 AP classes out of 42 possible options. As competition for college increases every year, the more advanced classes someone takes, the more competitive they are compared to other applicants. But because students at the high school generally cannot begin taking AP classes until their junior year (and even then, the selection is very limited and it’s impossible to take all due to scheduling), it’s extremely difficult for students to to take upwards of four to five AP classes by the time they leave high school: however, according College Board 2025 score results over 44% of students that took at least 1 AP exam were in 10th grade or lower and scored an average of 3.24. This means that as an underclassman 44% of students have already taken at least 1 AP class which allows them to take at least two or more classes in the future. These students can take at least three APs in three years which is the same amount that some BHS students take in a year.
Many students I’ve talked with have or are planning to self-study for an AP test. They do so for two reasons: firstly, because the course they want to take (for credit or genuine interest) isn’t offered at our school. An example of this would be AP English Literature. And secondly, because they know they need to spread out their course load, so instead of taking a certain AP class during their senior year, they might choose to self-study and take it during their sophomore or junior year instead.
I plan to self-study AP Psychology and AP English Language this year. Both of these courses are senior classes offered at the high school at the honors level (British Literature, Stranger in a Strange land andWriters of Color are considered AP English prep classes), but on senior year transcripts, they don’t show up as rigorous classes despite the extra work. If I can prepare myself enough for the exam in May without a teacher, and the fact that the class is meant for people older than me, it furthers my point that underclassmen do not need to be restricted from a class because of a lack of background information. I have also spoken to a couple of people who self-studied and took the exam for AP Human Geography and AP US Government in their sophomore year, both of which are advanced classes offered at the high school, yet still confined to only seniors. Self-study is impressive, but it is in the student’s best interest to save the time, money and stress that goes into self-studying. By being able to take advantage of existing opportunities with teacher instruction, it is more likely to result in higher test scores and a greater mastery of the material.
A better strategy for students attempting to schedule more AP classes is allowing them to spread out their desired APs across at least three years of high school. This will allow students to create a workload that allows them to take a high number of advanced courses without it being too overwhelming.
Our current AP policy is hurting students by forcing them to cram their most rigorous classes into the two most stressful years. Adding a couple of advanced options earlier on, like Human Geography, Government and honors Psychology (which will sufficiently prepare students for the exam without having to deal with teacher budget cuts), will ease and balance the overall stress. This structure would better prepare underclassmen for the harder classes in their future while simultaneously freeing up space for them to take those courses and feel less pressure to cram them. Because a student’s schedule will be more dispersed, the workload will not be as extensive, which can lead to a general improvement in performance and show higher grade point averages and test scores. Overall, letting sophomores and juniors take more AP classes will only benefit the students and make them more successful.
