Everyone remembers freshman year as the time they could breeze through with no substantive struggle, but what if it wasn’t? What if freshmen could take Advanced Placement classes just like the rest of the school? My personal answer to this would be absolutely not. Sure, an argument can be made that everyone should get to pick the schedule they want, but looking at this question realistically, it is a faulty and impractical proposal. The cons drastically outweigh the pros when it comes to workload and overall high school experience, and on a more practical note, it would be a logistical nightmare.  

The workload that an AP course brings is intense, and if freshmen were able to take them, it would, without a doubt, alter their entire high school experience for the worse. 

I talked to a few freshmen who felt that they should be able to decide their schedule just like everyone else, and if that includes APs, they don’t have a problem with that. 

This thinking disregards the actual purpose of AP courses. They are not just specialized classes that you take for fun; they are more often than not taken for colleges to see on your transcript. It is impossible to take an AP without thinking about how your exam score will look to a college, and that is simply not something freshmen should be worrying about. Freshman year has its fair share of obstacles. Settling into high school is hard, and the added stress of an AP would make it even harder.

The stress of the AP course is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to issues with APs. One of the biggest concerns of APs, which is not commonly talked about, is the inherent creation of competition among students. This sense of competition can be incredibly toxic and stressful.  It has the potential to be even more damaging if it starts off during freshman year.

   There are too many factors that go into taking an AP class, and it is important to have a solid foundation before deciding to take one.  Freshmen simply don’t have  the basics they need to thrive in an AP class.  Coming into high school, students  have enough to worry about, and it is senseless to add all the issues that an AP course brings into the mix.  •