To AP or Not To AP, That is The Question

For many incoming high school students, you may be wondering if AP classes are the right move for you. Hopefully, this blog will be able to guide you on which AP classes you should take, or if you should even take them in the first place.

While I haven’t taken every single AP class, I have compiled research and personal anecdotes from myself and friends to hopefully create guidance for your course planning!

Important Notice!

AP classes are NOT mandatory! If you don’t want to take them, don’t feel pressured to, even if other students tell you to. AP classes are good if you are highly interested in a subject, want to push yourself further academically, and want to obtain university/college credits during high school. However, they are also time-consuming, stressful, costly (almost $200 CAD per exam!!!) and sometimes require independent learning and self-accountability. Most universities (especially Canadian) will still eagerly accept you even without AP classes. Remember, it’s better to prioritize getting good grades in your classes than to do subpar in challenging courses.

AP Statistics

AP Statistics is a notoriously fun class. At my school, it is filled with labs involving candy and cookies; however, in general, it’s a lot less math than you would expect. The course is very content-heavy as there is a lot of vocabulary and different tests to learn. My friends who have taken this course found that they acquired more insight into how to properly analyze research papers from understanding how methodology and sample size can affect results.

AP European History

AP Euro is obviously great if you have an interest in history, as the curriculum covers a lot of material. In the exam, it’s important to have specific events and historical figures memorized and well-known, as you’re expected to cite specific evidence in the free response questions. Additionally, a lot of my friends found that they became better writers after taking the class.

AP Chemistry

In AP Chemistry, some of the content builds on the same concepts found in the Alberta Chemistry 20 and 30 curriculum. There are also some parts that connect back to Physics 30. Moreover, due to the nature of the course, most schools have some really engaging and fun labs for certain units. 

My friends who took this course admitted that at first the learning curve from Chem 30 to AP was quite steep at frist but eventually everything fell into place and the exam was actually on the lighter side.

AP Biology

AP Biology is challenging, but compared to the Alberta curriculum, there is a lot of overlap between Biology 20 and 30, just going more in-depth for certain concepts.

Even though the course was difficult, I still found it interesting and exciting, especially because of the increased nuances in labs; however, this will differ between schools.

AP Calculus AB/BC

For Albertan students, if you take Mathematics 31, that course will cover a majority of what would be on the AP Calc AB exam, and Mathematics 35 should cover most of the content of the AP Calc BC exam.

Personally, I found Math 31 decently challenging, especially the later units; however, it’s not as bad as you might think. Most STEM programs for post-secondary studies may require Math 31, for example, it is a pre-requisite for some programs at the University of Toronto, and calculus in general is also a class that many first-year science students have to take eventually anyway. So, even if you don’t take the exam, Math 31 or 35 may be a good choice if you are planning to pursue that to gain a good foundation and pre-learn concepts before university.

AP Literature and Composition

This course is especially good for readers. If you don’t like to read in your spare time or if the last “book” you read was a Sparks Note summary for a book report, I wouldn’t recommend this course. This is because for one of the questions on the exam, you have to answer a question about themes, using any book of literary merit as evidence. However, since you won’t know the question until exam day, it is suggested to prepare 3-5 books at least to ensure you can answer whatever question they throw your way.

AP Environmental Science

I chose to take APES (AP Environmental Science) even though it meant I would have to self-teach myself the entire course because I am passionate about Environmental Science and hope to pursue it after high school. For me, even though it was all independent learning, I still really enjoyed the material I was learning and actually found a lot of Biology 20 and 30 (Alberta Curriculum) was applicable to the course. Additionally, now that I’m taking AP Bio, there is a lot of overlap in the Ecology Unit.

There is a general consensus that APES is one of the easier AP classes, and in a way, I agree. Just make sure you don’t underestimate it, because often students will focus less on this course and end up doing poorly on the exam.

I would suggest this course for students who found the ecology units in biology really interesting. Additionally, a great resource for this course is Mr. Smedes on YouTube.

AP Psychology

My friends who have taken this course have also taught themselves. They admitted that they procrastinated and crammed everything in one week, but still managed a good score. Her advice was to study TWO weeks before — I would suggest you spread it out throughout the year. Also, this course relies a lot on knowing specific psychology-related vocabulary. Additionally, it’s important to know the Scientific Method, as each year there is an FRQ based on it.

AP Macro/Microeconomics

Of the two exams, my friends said Macroeconomics is supposedly easier, but they are both applicable to the real world. The exam involves a lot of interpretation of graphs. But, builds argumentation skills, as the FRQs require you to have logical rationales with clear and concise language.

AP Comparative Government and Politics

The Alberta Social Studies curriculum focuses mostly on Canada and Western countries, so taking APGOV allows you to discover more about political systems across the world, as it focuses on drastically different countries. For this curriculum, breadth is better than depth, as you should have a general understanding of all six.

For the essay portion of the exam, it’s important to keep knowledge of current events in your back pocket as you will be expected to use them as evidence in your argumentation.