• In schools that offer advanced placement (AP) courses, they are the courses that indicate a student is taking a challenging, college prep curriculum.  Schools that do not offer AP courses will have courses that are designated "advanced" or “honors” which are the equivalent of AP courses.  

• GFS does not offer AP courses, but administers AP exams.  Courses at GFS such as level 4 and 5 of a language, advanced science courses, calculus, differential calculus, statistics, senior studio, American history, and English 12 are all designated advanced and are the equivalent of an AP course.  Students can choose to take an AP exam in any of these areas and others (see complete list below)

• AP exams are primarily essay writing exams.  There is very little multiple choice.

• the middle two weeks of May: May 4-8, May 11-15
• each exam last three hours, 8:00-11:00 AM or 12:00-3:00 PM
• if you take an AP, you are allowed to miss that whole day of school, but at a minimum you will miss a morning or an afternoon of classes.
• the exam schedule is on the back of the AP Bulletin - available in the College Room

• each exam costs $86.  For students with demonstrated financial need, there is a reduction by $30 to $56

• AP's are scored from 5 to 1, with 5 being the highest score you can achieve.

• AP exams are not used for college admission to schools in the USA.  They are used, however, as a qualifying credential for UK and European universities.
• with a good score (4 or 5):

- some colleges allow you to accelerate to higher level courses.
- some colleges allow you to place out of a required course.
- some colleges will grant you credit (usually no more than four courses) for each AP score of 4 or 5 so that you do not need to take as many courses in college, thus saving on tuition costs.
- many schools do not give you any advantage other than using the score as a placement test.

• each school has a different policy, so you need to check each college's web site to find out how they handle AP exams.

• it is a demanding and long writing-intensive exam at a busy time of year.  You will need to spend time studying for it, and may need to attend some review classes with your teacher.

• you have to miss classes, and possibly tests or presentations that can be difficult to make up.
• if you play sports and have an afternoon AP exam, the timing may be very tight on game days, especially if it is an away game.    
• your family may have graduations or weddings in the middle two weeks of May on the day(s) when you are considering taking an AP, so you need to check the family calendar very carefully.

• discuss with your teacher and/or the department head

• let Della Micah know by Wednesday, March 18 at the latest which AP exam(s) you want to take.  We order the exams based on this information.
• you need to deposit $15 per exam when you register with Della.  The check should be made payable to GFS.  
• the remaining $71 will be due on the day of your exam.