As sophomores choose their classes for junior year, finding a spot for all of the Advanced-Placement (AP) courses they want to take during their high school career can be tough. With the burden of required courses for the Jefferson Advanced Academic Diploma, including the new addition of a personal finance or macro and microeconomics course, students find themselves increasingly dependent on self study methods in order to get credit for many AP courses.

Sophomore Michael Rodriguez plans to study for the AP World History test after taking World History 1 with teacher Haywon Yi.

“Although the course is not taught at quite an AP level, the tests are as challenging,” Rodriguez said. “The class is definitely harder than the other history classes.”

In order to better prepare himself for the challenge of the AP World History exam, Rodriguez plans to focus on the material not well covered in class while studying, primarily material on contemporary times.

“I’m most nervous about the essay portion of the exam,” Rodriguez said. “There’s a very specific grading rubric, and I don’t want to miss points because I forgot a trivial but necessary part.”

Sophomore Jay Warrior has decided not to self study for an AP test this year. Between finishing his science fair project, managing his website, starting a club and getting a patent, Warrior feels that he would not be able to give self studying for the exam proper attention.

“I also don’t believe in the mentality of taking tons of AP exams for the college credit or the grade boost,” Warrior said. “You should take an AP because you enjoy the topic.”

Although he is not self studying for an AP exam this year, Warrior has considered the possibility of taking a test next year during AP week.

“I’m not totally opposed to the idea, but I would only take an AP exam for something that I love doing.,” Warrior said “Learning should be a pursuit of knowledge, not a pursuit of a certain grade or grade point average.”