AP SELF-ASSESSMENT:
Advanced Placement, Pre-Advanced Placement, and Honors classes offer tremendous rewards including the opportunity to earn college credit while in high school.
Sometimes students, and their parents or guardians, wonder if these challenging courses are right for them. Take a few minutes to honestly complete the following survey. There are no right or wrong answers. However, your honest answers will help you determine if Honors, Pre-AP, and AP classes are right for you.
Read each question. If your honest answer to the question is YES, place a check in the box next to the question. If your honest answer is NO, leave the box blank.
___ Are learning and excelling in school top priorities for you?
___ Have you taken a class that requires at least thirty minutes of homework per night?
___ Do you generally understand a new topic the first time?
___ When you don’t understand a new topic the first time, have you asked your teacher for assistance?
___ Have you asked your teacher for additional explanation or tutoring during your own time such as before school or during a conference period?
___ Do you have one or two friends with whom you meet to study and discuss class topics?
___ Do you meet with your friends to study and discuss class topics outside of class such as in the evenings, weekends or conference periods?
___ Do you enjoy the subject you are planning on studying?
___ Do you enjoy the subject enough that you are willing to sacrifice other immediate academic, athletic, or job opportunities to learn more about the subject?
___ Have you done well in a class that offers little or no extra credit?
___ Have you taken a class that stresses your ability to think about the subject and make your own conclusions rather than simply memorizing and repeating what the teacher says about the subject?
___ Have you done well in a class that emphasizes your ability to think about the subject?
___ Are you a good reader?
___ Have you asked questions about class subjects because you are genuinely interested in the answers?
___ When you haven’t done as well as you would have liked on a test or assignment, have you immediately met with the teacher to find out how you can do better next time?
___ Have you willingly re-done tests or assignments to demonstrate that you’ve learned from your mistakes?
Each of the survey questions reflects a particular reality of Honors, Pre-AP, and AP classes.
• If you answered Yes to most or all of the questions, you will likely experience success in the course you are considering. You may want to consider taking several AP, Pre-AP or Honors courses.
• If you answered Yes to some of the questions, you may still experience success in the
course or courses you are considering. Just be aware that the course may be a bigger challenge than what you have previously experienced. The survey contains clues to how you can still successfully meet the challenge. Be prepared to commit extra nightly study time, practice good study skills, see your teacher outside of class time for assistance, ask questions, and participate in a study group.
• If you answered Yes to only a few, or none of the questions, you may want to consider if Honors, Pre-AP or AP is right for you at this time. These courses are challenging and rigorous. If you decide to still take on the challenge, use the clues to success contained in the survey to help you meet the challenge. Be prepared to commit extra nightly study time, practice good study skills, see your teacher outside of class time for assistance, ask questions, and participate in a study group.