Advanced Placement Information

The Advanced Placement (AP) Program

The Advanced Placement (AP) Program is a cooperative educational endeavor of secondary schools, colleges, and the College Board. It consists of 29 college-level courses and examinations in 16 academic disciplines for highly motivated students in secondary schools. Many students report that they enjoy the challenge of the program; high school faculties find that AP courses greatly enhance students' confidence and academic interest; and college faculties find that these students are far better prepared for serious academic work.

Interested students may apply for entry. Teacher recommendation and a written screening process may be used for entry to some courses. A grade of an "A" or "B" in prerequisite courses may be required. Once enrolled in an AP course, a student must have parental permission to drop the class.

Advantages to the AP Program:

  1. A four year program

  2. Students create their own program to meet their needs and academic strengths.

  3. Vertical and horizontal teaming in subject areas.

  4. Inclusion at any grade level for interested, qualified students.

  5. Academic Program most often accepted nationally and internationally.

  6. Students may be enrolled in as few as one or as many as six (6) AP courses in a given year.

  7. Students have access to College Center/ Career Center which focuses on student needs and the latest college information and services.

  8. Students may receive an International Diploma if specific criteria are met.

AP exams are offered by the College Board in the following areas:

  • United States History

  • Studio Art

  • Biology

  • English Language and Composition

  • English Literature and Composition

  • European History

  • United States Government and Politics

  • World History

  • Calculus

  • Physics

  • Spanish Language

  • Statistics

  • Art History

  • Chemistry

  • Computer Science

  • Economics

  • Environmental Science

  • French

  • German

  • Human Geography

  • Latin

  • Music Theory

  • Psychology

  • Seminar

  • Research

**Testing is available to any student. MCS recommends students take a preparatory course before testing. Courses in bold are offered at Gregori High School


Grading the Exams:

Every examination receives an overall grade on a five-point scale.

Exam Grade

5 – Extremely well qualified
4 – Well qualified
3 – Qualified
2 – Possible qualified
1 – No recommendation

Passing the Exam

To obtain a grade of "3" or higher on a typical AP exam, a student needs to answer about 50 percent of the multiple choice questions correctly and do acceptable work on the free-response section.

The AP program has conducted college grade comparability studies in various AP subjects to compare the performance of AP candidates with that of college students in related courses. In general, these studies indicate that an AP grade of "3" or more is nearly comparable to a college course grade of "C." Individual institutions vary on credit awarded.

MCS recommends every student enrolled in an AP course take the AP exam at the end of each course. If a student chooses not to take the exam, a parental waiver must be signed.

For further information contact:

Sean Evers
Associate Principal & AP Coordinator
(209) 574-1746