AP Exams – Advanced Placement

To be properly prepared for an upcoming AP exam, even if the summer has just begun and the last thing you may be thinking about just now is more school work, remember that college is right around the corner and you might just want to use this opportunity to get a head start. Therefore read on as we introduce you to the world of the Advanced Placement Program. As stated in the Ma’or Student Handbook, “Advanced Placement courses provide an opportunity for a student to earn college credits (or exemptions) while still in high school. Among the AP courses that may be offered for the Junior and Senior years are AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Economics, AP English, AP Calculus, AP Psychology and AP United States History.” Other options from the 37 courses and exams spanning 22 subject areas can be offered if requested by a sufficient number of students.

In order to qualify for universally accepted college credits, students must score a 5 (on a scale from 1-5) on the uniform Advanced Placement exams provided by the College Board. Some colleges offer credits or exemptions for scores of 4. Students in AP classes must maintain an 85% average in order to remain in the class and are required to take the AP examination in that subject.

The score on the AP exam will be considered in lieu of a final examination, according to the following scale:

        5=100%   4=90-95%   3=80-85%   2=70-75%   1=65%

This program is specifically geared for high achieving students, and can literally change your life. Through the college-level AP courses, you will enter a universe of knowledge that might otherwise be left unexplored in High School.

For those of you who are interested in further information from the College Board, specifically about the AP Program go to www.collegeboard.com and type in AP exam in the search area. Information presented includes the purpose of the exams, a calendar of upcoming tests, (students can take any exam as a self-study if they so desire) costs, how to best prepare for the exam, how to enroll as well as specific information about the Eleventh Grade American History Exam and much more. Obviously, if you have any questions whatsoever feel free to talk with our college guidance counselor.

PSAT & SAT – Preliminary & Scholastic Aptitude Test

While you are searching the College Board site www.collegeboard.com you might want to take advantage of the opportunity to take a closer look at all of the information it has to offer about the upcoming PSAT’s (for students in the 10th and 11th grades) and SAT’s. As we have stressed numerous times this exam is vitally important in terms of college acceptance and therefore doing whatever you can to be properly prepared will be most helpful. For more information on the PSAT test date, SAT registration deadlines and test dates, visit the PSAT/SAT tab on our website. 

In-House SAT Preparation course

As much as we recommend that students avail themselves of an independent SAT Prep course we still do everything we can to prepare our young men as best as possible. During Junior year, we supply an in-house SAT Prep course every Friday.The first half of the year is used for a review of the Math requirements and the second half is used for towards Language Arts.