IOAPA Students: How Can AP Prepare You for the Next Steps?

Whether you’ve already taken an AP course or are preparing to take your first AP class, you’ve probably heard about the benefits of taking AP courses. However, you might be wondering what else your AP class can do for you after high school. The College Board’s AP Students website provides some helpful tools to guide you in learning about how AP applies to college and beyond.

• See how your AP class might apply to careers or college majors

Perhaps you have an idea of how your AP classes relate to a college major or career. Maybe you have no idea of what to major in yet. Explore your options on the AP Students website—you can search by career, college major, or AP course to see how your AP experience can work towards future goals.

• How might your AP credits transfer to colleges?

If you’ve already received credit and are starting the college search, you might wonder how your AP classes will show up on your transcript. In addition, getting the most credits for your scores might be another priority. AP Students has an extensive list of colleges and lists which courses receive credit and how much your score matters. For example, by searching the University of Iowa’s credit policy, a score of 3 or 4 on the AP Music Theory exam gives you credit for one course, but a score of 5 gives you credit for two courses. Understanding how your AP exam scores might be applied can help you avoid taking duplicate courses in college.

IOAPA: Staying Connected with AP and the Belin-Blank Center this Summer

The last week of AP testing wrapped up on Friday, and while AP teachers and Iowa Online AP Academy mentors are breathing a sigh of relief, College Board and the Belin-Blank Center are gearing up to help support you and your AP students for the 2014-2015 school year!

Here are a few things you can do to help get ready for AP for 2014-2015:

Right Now: 

A few days after the AP exam is finished, the College Board will release the free response items from the 2014 exams.  If you have enough time before the end of the school year, talk about these free response questions with your current AP students.  A student discussion around the questions and responses will help you and your students prep for future AP courses.

Celebrate!  Some schools host AP breakfasts or a special lunch/reception after the AP exams are over.  Take the time to relax, and pat yourself on the back.  You all have worked hard and you deserve it!

 

This Summer:

Participate in an AP Summer Institute to learn more about the course content for each AP course and to learn about upcoming course revisions.  (The Belin-Blank Center is hosting an institute July 7 – 10.  Register here.)

Send in your Iowa Online AP Academy mentor form.  All mentors will be contacted in early August to participate in a webinar with Apex AP instructors before the beginning of the next school year.

If you are a counselor, register to attend the free fall counselor workshops.

Attend the AP Annual Conference July 9 – 13, 2014.

 

Congratulations on your participation in AP during the 2013-2014 school year!