How can I “know” if I’ll succeed in an AP course?

Simply put, there is no way to know for sure if you will succeed in a particular AP course; however, your current GPA may be a good indicator of your likelihood for success.  The following information is based on students who have taken our AP courses over the last two years.  The GPA figures refer to those students’ GPAs during the spring of their sophomore year, but the GPA figures are likely applicable to freshmen and juniors as well.

4.0 ________________________________________________________________________________
Of all the students who entered one of our AP courses with an overall GPA of 4.0…
- 100% of them earned an A or B (which, because it was an AP course, raised their GPA above 4.0)
- 76% of them earned a “5” on the AP exam, the highest score possible.  The remaining 24% earned a “4.”  All of them received college credit, and most earned credit for TWO college courses.

3.8 or 3.9 ________________________________________________________________________
Of all the students who entered one of our AP courses with an overall GPA of 3.8 or 3.9…
- 73% of them earned an A or B (which, because it was an AP course, raised their GPA above 4.0)
- 48% of them earned a “5” on the AP exam, the highest score possible.  23% earned a “4,” and the rest earned a “3.”  All of them received college credit, and most earned credit for TWO courses.

3.6 or 3.7 ________________________________________________________________________
Of all the students who entered one of our AP courses with an overall GPA of 3.6 or 3.7…
- 56% of them earned an A or B (which, because it was an AP course, raised their GPA above 4.0).  All but one of the rest earned a C (which, of course, is like a B in a regular course).
- 92% of them received college credit, with many earning the highest score of “5.”

3.5 and Below __________________________________________________________________
- Of all students who entered one of our courses with a 3.4 or 3.5, most earned a C or D.  However, despite what may seem like a poor grade, 90% still earned college credit by scoring “3” or better on the exam.
- Of all students who entered one of our courses with a GPA between 3.0 and 3.3, most earned a C or D and most earned a “3” on the AP exam.
- Students with GPAs below 3.0 rarely succeed in an AP course.  The majority of these students have failed the course, and less than half score even a “3” on the exam.

Overall ___________________________________________________________________________
Of all the students who have completed our AP courses…
- More than 85% have scored a “3” or better on the AP exam, earning them college credit at any public college in Ohio and most colleges throughout the United States.
- More than 40% have scored a “5” on the AP exam, the highest score possible.  This places them in the top 1/2 of 1% of all high-school students in the country, the few who can truly say, “I earned a 5 on an AP exam.”
- More than 85% earned an A (a 5-point A), B (which would be an A in any other course), or C (a B in any other course) in our courses.

Other interesting info _________________________________________________________
- The last several valedictorians and salutatorians and most of the seniors honored at the annual Top 25 Honors Banquet had taken at least 3 of the 4 AP courses offered in Social Studies. 
- The seniors (both male and female) who have won the Social Studies Department Award at Senior Awards Night had almost always taken at least 3 of the 4 AP courses offered in Social Studies.
- College admissions officers prefer letters of recommendation from the teachers who taught you in the most challenging courses.  Nothing is more impressive than a strong recommendation from an AP teacher.
- In short…students with a GPA above 3.8 should take as many AP courses as possible; students with a GPA between 3.5 and 3.8 should seriously consider taking several; and students with a GPA below 3.5 should talk with the instructors to determine if they are ready for these challenging courses.