Definition: Advanced Placement or AP courses are college-level classes taught on high school campuses. They generally involve significantly more challenging curriculum and more rigorous homework than non-AP classes, and they culminate in a high stakes exam, administered by the College Board on high school campuses in early May.
The spring exam costs around $86 per class, runs two to three hours, and is graded on a scale of 1 to 5, with a 3 constituting a passing grade and a 4 or 5 being even more desirable. Many universities offer course credit for a high score, or allow students to skip the corresponding class in college. APs also give added heft to a college application, because they tell admissions officers that the applicant has taken - and succeeded at - college-level work, and the grades are “weighted,” i.e., a B in an AP class is worth an A in a regular class.
Also Known As: Advanced Placement
Examples:
Because Jane scored 5s on so many of her AP classes - calculus AB, German, European History and so on - she started college as a second semester freshman.
