How Do AP Classes Actually Affect Your Future? Feature
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ne of Kennedy’s most prized statistics is its AP participation, which is among the highest in Iowa. More than 47% of Kennedy students took an AP exam in 2021, and 34% passed at least one, according to U.S. News. AP credit is said to save students time, money and energy in college. What have AP classes done for Kennedy graduates? Kayde Bowers is a sophomore at Iowa State University who graduated Kennedy in 2020. Bowers will major in Aerospace Engineering, which takes most students nine semesters to complete. The credit from his high school AP classes will allow Bowers to graduate in eight semesters. “I haven’t met anyone who said they graduated in four years,” Bowers said. “But my AP classes got me out of over half a semester worth of classes, so all my [semesters] are less than 15 [credit hours], and my senior year, I’ll have a 12 credit hour semester. Which is nice, because you can’t go underneath 12 or else you’re no longer a full-time student.” Graduating earlier saved Bowers a semester’s worth of payments, not to mention
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time.
Joel Dillman
“I was kind of worried I would have to take a fifth year, which would have been fairly expensive and [I] wouldn’t have wanted to go for the extra year,” said Bowers. “College is fun, but I’m kind of excited to start doing something, you know?” AP classes let graduates to take on double majors with their extra time. Madison Strait, another sophomore at Iowa State University, is pursuing majors in chemistry and mathematics. Originally, she only planned to major in chemistry. “I came into Iowa State with 29 credits under my belt, which is an entire year’s worth of credits,” said Strait. “So, I was like, ‘Huh, I’m not going to be able to graduate early because certain classes have to be taken [in] certain semesters.’ So I figured, why not add a second major?” Kaleigh Martin is in a similar situation. After graduating from Kennedy in 2021, she went to
Salem State University to double-major in history and education. Due to high school AP credit and extra college courses, Martin will be able to jump directly into her junior year in 2022. “With the program I’m in, I’m going to graduate with my undergrad a year early,” Martin said. “I’m going to combine grad and undergrad programs, so I will still graduate in four years, but I’ll have a master’s at [the] end of that four years instead of a bachelor’s.” By skipping her sophomore year, Martin will save $32,291 in tuition and room and board fees. However, Martin found her most beneficial AP class was one from which she did not receive college credit: AP Research. “With how Research is structured, you work the entire year on your research topic,” said Martin. “You have to kind of plan that out and stay on top of it. I’m one of those
