AP classes are used to boost GPAs, and class ranks, to get into colleges, and even in some cases, be awarded college credit, or even bypass certain college classes. In this article, we go through 22 of Crofton High schools AP classes for 2022 in order to help depict the overall feelings surrounding each course, as well as what to expect when taking a certain AP class. 

AP Social Studies

US History 

Counts toward Social Studies Graduation Requirements

US History, like most AP history classes, is a content-heavy course with a plethora of dates, events, and developments to memorize. The course starts out with a brief history of Native American culture and continues with European discovery and colonization of the Americas. The course continues US history from the 1400s to the 21st century in a total of 9 units, each with a certain number of subtopics. 

Throughout the course, students are taught to look at events and developments through certain lenses. Much of the curriculum is centered around the AP US history AMSCO book, which is the topic of many homework assignments in the class. Sophomore Jiya Patel, “I would say, it took around an hour or two to complete each homework assignment. Although, studying and completing homework are separate.” 

In addition to the AP US history course, there is a compulsory “historical inquiry” class that students need to take in order to improve their historical thinking skills, as well as practice for the upcoming AP test questions. Students are heavily encouraged to spend a bit of time studying each night, although, according to Patel, it might become overwhelming if there are assignments from both historical inquiry and APUSH. At the end of the course, students are given a small “demo” to the next AP History course; AP US Government. All in all, AP US history is a tough, yet memorable class that would be a good fit for history lovers who are interested in learning about US history. 

Government and Politics 

Counts toward Social Studies Graduation Requirements

AP Government and Politics is a lecture-based class that details the structure and history of the US government. The class is centered around learning and memorizing court cases, federal documents, and different historical events. The course compares different developments of US history and ties those developments to the way of governing during that period. 

AP Gov is a fast-paced class, as most AP classes are, and demands high-level thinking and commitment outside of class time. Although there isn’t a lot of homework, much of the classwork is finished or reviewed at home. In school, writing essays, or FRQ’s, is quite a regular occurrence. This class is a great opportunity to learn more about the three branches of the US government and to connect with peers, according to Junior Hailey Whittier, an AP Gov alumni. Overall, AP Government is a fascinating class and a perfect course to take for history lovers. 

World History

Counts toward Social Studies Graduation Requirements

AP World History starts by teaching early periods of the world, putting a lot of the focus on Asia and then moving to trade routes. It then goes into more recent events like the discovery of America, the Industrial Revolution, and the Expansion. 

Students at Crofton High School noted that the homework was quite generous but the feedback was extensive, as said by Crofton High school senior Allie Gallaher. “I’d say we received one chapter of the reading nearly every class and sometimes some extra stuff. It took me about 50 minutes per chapter but sometimes we also had two.” In addition to the homework, one can also expect many multiple-choice tests, or MCQ’s, one pager projects, documents, presentations, and lots of reading in the AMSCO books (Advanced Placement history textbooks). 

World History as a whole is a more in-depth exploration of Historical topics around the world; it’s a good class for those interested in expanding their writing skills or going into a history-based career. According to an article by CollegeRealityCheck.com  Is AP World History Worth It?, “…AP World History does provide necessary reading and writing skills in high school that students will be grateful for in college.” It’s ultimately a challenging history class for those who want to delve deeper into the world’s history. 

Psychology 

Counts as an Elective Credit 

AP Psychology is a class that gives an in-depth understanding of the human brain, how we think, and why we act the way we do. AP Psychology is an elective Social studies class and starts out with introductory topics to psychology such as the founders and structure of psychology and the function of the brain. 

According to Crofton High students, the class itself gives a substantial amount of homework that’s consistent with the amount of information in which the student receives. Junior Gabriel Romer said, “we have to go really in-depth with notes.” Note-taking, projects, and hands-on learning are big components of this class as psychology is organized into 9 units. Units that cover topics such as Biology and behavior, Cognitive Psychology, and Developmental Psychology as discussed in the article, Is AP Psychology Hard? A Complete Guide by bestcolleges.com. 

The average grade level of students who take this class can range from sophomore year all the way to senior year. It’s an elective AP class and thus, often recommended to those who are interested in one of the various fields of psychology such as clinical psychology, medicinal psychology, counseling services, or forensic psychology.

Human Geography 

Counts as an Elective Credit  

AP Human Geography is the study of human behavior and how it is affected by culture and regional development. Human Geography is a discussion-based course, with many class analyses and interactive projects to understand and review concepts. 

The class is relaxed, which is a stark contrast to other AP history classes. Students view many videos and engage in debates and analyses during class time. Work outside of class time consists of studying or preparing for class. Homework is not a significant struggle, which is, once again, unique, compared to other AP history classes. 

According to junior Sam Chin, “it’s very relaxed, especially for an AP class. It’s a lot of fun!”. Although the class environment is welcoming and casual, it is an AP course nonetheless and still requires devotion in and outside of school. This class would be an approachable AP course if you are interested in earning an AP credit but are seeking out a manageable workload.

Comparative Government 

Counts as Elective Credit 

AP Comparative Government is one of the more unique AP classes offered at Crofton High, as it approaches a “typical history class” in a vastly different manner. In this class, the countries of the UK, Iran, Nigeria, China, Russia, and Mexico are studied, as topics such as cultural comparison, election systems, and how each country’s governments function are compared within them. Each country selected for this class was chosen for the purpose of comparison, as each one is distinctly different from the others. Some countries are more progressive while others are more conservative, and some are more democratic versus some are more authoritative.

This is an AP class that leans heavily on the political perspective of history: “Everybody in the class takes it because they are passionate about learning about politics, so it’s rather informal in the sense that we have discussions about the topics. It really feels more like a class discussion rather than an actual class,“ said Senior Caffrey Helpa. In addition to its informal structure, the homework is moderate and mostly textbook-based. 

While there are plenty of notes for the class, it is still a somewhat lecture-based AP course. “It’s not like any other social studies class, you get to look at other countries outside of the US- and we do a lot of simulations that are not your conventional way of learning,” Helpa said. All in all, it’s a unique AP class, mainly advised to those interested in fields of cultural and political significance.

AP English

English Language and Composition 

Counts toward English Graduation Requirements

AP English Language and Composition follows the same structure as most other English courses, and can even meet a graduation requirement for your English class,  just with additional AP test preparation. Although it’s an advanced class, it is quite lenient with homework. “We might take home like one or two articles to annotate, or books to read. It’s usually no more than 20 minutes of homework that we take home after class,” said Junior Fran Cadori. 

AP Language and Composition is often used to bypass the introductory English classes in college, but it can also be used to benefit one’s reading analyses and writing skills. “I just find the topics really interesting. I like learning about how authors string words together in order to create different meanings. My writing has drastically improved because of it,” said Cadori. It’s a challenging class for those who don’t enjoy annotations and in-depth discussions but overall, students claim it to be one of the more manageable APs. 

AP English Literature and Composition 

Counts toward English Graduation Requirements

In addition to AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition

builds off of the AP English Language and Composition skills and explores literature and reading comprehension rather than physically writing yourself. Furthermore, because the skills learned in this AP class are so widely versatile, it can be a beneficial class for all students, as one’s reading and analytic skills can improve as a result of this class. According to 12th Grader Xiomara Shultz, “it’s mostly just reading and annotating fiction.” 

A large portion of the class is solely dedicated to reading and understanding Shakespeare works, and the language within. Its overall purpose is to delve more into literary language by putting a greater focus on works of literature themselves. All in all, it’s one of the more manageable AP classes for those proficient in their reading and writing skills. 

AP Sciences

Biology

Counts toward Science Graduation Requirements

AP Biology is one of the less rigorous science APs that not only counts as a science credit but also allows students to learn more about biology by exploring topics like evolution, energetics, information storage and transmission, the Krebs cycle, and system interactions. 

Senior, Vivian Jiang stated, “AP biology dives more in-depth to the second semester of honors bio, like molecular structure, the Krebs cycle, genetics, and stuff.”. Students are regularly required to read pages in their assigned textbook as homework and labs often take place in AP biology. As a result, it often has vocabulary that needs memorization. As described in the Overview of AP Biology Units, Chapters, and Big Ideas article

by excelatscience.com  “AP biology is a fascinating class, but it is also one of the densest.  In fact, one of the most common complaints from students is that there is too much information and detailed vocabulary to memorize.”  

Chemistry 

Counts toward Science Graduation Requirements

AP Chemistry is an advanced-level chemistry course that hones in on topics like stoichiometry, 

gas laws, intermolecular forces, kinetics, thermodynamics, and chemical reactions. It’s designed to go more in-depth with chemistry topics that build off of standard or honors chemistry classes. 

There is a decent amount of classwork and the work could take a significant amount of time depending on one’s understanding of the content, as it is one of the more rigorous AP classes. However, if interested in a field involving the use of chemistry, this may be a class for you. 

According to the article Careers in Chemistry by the University of Strathclyde Glasgow,

careers involving the use of chemistry include; Analytical Chemist, Accountant/ Auditor, Chemical Engineer, Chemical Development Engineer, Environmental Chemist, Forensic Scientist, and more. Because it’s a more career-specific course it’s often recommended you only take this class if you find chemistry enjoyable and are willing to study using elements of both math and science. “The class environment feels a little stressed, it’s a lot, and a tiny bit overwhelming, there’s a lot of information and it feels like we don’t always cover all the information we need to.” Saif Junior, Daniel Ross. 

There’s a lot of devotion to work both in class and out of class with about 2-4 works that are due at the end of the unit. “If you just do what’s required, it’s not enough to get an A, studying takes up a lot of time for the class, at least in my experience.” Said Daniel, who also mentioned the class itself being “Mostly examples and explanations of the work we do out of class.” Thus contributing to the general consensus that AP chemistry is a challenging AP class that’s recommended to those who are willing to put in the effort. 

Environmental Science 

Counts toward Science Graduation Requirements

AP Environmental Science is a more “natural world” based science class that can earn you a science credit. Topics studied may include environmental science specializations; Soil ecology, Aquatic/marine biology, Earth systems, Environmental and biological conservation, Energy and climate change, and Water resource management. All the topics are grouped differently and chunked into units. Each unit contains its own variety of tests, projects, and classwork. 

This class is highly vocabulary based, and there’s a good amount of memorization involved. Subsequently, homework and study-time is a big part of this class. However, there are also notable discussions in this AP as well, according to Senior Camryn Chehreh;  “We got to talk to our peers about what was happening in our community. We did a lot of writing and a lot of reading and watching, which was challenging. Overall, it was really fun to learn more about our community and to see how that impacts the state, the east coast, and really the whole country.” 

AP environmental science tends to be regarded by Crofton High students as “one of the more challenging APs”. However, if you enjoy learning about topics regarding animals and nature, this is a recommended course for you. 

Physics 

Count toward Science Graduation Requirements

Physics is a notoriously strenuous AP class to take, rated the most difficult AP course by exam pass rate. AP physics covers a variety of topics including kinematics, Newtonian mechanics, thermodynamics, and projectile motion. 

Although this is a largely lecture-based course, there are still many labs sprinkled throughout lectures. At the beginning of every unit, students will receive a packet full of all of their respective content. Although this packet is not graded, it is the equivalent of homework and students are expected to complete their packet accordingly. Many students have noted that their quality has improved significantly throughout their completion of the course. The class is quite fast-moving and advanced, it requires a lot of focus and work outside of school. 

The class allows students to go at their own pace, to a certain extent, yet still challenges students with regular quizzes and tests. “It’s the kind of class where getting a 70% is a good thing” – Christine Wang.

AP Math

Statistics

Counts toward Math elective

AP Statistics  is all about the organization of data and data analysis. It’s a class that not only attains you a math credit but is also applicable to a variety of majors, as data collection is widely used in many careers. However, certain careers are more statistic-intensive than others. Careers such as psychology, business, and data analysis careers are just a few examples. 

“The amount of work we have in a given class period is pretty light, but there’s a lot of homework. And there’s a lot of explanation surrounding the work.” said Sophomore Noah Teichert. Graphs, scatter plots, distributions, populations, and the overarching theme of data analysis is what this course is all about, so it’s not a notoriously complex math course, like Calculus. Students at Crofton High frame this as a class that, “you either get- or you don’t.” So if you need an AP math class that isn’t AP calc, and you’re willing to put in a little more studying and effort then regular statistics, AP Statistics could definitely be an option for you. 

Calculus AB 

Counts toward Math elective

AP Calculus AB, and AP Calculus BC are the two advanced placement calculus courses offered at Crofton High school. AP Calculus BC is designed to build off skills learned in AP Calculus AB. 

There are 10 units total between the two classes, AB contains the first 8, and BC is the other 2. “BC is about derivatives, limits, and intervals. And AB expands on those topics and adds in series” said senior Sarah Ator. It’s a content-heavy class that generally in years past only a few have taken. “We’ve all been pretty eventually and matched and It’s a very collaborative environment. We do everything in parents and groups, we even got to take our quizzes with partners.” Said Ator. According to an article called,  The Applications of Calculus in Everyday Life (Uses & Examples) by www.byjusfutureschool.com calculus has a lot of real-world applications in careers such as Mechanical Engineering, Epidemiology, Economics, and even Acoustics. Careers such as these may be of interest to those planning on taking AP Calculus. It’s a content-heavy class that can serve as a foundation for many skillful careers. 

AP Art

AP Drawing, AP 2-D Art, and Design Portfolio, and AP 3-D Art and Design 

Counts as Elective Credit 

The AP Arts courses consist of three different fields of study, AP Drawing, AP 2-D Art and Design Portfolio, or AP 3-D Art and Design. Each class offered, requires prerequisites to be filled before one can enter into it, as shown on the  Crofton High Art page of aacps.org. AP Drawing is primarily a class centered around mark making using mediums like Painting, Colored pencil, graphite, pastels, whereas AP 2-D art focuses on mediums like graphic design, photography, weaving, and collage. Both 2-D and AP Art Drawing often overlap mediums but generally AP 2-D art is more centered around digital artwork. 3D, however, is very separate from the other two Art AP’s as it can be sculpture, architectural rendering and models, metalwork, ceramics, glasswork, etc., depending on what each class offers resource-wise. AP 3-D art is just that, 3-D Art composed of various materials. 

Each class however, follows a similar structure, As all students start out by answering an open-ended question to base their artwork around, called an Inquiry question. Then, all students are required to create 15 works, 10 sustained investigations (Art pieces for planning and practicing with various materials) and 5 final works to be sent out for a score at the end of the year. “We have a lot of quick turnaround times due to having to do a lot of high quality work in a short amount of time,” said Senior, Jacob Skidmore. 

It’s a great class for those looking into an art career, or just looking to take art a step further and make art without strict instructions, however it requires a lot of time devotion to the making of art. 

Art History 

Counts toward Fine Arts Graduation Requirements

AP Art History was a recent addition to CHS in 2022, taught. And unlike the other AP art classes, no drawing is required to obtain an art credit. Its objective is to teach students about various historical works that hold cultural significance. Each year students are given 250 works of art to study and memorize. 

According to Hafsa Hamdaoui, a Crofton High Sophomore student, “by the end of the year all of the 250 have to memorize what they are, what they do.” As a class devoted to studying required works of art for AP art history, it’s mostly a class built around lecturing and being taught about each work. “First quarter we went through about 50 works, and each chunk is done by region so it isn’t necessarily in chronological order.” Said Hamdaoui. Written work and projects devoted to studying the 250 works of art are occasionally embedded into the class, but the focal point is the content and memorization of the history for each individual work of art, this being said, most of the class is writing notes on the works. All in all, it’s a good class for those who want to get involved in the AP Art world without the actual making of art. 

AP Music 

Music Theory

Counts as Elective Credit 

AP Music Theory is a high-level course revolving around a variety of things relating to the creation, interpretation, and understanding of music. The course covers themes including melodic dictations, intervals, ear training, and how to recognize key signatures. 

Dorian Franklin, “[AP music theory] is a very advanced music class, it definitely needs lots of prior knowledge.” Although homework that comes out of students’ textbooks is not incredibly long, there is still a lot of memorization involved with the class. The class itself is relatively content-heavy and involves lots of practice. Even for long-time musicians, the course can still feel like a challenge. According to Franklin, the course feels like a family due to the size and topic being taught. This class is perfect for those who have a history in music and are interested in participating in an in-depth study of music theory.

AP Languages

Chinese

Counts as Elective Credit 

AP Chinese, like all additional language classes taken after the required language credits, is an extension of learning Chinese. “A lot of the time in earlier Chinese classes, you were just learning vocabulary, but now you’re applying your knowledge to Chinese culture, and applying your learning more.” Says 12th Grader Abby Baird. 

The class, although more challenging, is also great for those passionate about learning a language for working in a culturally diverse field of work, those planning to study abroad, or those who love learning languages. More benefits of the class are shared by the article on US.news.com The Benefits of AP and IB Foreign Language Courses. Aside from the future benefits of the class, the class itself also offers a unique experience in and of itself. “We mainly study things like Chinese culture, and tradition.” Said 12th Grader Bri Liu. In addition to speaking assignments, text annotations, and presentations, the class sometimes has more culturally focused projects, such as a Chinese cuisine project where students were encouraged to not only learn about Chinese cuisine, but also make it themselves. “The project allowed me to connect with the culture more through actually having hands-on experience versus just writing about it.” Said Baird.

 Language classes are unique in the sense that they allow students to travel with familiar faces over the course of taking them, as in order to learn a language, one must continue to study it.  AP Chinese is no different in this language continuation process. As Baird said, “We’ve taken this language with this group of peers for the last 4 years, and by that point we had all grown to know each other.” It’s a natural sense of community you won’t find in most classes. 

AP Tech

Computer Science Principles

Counts towards Graduation Requirements

and AP Computer Science A 

Counts as Elective Credit 

AP Computer Science Principles is an in-depth exploration of coding and computer skill sets. An excellent class for those interested in Computer Technology fields. As well as a class to receive a tech credit for if you’re doing Computer Science Principles.

 According to an article created by US.news.com, Choose the Right AP Computer Science Course “AP Computer Science Principles is ideal for students who are less interested in Java or who would like a big picture view of computing.” It’s a class designed for those interested in examining what a field of computer science may have to offer, whereas AP Computer Science A is slightly more rigorous and technical. As an extracurricular class, AP Computer Science Principles or Honors Computer Science Programming – Java are often recommended to be taken before AP Computer Science A. AP Computer Science A may be considered for those interested in fields of engineering, software development, web design, and other computer/technology careers under that umbrella. It’s not too much homework as it generally follows a structure of learning, 12th Grader, Eliana Lewis states, “The hard part for coding was that everything builds off of each other, you have to know the basics to get to the hard stuff.” 

“Studying outside of class was needed sometimes, to understand and keep up with the next thing we were about to learn.” AP Computer Science Principles is often a class that builds off the prior lesson, being almost entirely online, it’s structured so you can work in and out of class easily.

The majority of the work you do filters into the create task, the final project for AP Computer Science Principles, where you take what you’ve learned from coding and code something more independently. Both classes offer you skills in the areas of computer science and technology, it’s really just a matter of whether one wants an introductory class or a class meant to build off of what skills they already have. 

AP Seminar

Counts as Elective Credit 

AP Seminar, taken by Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors, is a class that introduces you to collaboration on in-depth research.  It prepares you for real-world and college-level research by providing a project within the class, which is also, ultimately, what gets submitted to College Board. “You come up with a research question, and then you and your teammates each write your own paper through a specific lens,” said senior Elliot Fields.

It’s a unique AP class in the way of which it’s structured, but it’s not unmanageable. In fact, according to the article,  [2023] Is AP Seminar Hard or Easy? by examstudyexpert.com, “AP Seminar is considered moderate difficulty, with class alumnae rating it 5.0/10 for overall difficulty (the 17th-most-difficult out of the 28 large AP classes surveyed).” So although there is a unique team structure to the class, most find the general workload to be manageable. “My group did drug use in the Olympics. I did the scientific Lense, whereas my teammate was doing the historic Lense for the research,” said Elliot.

Students come up with their own research topic and then you record it alongside a presentation for everything to be submitted to College Board at the end. It’s a class for those who like investigation, especially in the area of informational text and writing.