In high school, you can take AP and dual credit classes but what’s the difference? Which one is better to take? 

An AP (advanced placement) course allows you to gain college credit and take a college class while being taught by a high school teacher. This allows the teacher to relate to you more and help you understand the curriculum because they’ve been teaching high school for a while and know how to teach people our age. Also, having a teacher in your school building rather than a college campus makes it so much easier to reach them if you need help with something. However, at the end of the year, you have to take an AP exam. Whether you get college credit or not entirely depends on whether or not you pass this exam. Even if you pass the class, you won’t get college credit if you fail the exam. The exam is a timed test that takes around 2-3 hours to complete, but can vary between subjects. Most AP exams also consist of a multiple-choice section and a free-response section, which, again, can vary in length depending on the subject you’re taking. The AP exam does cost money however, some districts pay for your exam but require you to have a certain number of hours studying for them to pay. If you don’t meet those hours, they won’t pay for your exam, and it’ll have to come out of your pocket. 

With dual credit classes, the curriculum is taught by an actual college professor from their college campus; however, some professors come to your high school campus, although it’s very rare for this to happen. The professor is going to understand the curriculum better than most other teachers because they’ve gone to school for 5-8 years to become knowledgeable about what they’re teaching, allowing students to ask whatever questions they have and get an answer from a professional. However, their responses will be much slower than those of an AP teacher on account of the distance between the 2 of you and the other classes the professor has to teach. If you need help on an assignment or have questions, you can email the professor, but you won’t know when they’ll get back to you; it could be a couple of hours or it could be a couple of days. But, unlike with AP classes, there is no huge test at the end of the year that determines whether or not you get college credit. As long as you pass the class by the end of the year, you’ll get the credit. 

So, which is better? It depends on the amount of work you’re willing to put in. In an AP course, it’s still a high school class, so the teacher will be there with you and accept late work, and all the other things that normal high school teachers do. However, in a dual-credit class, it’s all on you. The professor won’t remind you when the assignment is due or to study for the test, and most of them aren’t going to accept late work. 

I prefer AP classes because I can’t focus and procrastinate a lot when it’s just me and everything is my responsibility. I need more reminders and more structure until I learn how to get stuff done on my own. Freshman Jacob Estefes, however, prefers dual credit classes because he doesn’t want to worry about a huge test at the end of the course that determines whether he earns the college credit or not.  

In summary, while neither class is going to be easy, do the one that’s easiest for you. If you don’t want to stress about a test at the end of the year, then take dual credit, but if you don’t focus well by yourself and need more guidance, go for AP instead.