In a time where it is nearly impossible to get into the first college of one’s choice, students will do anything to boost their chances of admission, including taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses during their freshman year. However, at Schreiber, freshmen are not allowed to take AP courses; as students increase their grade level, more AP courses become available. 

While it may be difficult for some freshmen to have to balance adjusting to a new high school and taking extremely hard classes, others are better suited to balance the harsh workload and maintain good grades while taking AP courses, and thus should possess the opportunity to challenge themselves. 

It is very easy to see, especially with the help of the honors program at Schreiber, that every student has different intellectual limits and levels of maturity. However, once freshmen reach the honors level, they don’t possess the option to take a harder course. 

Some students who are very advanced and do well in honors classes may feel that they need more of a challenge and can academically push themselves even further. It should be up to the student, not the administration, to decide whether they want to challenge themselves in an AP class. 

“If freshmen have proven that they can excel in honors classes, then they should have the choice of whether or not they are in AP classes,” said freshman Robert Novak. 

Freshmen who are not currently allowed to take these AP courses are not only being prevented from being challenged, but are being negatively affected. These students, given the opportunity, could both receive higher grades and demonstrate more of their impressive capabilities to colleges. 

Without AP classes, students will not be able to demonstrate their full potential to colleges until a later year. Students need to do anything to stand out to colleges during a time when acceptance into universities is only becoming more difficult. 

“I definitely think that freshmen deserve to be challenged by a more difficult course if they are willing to put the work in,” said freshman Kevin Taylor. “Some kids are advanced enough by ninth grade to do well in an AP course.”

By not being challenged in the courses that they are currently taking, many students may become bored, leading to them to become a less motivated student during that school year. Students will be more motivated to try in a challenging class, where they are forced to pay attention. 

Schreiber offers more than 20 AP courses, making it difficult for students to take all of the courses they are interested in in the span of their last three years of high school. Additionally, by spreading out AP courses, students won’t be forced to fill their schedules with AP courses their senior year, while already dealing with college stress. 

By permitting freshmen to take AP courses, students wouldn’t feel as if they are missing out on taking all of the AP courses that cover an area of their interest. 

Compared to regular classes, AP courses are specialized in a certain subject, covering topics in depth. Under the current system at Schreiber, students who possess a passion for a topic that they want to learn more about are prevented from taking these courses until a later year simply because of their age and grade. Thus, allowing freshmen to take AP courses would allow students to experiment with their interests.