Taking Advanced Placement, also known as AP, courses tends be a no-brainer for many devoted students. As the Algonquin Handbook describes, “AP courses are curriculums designed to give students college level courses and exams while still in high school. The curriculum for these courses is standardized and challenges students to the highest degree.” However, students commonly have a different definition for an AP class. Many think of Advanced Placement courses as merely a way to earn college credit. It is this thought that truly agitates me.

When did these strenuous classes become just about scoring a five on the AP exam? When did students lose sight of how much these classes help prepare you for future college courses? Honestly, I am dumbfounded by how some students neglect to appreciate the many other benefits AP courses provide. Advanced Placement courses are meant to prepare students for college courses and further students’ understanding of a subject matter. Being able to earn college credit is simply icing on the cake. But now I think that the icing is all most students care about. Many students are forgetting about the cake: all the knowledge they will gain from these classes is truly the best part of taking them.

As a student in multiple AP classes, I can honestly state that every year more of my fellow classmates succumb to the idea that an AP class’s only purpose is to earn college credit. This idea is tragic. These intense curricula provide students with the ability to experience college-level academics before they are actually in college. It gives students the ability to grow academically, making mistakes and learning from them. I have always been told to value my AP classes, not for the college credit I will earn, but for the academic experience I will gain. Over the past three years, I have grown in my in AP classes both as a student and as a person. I have learned how to interpret information and use it to argue a point, which will not only be useful in college, but also in my future career.

Although I think that AP courses are a great academic tool to improve students’ abilities within a subject area, I am a firm believer that students should not load up on as many Advanced Placement courses as their schedules can fit. Students should only take an AP course that they are passionate about. They are more likely to develop and hone new skills if they learn them in a course they love. If a student does not like math then he should not take AP Calculus just because he can.

The solution is simple. Do not just go for the icing. Go for the entire cake: the substance, the education, and the challenging environment. The icing is simply the sweet layer that tops of the amazing experience.