TCS High school students took over 680 AP exams beginning with AP Chemistry on May 2 and ending with AP Physics on May 12.

 At TCS 323 students from tenth, eleventh, and twelfth are enrolled in 18 different AP courses. Many students chose to take more than one AP exam. On average the exams took four hours and students taking were excused from attending classes that day.

“The school offers the following AP exams: Spanish Literature, Environmental science, English language, Computer Science, AP Human Geography, AP Calculus AB and BC, English Literature, Biology, Modern World History, and AP Physics. Students have the opportunity to choose to take these classes, it will greatly help their professional careers and rigor of a college class which is a wonderful experience,” Britta Mcarthy, TCS AP Coordinator, said. 

 AP Exams give students the experience of taking a college class and save money because it’s less expensive to take an AP class as part of your regular tuition. An AP Exam costs $ 126 USD while the average university credit costs $26,290 USD.

“Taking an AP Exam gives students a great variety of benefits and advantages which will help them in college and in their future,” Mcarthy said.

Last year, The TCS had a pass rate of 75% and an average score of 3.5 on 131 exams (a lot fewer exams than in past years). Between 2014 and 2015 There were overall 1500 exams with a pass rate of 85% and an average score of 3.9.

“It’s normal that last year’s exams were lower because we had less class time and a lot of interruptions due to the pandemic,” Mcarthy, said.

This year the AP exams will also be influenced by the Pandemic which will be reflected in the average score and the pass rates of the exams.  

“Even though we’re back at campus and there was a lot of more contact in person with the teachers their class time was reduced so it may be challenging for students to score as high as the past years before the pandemic,” Mcarthy, said    

There are many students who took multiple AP classes, as well as multiple AP exams during the testing period.

“I felt that the Spanish exam was the easiest one but I am mostly concerned about the AP exam of Language and composition because from all of my Ap classes it is the hardest one and I think is the one that will help me more for the University,” Pablo Arango, Grade 10, said. 

 Some students who took multiple AP exams were more concerned about the demands of some exams than others.

 “AP Human Geography definitely had me most worried because I was not sure what topics I was going to see on the day of the exam and I felt I needed more practice since the exam was about memory. That made me unsure of myself even though I studied so much that I feel that my head is going to explode,” Emiliana Gomez, Grade 10, said.

Work Cited  

 Laura BridgestockUpdated February, and Written byLaura BridgestockThe former editor of TopUniversities.com. “How Much Does It Cost to Study in the US?” Top Universities, https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/student-finance/how-much-does-it-cost-study-us#:~:text=According%20to%20College%20Board%2C