Advanced placement classes—the courses that high school student take at college level.  The classes are fast past, but there are benefits that accompany the challenges.  Arrowhead High School offers over 18 AP classes, ranging from calculus to English to chemistry.

Rachel Ross, a junior at Arrowhead High School, says, “AP classes require you to do a lot more reading and work but in the end it really pays off to receive the college credits.”

Most colleges and universities will give credit to high school students for taking AP classes.  To receive credit, students need to take the end-of-the-year AP test.  The tests are graded on a 0 to 5 scale—0 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.  Each student’s results are posted on collegeboard.com a few weeks after the test is taken.  Students can choose to send their scores to colleges.

Depending on which class and the score received, colleges may give students college credit for taking the courses in high school.  For example, University of Wisconsin of Madison requires a score of three on both the AP Biology test and the AP Spanish Language test to receive credit.  Taking these AP courses is a good way to complete general credits starting college.

Taking and receiving credit for AP classes also helps students save money.

According to money.ccn.com, an average in-state public university in the United States costs about $15,000, while an out-of-state college costs can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000 or more.

Receiving credit for classes taken before college allows high school students to pass out of courses they would be paying thousands of dollars to complete in college.

Most AP classes are general education classes that are needed before a student can start taking classing in a specific major.  Getting the general education classes out of the way prevents students from needing an extra semester.  It may even help a student graduate early.