With course selection dates coming up, students now have more class options. For the 2024-2025 school year, four new Advanced Placement classes have been added. These new courses include AP Statistics in the Math Department; AP Computer Science A in STEAM; and AP Government and Politics, AP Macroeconomics, and AP World History in the Social Studies Department.
Social Studies department chair and history teacher Matthew McDowell is very excited about the introduction of these new AP classes. McDowell believes taking these advanced classes will help prepare students for college by giving them a feel for what a college education truly entails. He sees the addition of these new APs as the school “making sincere efforts to up the academic rigor as well as elevate the teaching.”
Freshman will now be able to take AP World History— a new rigorous option offered at DePaul College Prep.
McDowell views these Advanced Placement classes as a more detailed and complex variant of a Honors or College Prep level course. “Instead of just doing an overview of Gov, you’re going to really have an opportunity over the course of the semester to do a really good deep dive into the inner workings of US government and politics.” He believes that the abundance of material covered in AP Government and Politics can help prepare students for their desired majors in college, if they choose to take the humanities route.
McDowell also says that these new Social Studies AP classes exist today as a result of student demand. “There was a demand from kids at the senior level who had interest in going into either foreign relations, political science, or law down the road with the AP Gov option,” McDowell states.
Additionally, Peter Sisto, the Math Department chair, agrees on the ability of AP to cater to specific interests or intended college majors. Sisto recommends the new AP Statistics course for students with an interest in business, economics, accounting,or political science. But, the applications of this course are not limited to only those fields.
“Even if you’re going to major in something like English, you might be working for a newspaper, or a magazine, and you’ll have to analyze data in the real world,” Sisto says. Sisto strongly encourages students to take this course to see the real world applications of math.
Junior Conor Dunne, who is taking AP Language and Composition, AP US History, and AP Computer Science, says that he takes these courses to improve his GPA and better his college applications. He believes these accelerated courses are popular among many students because “it gives more GPA boosters.”
Dunne also says that although these classes are more fast paced and complex, AP courses have not caused him much stress. “They’re not that bad,” Dunne asserts. He believes the biggest differences between a CP or honors course and an AP course is in “the level of difficulty of the content mostly, but homework wise, it’s the same.”
Though there are many benefits of taking AP Courses, both McDowell and Sisto advise students against taking these difficult classes without fully thinking it through. McDowell hopes that “they won’t just take an AP offering just to check a box,” while also acknowledging the struggles of balancing multiple AP classes. Sisto thinks that students shouldn’t rush into deciding to take APs. “Reflect on yourself, reflect on your strengths before choosing an AP-style class,” Sisto says.
Sisto believes that taking an AP course is a good choice for students who are fast paced, independent, and genuinely enjoy learning. He also encourages students to take CP Statistics if they feel that AP is not the right fit for them. “It can get rigorous, and it could get stressful, that’s the reality of it,” Sisto says.
Despite these concerns, both view Advanced Placement classes as a beneficial gateway to more opportunities in college. “I think that having the college level experience and the level of rigor and challenge is going to help them in the long run.” McDowell says.
While Sisto believes that AP is not for everyone and some students may have a better balance by taking CP or Honors, he also sees a greater purpose behind taking these elevated courses. “You can never go wrong with taking an AP level course to improve your college application,” Sisto adds. Overall, taking more elevated courses in high school has the potential to make the college experience far smoother for students.
