Barren County
Early College
Magnet
Amy Allen
Counselor
AP courses are the most challenging courses offered at
Barren County High School
College-level courses
Gives you a head start on college
Shows colleges that you are a serious student & capable
of college-level work
Have the potential to earn college credits or placement
into advanced courses in college
Did you know . . .

If you earn a high school diploma, you’re
likely to earn $7,000 more annually than
students who don’t complete high school.

But if you earn a bachelor’s degree in
college, you’re likely to earn $22,000
more annually.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, 2000
Prepare Now to Succeed in
College
A 1999 U.S. Department of
Education study found that the
strongest predictor
of college graduation is…
Participation in rigorous,
college-level courses in
high school (AP courses ).
AP and College Success™
70
61
60
45
50
40
29
30
20
10
0
No AP
One AP
Two+ AP
Students who take
AP courses and
exams are much
more likely than their
peers to complete a
bachelor’s degree in
four years or less.
Source: Camara, Wayne (2003).
College Persistence, Graduation, and Remediation. College
Board Research Notes (RN-19). New York, NY:
College Board.
Levels of courses at BC:
MOST DIFFICULT
AP=Advanced Placement (AP Calculus)
DIFFICULT
Dual Credit = Dual Credit WKU (Psychology 100)
Pre-AP = preAdvanced Placement (Pre-AP English I)
Hnrs = Honors (Hnrs Integrated Science)
AVERAGE
No label (Algebra I)
Prepare for success in college
by taking college-level courses
while still in high school
Opportunity to earn awards,
scholarships,
and improve chances of
college admission
Opportunity to earn college
credit or advanced placement
Outperform their peers
when
placed into advanced
courses
Are ready and prepared for
the
rigor, work-load, and time
required
to be successful in an AP
course
Are more likely to take
advanced
courses in their AP subject
areas
Are more likely to choose
challenging majors in
college
 AP
committee members currently teach at dozens of
the nation’s top colleges and universities, including:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Dartmouth College
Hamilton College
Michigan State University
Princeton University
UCLA
University of Texas at Austin
University of Virginia
Yale University
Most of the nation’s colleges/universities & 24 other countries grant
students admission, credit, and/or placement for qualifying AP Exam
scores.
•It shows colleges that you are a serious student, who
can succeed in a college course and exam.
•It shows colleges that you have experienced a
college-level course and exam.
•Most colleges require you to take the AP course
and earn a certain score on the exam before
awarding college credit.
For example, at Princeton, students can use qualifying AP Exam grades to:
– Graduate in three or three-and-a-half years
– Enter upper-level courses
– Fulfill a foreign language requirement
Saves you college TIME &
MONEY!!!
AP Exam
$87
$0 BC Magnet
students
vs.
College Course
$315/credit hour (WKU)
1 HS credit = 3 college credits
3hr x $315 = $945
Example:
BC Magnet student earns college credit for four college courses.
1 high school credit = 3 college credits
3 college credits x 4 AP courses = 12 college credits
12 x $945 = $11,340 saved
12 hours of time saved (semester of college courses)
Saves you college TIME &
MONEY!!!

Dual Credit Course
$200 per course
$40 one time app fee
College Course
$945 per course
Example:
BCHS Magnet student takes 4 dual credit classes while at
BCHS
$200 x 4 = $800 + $40 application fee = $840 and 16 college
credit hours
Add your AP college credits plus your dual credit courses and
you could easily gain 28 college credit hours before high
school graduation (almost 2 college semesters in credit)
PLACEMENT vs. CREDIT

Some colleges award “credit” for qualifying AP
Exam grades. This means you actually earn
points/hours toward your college degree. Credit
shows up on college transcript.

Others award “advanced placement.” This means
you can skip introductory courses, enter higherlevel classes, and/or fulfill general education
requirements.
Increase Your Options in College
College credit can allow you to move into
upper-level college courses sooner, pursue
a double major, and gain time to study and
travel abroad:
“As a freshman, I was able to skip general ed
requirements and head straight into the higherlevel classes I wanted to take. Taking AP Exams
literally saved me semesters of time.”
—Brent Wiese, University of Iowa
If you earn a qualifying grade on
an AP Exam, you can receive credit
for the equivalent course at
thousands of colleges and
universities:
“I took AP throughout high school
because it was the most interesting
and well-taught program offered.
When I reached college, I realized
that I had accumulated a year’s
worth of credits. I graduated from
Michigan’s undergraduate business
school a full year early, saving
$30,000 and a year’s time.”
—Nikki Baker, University of Michigan
“One of the best standard
predictors of academic success
at Harvard is performance on
Advanced Placement
Examinations.”
—William R. Fitzsimmons
Dean of Admissions, Harvard University
“AP Exams affirm the rigor of a
student’s course work. Though
admissions policies vary, if I were a
student, I wouldn’t assume that the
college of my dreams didn’t care
about AP Exams in the admissions
process.”
—Bruce Walker, Director of Admissions
University of Texas at Austin
Factors influencing admissions
decisions (2001)
NACAC Admission Trends Survey, 2001
6.4% Work/Extracurricular
90
PERCENTAGE
80.4
80
8.2% Community Service
70
10.8% Interview
60
16.3% Teacher Rec
51.7
50
44.8
17.4% Counselor Rec
40
20.3% Essays
30.5
30
20.3
20
10
10.8
8.2
6.4
30.5% Class Rank
17.4
16.3
44.8% GPA
51.7% Test Scores
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0
80.4% AP courses/rigor
of schedule
Scholarships look at # AP courses
taken and AP exam scores…
Some of the most
competitive scholarship
awards value AP Exam
grades:
“Having the AP Exam grade
can make the difference
when it comes down to
awarding precious
scholarship dollars.”
—Edwina Harris Hamby
Dean of Admission
Fisk University
Experience a College-Level Test
The intensity of college exams catches far too many
freshmen by surprise:
“Students who have prepared for and taken the AP Exams
adapt more easily to taking college essay exams, and are
especially skilled in including a thesis and a welldeveloped argument. They are also less intimidated by
sophisticated, college-level multiple-choice questions that
seek to test understanding over memorization.”
—Robert Blackey, Professor of History
CSU, San Bernardino
AP students who receive
college credit or advanced
placement into higher-level
college courses perform
better than the non-AP
students who actually took
the introductory college
courses first.
Source: Rick Morgan and Len Ramist.
“Advanced Placement Students in
College: An Investigation of Course
Grades at 21 Colleges.” Educational
Testing Service (1998).
English
Language
Literature
11th
12th
Math
Calculus AB
Statistics
11th or 12th
12th
Social Studies
World History
S History
9th or 10th
10th or 11th
Science
Biology
Chemistry
10th or 12th
11th
World Languages
French
11th (fourth level)
Spanish
11th or 12th (fourth level)
Art
Studio Art
11th or 12th
1.
Go to
www.collegeboard.com/ap/creditp
olicy
2.
Type in the name of the college or
university whose AP policy you
want to view (or browse by letter of
the alphabet).
3.
You will see two things for each
school that has provided their AP
credit policy info:
• A link to the college’s own Web
page that details its AP credit
and placement policies.
• A statement by the college or
university about its AP policy.

Just let your counselor know if you
want to change into an AP course for
next year.