Test Preparation
- AP Chemistry
- AP Biology
Olympiad Preparation
- US Biology Olympiad (USABO)
- US Medicine and Disease Olympiad (USMDO)
Course Preparation
- AP Chemistry
- AP Biology
- IBET/Honor Biology
- Honor Physics
- Honor/TJ Summer Chemistry
AP EXAM Fact
After World War II, the Ford Foundation created a fund that supported committees studying education.The program was founded and pioneered at Kenyon College in Gambier Ohio, by the then college president Gordon Chalmers which was then referred to as the "Kenyon Plan." The first study was conducted by three prep schools—the Lawrenceville School, Phillips Academy and Phillips Exeter Academy—and three universities—Harvard University, Princeton University and Yale University. In 1952 they issued the report General Education in School and College: A Committee Report which recommended allowing high school seniors to study college level material and to take achievement exams that allowed them to attain college credit for this work.
The College Board, a non-profit organization based in New York City, has run the AP program since 1955. From 1965 to 1989, Harlan Hanson was the director of the Advanced Placement Program. It develops and maintains guidelines for the teaching of higher-level courses in various subject areas. In addition, it supports teachers of AP courses, and supports universities. These activities are funded through fees charged to students taking AP Exams. (from Wikipedia).
Because SAT II subject exam is removed, AP exam result becomes more important.
Summary of AP EXAM
Have real college course experience in high school
Start at Yale, Harvard, & Princeton from 1955
Operated by College Board
Taken every May (May first two weeks, May 1 to May 12)
34 Subjects
Can take WITHOUT taking courses at school
Even 7th/8th graders can take
AP (Advanced Placement) Exams Format
Part 1) multiple-choice questions (mostly 50-60%)
Part 2) a free-response section (mostly 40-50%), in either essay or problem-solving format
Five-point Scale:
5: Extremely well-qualified
4: Well-qualified
3: Qualified
2: Possibly qualified
1: No recommendation
Benefit of AP classes/exams
Higher Grade Point Average (Weighted GPA)
Demonstrate Great Academic Ability to Colleges
Helpful for SAT II Subject Test Preparation (It is hard to get high grade if take SAT II chem/bio after honor courses, because they have some AP-level problems. Up to 3 wrong answers (85 problems in Chem/80 problems in Bio), students can get 800. If 4 wrongs, they will get 790)
Receive College Credit (most colleges)
Real College Conditioning -
**Good for even MCAT/DAT to go a medical school
AP Science Level = Average College Freshman Level = MCAT level (Medical School) > DAT level (Dental School)
“All I did for MCAT exam in college was reviewing AP Chem and AP Bio notebook!!” from my former student in a college. She knows that even though her friends got A in AP courses, they should spend a lot of time to prepare MCAT because they got A with minimal understanding or by raising grade with home work and laboratory report.
Why TJ students need help in AP subjects?
Since they are performing too many activities and taking advanced courses, they can not focus on all AP subjects.
By being helped, they can save time and spend the saved time for other subject. More importantly, even they get A in school, it does not mean they completely understand the subject. Once understand AP subjects like chem/bio/physics/calculus, it is very easy to prepare MCAT, a test for medical school, which is about same level as AP subjects. In case of DAT for dental school, DAT is much easier than AP subjects. My old students emailed me that they read my lecture note before test and could prepare easily.
When to start AP exams?
Depending on your interest, you can start as early as possible. In 2016, ~6000 students took 1 or 2 AP exams before 9th grade. ~170,000 9th graders take the exams. My youngest students who got "5" in AP BIO and "800" SATII Bio was 9 years old. Several 8th graders got "5" in AP environmental Science exam.
Therefore, the earlier, the better.
AP Subjects
Art History
Biology
Calculus (AB & BC)
Chemistry
Chinese Language and Culture
Comparative Government & Politics
Computer Science A
English Language & Composition
English Literature & Composition
Environmental Science
European History
French Language
German Language
Human Geography
Italian Language and Culture
Japanese Language and Culture
Latin: Vergil
Macroeconomics
Microeconomics
Music Theory
Physics B
Physics C: Mechanics
Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
Psychology
Russian Language and Culture
Spanish Language
Spanish Literature
Statistics
Studio Art (2-D, 3-D, & Drawing)
U.S. History
U.S. Government & Politics
World History
Academic and nonacademic achievement
in MIT website, http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/application_question_scholasti, it is clearly described as below. Other top colleges will have similar policy.
It seems that the distinction between "scholastic" and "non-scholastic" has been causing some confusion, based on web comments and phone calls. In an attempt to alleviate confusion, I sat down with my colleague McGreggor Crowley '00, MD, who directs the admissions process here, and together we tried to make the distinction.
One way to think of it would be this: academic and co-curricular awards will usually be "scholastic." Extracurricular awards will usually be "non-scholastic."
However, an important message is this: there is no wrong way to fill out this section. Don't worry about putting an award in the "wrong" section, as there really is no best way to fill this out. Do your best to place things where you think they belong, but don't stress out over it.
McGreggor and I also brainstormed a list of awards and distinctions, and how we might categorize them. (Again, these are not the "right" answers, but rather some insight into how we might do the sorting). Here goes...
Examples of what might be considered scholastic distinctions:
Math (e.g. AMC, ARML, Mu Alpha Theta)
Science (e.g. Science Olympiad, USABO)
Robotics (e.g. FIRST Chairman's Award, firefighting robots)
Computer science (e.g. ACSL, USACO)
Engineering (e.g. bridge building, rocketry)
Research & science fairs (e.g. school/regional science fair, ISEF)
Academic summer programs (e.g. Governor's school, SSP, RSI, MITES, WTP)
Academic competition (e.g. Academic Decathlon, Quiz Bowl)
Exam-based awards (e.g. AP Scholar, National Merit)
Grade-based awards (e.g. Honor Roll)
Awards linked to a class or department (e.g. History department award, NCTE, National Latin Exam)
Honor societies (e.g. National Honor Society)
Book awards (e.g. Harvard Book Award, Rensselaer Medal)
Examples of what might be considered non-scholastic distinctions:
Leadership (HOBY, Rotary, student government)
Music (e.g. competitive orchestras, concerto competitions, All County, Interlochen)
Art (e.g. placing in a competition, having a gallery show)
Athletics (e.g. All League, varsity letter, Wendy's High School Heisman)
Volunteering (e.g. Prudential Spirit of Community Award)
Work-related accomplishments (e.g. employee of the month)
Politcal (e.g. Model UN, debate, Boys/Girls State)
Dance (e.g. arangetram)
Scouting (e.g. Gold Award, Order of the Arrow)
Random stuff (e.g. Prom King/Queen, "Most Likely to Succeed," "I have read all of Modern Library's Top 100 Novels")
Now, if you happened to list debate as scholastic, or FIRST as non-scholastic, don't worry. As I said above, these are not the "right" answers, rather one attempt at sorting. As long as you've done your best to list those distinctions of which you're most proud and best show your talents, you have done this section correctly.
I hope this is helpful!
* National AP Scholar Award is not applied from sophomores in 2020. Even the system is removed, Top Colleges are still using AP results as a measure of academic ability.