Students who were having a hard time passing their AP courses in the fall semester are finding that switching out of those classes for the spring semester is even harder.

“The class can be stressful at times,” said a junior, who wanted to remain anonymous.

“Having so much work from other classes can be difficult as you can get caught up. A lot of teachers don’t fully understand how hard it can become when you have personal, educational expectations from home.”

Now that a new semester has begun, several students have attempted to switch out of their AP courses due to their struggles at the end of the previous semester. Much to their dismay, the contract that a student and their parent must sign before one can be admitted into an AP class states that a student may not under any circumstance drop an AP course once they’ve been enrolled.

Venice counselors make sure to communicate the difficulty of an AP course to all potential AP students. Every year, they host an annual Student AP afternoon, where parents and students meet with teachers, so that the students understand the rigor and the expectations before enrolling, said College Counselor Jamie Simon-Meyer.

“We also send home a contract that gives a  general overview, that the expectations are higher than a regular high school class, said Ms. Simon-Meyer. “In this way, we will expect students to know what they’re getting into, given all the opportunities.”  

“We also send home a contract that gives a general overview, that the expectations are higher than a regular high school class, said Ms. Simon-Meyer. “In this way, we will expect students to know what they’re getting into, given all the opportunities.”

“Many students may want to join an AP class because in the long run, it does offer college credit or will waive a requirement, but that’s only if the student gets a passing score. So it does save them money in the long run. But doing so, requires studying and passing a rigorous class as well as the final test,” said Ms.Simon-Meyer.

Before enrolling into an AP class, the student must not only know the circumstances that come with it, but agree to the contract with a parent with all the following information.

“Before joining an AP class, I would want to tell a student that this course will require a lot of independence, in terms of work completion. It will require a lot of time management skills because of the amount of work associated with it. And lastly, the student has to be really passionate and interested in the material, that plays a big role in the students success and ability to work because at times there can be so much work associated with it, that if you’re not self motivated, that can get into the way of the student’s success,” said Ms. Simon-Meyer.