The Advanced Placement Capstone diploma program, which will enter its second year of operation in the fall, is a recent addition to the course catalog at many high schools across the country.
The capstone program does not try to replace individual AP courses, but instead aims to supplement them. To earn the diploma, students must complete two newly designed AP classes. This includes taking AP Seminar as a sophomore or junior and AP Research in the following year. Students must also take any other four AP courses at any time in their high school careers.
AP Seminar and AP Research were developed with an eye toward instructing students in how to complete college-level work and not just learn college-level material. In the hands of the right instructors, they simulate college-level seminars and research projects.
[Discover the differences between AP and IB classes.]
However, since the AP Capstone is a relatively young program, many students may be unfamiliar with it and have questions about whether it would be better for them to complete the whole program, or to enroll in individual AP courses. If this describes you, here are four questions to ask yourself:
1. Can I handle the academic rigor of this program? The first question you should ask yourself is whether you can succeed in both the AP Seminar and AP Research courses, as well as four other required AP classes. Succeeding means earning a high grade in each course, as well as receiving a 3 or better on its end-of-year exam.
Although the prospect of completing six AP classes may be daunting at first, the best way to answer this question is to consider what you would have done before the release of the AP Capstone diploma. If you planned to take six or more AP courses, then AP Capstone may be a great option for you. If, on the other hand, you only planned to enroll in one or two AP classes in your strongest subject, then the AP Capstone diploma may not suit your academic needs.
[Get tips on selecting rigorous courses without AP or IB choices.]
2. Can I afford to pay for six AP exams? There is also the question of whether you can afford the testing fee for six AP courses. If you previously planned to take several AP classes, ensure that the amount you budgeted for exam fees will cover the whole AP Capstone diploma, or that you can afford the difference.
For 2015 to 2016 dates, the AP Seminar and AP Research exam fee is $139, and the fee for all other AP exams is $92. This means students and their families should be prepared to spend upward of $500 on the entire program. In certain instances, the College Board, as well as the federal and state government, may be able to significantly reduce the testing fee for qualifying students.
3. Can my schedule accommodate the AP Capstone diploma? Schedule availability is another important consideration . Both AP Seminar and AP Research are required yearlong courses for the AP Capstone diploma, so the equivalent of two two-semester classes must be cleared from your schedule to accommodate them.
Students who would otherwise take six or more AP courses, but feel that at least two of them are less important to their academic goals, may have the easiest decision. If there are two AP classes that you feel you can sacrifice to take AP Seminar and AP Research, consider doing so. You may even be able to focus your research paper on one of the subjects you dropped.
If, however, there are no AP courses you wish to sacrifice, then your decision may become much more difficult. For example, are you willing to set aside additional years of a foreign language or an additional science class for this program?
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4. Will my prospective colleges value the AP Capstone diploma? You should also give some thought to how your prospective colleges will view the curriculum. Since the diploma program is in its infancy, there is little evidence to judge how it will help or hurt students.
Schools may look at it as they do the more established International Baccalaureate program, or they may weigh it differently. For now, assess whether your sacrifices would look better on your application than the AP Capstone diploma would. If you are forced to set aside an entire subject of study such as fine art or foreign language to make room for the required courses, then you should ask yourself whether you will look like an accomplished or less well-rounded student.
Be sure to speak to your guidance counselor, parents and teachers, and to plan your schedule through senior year before you enroll in the AP Capstone program.
While AP Capstone has the potential to be a rigorous and rewarding diploma program for students, it is still very new, so care must be taken when deciding whether to enroll in it. Use these four questions as the starting point for your decision, but be sure to consider other factors, as well. This might include who is teaching each course and what you truly wish to study.
If taking on AP Capstone means abandoning a subject you love, consider whether individual AP classes might be better for you.
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4 Questions to Ask When Choosing Between AP Courses, Capstone originally appeared on usnews.com
