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The Advanced Placement Program (also Advanced Placement, AP) is a United States program that offers high school students the opportunity to receive college credit for their work during high school. The non-profit College Board, which has run the program since 1955, develops and maintains courses in various subject areas , supports those who teach the courses, supports colleges as they define their policies related to AP grades, and develops and coordinates the administration of annual AP examinations. These activities are funded through fees charged to students taking AP Exams.In 2002, over one million high school students participated in AP courses; over 90% of whom took the corresponding AP exam. Many high schools offer AP courses, though the College Board allows the home-schooled and others who have not taken a course at a high school to take the exam.
1 AP exams
Each May, participating schools administer AP exams. They are an integral part of the program. With one exception, the exam combines multiple-choice questions with a free-response section in either essay or problem-solving form. The exception is Studio Art, where the exam is replaced by a portfolio assessment.
Each June, the free-response sections and the Studio Art portfolios are scored by thousands of college faculty and AP course teachers at the AP Reading. These scores are combined with the results of computer-scored multiple-choice questions, and converted into a grade on AP's five-point scale:
- 5: Extremely well-qualified
- 4: Well-qualified
- 3: Qualified
- 2: Possibly qualified
- 1: No recommendation
Many colleges and universities in the U.S. grant credits or advanced placement based on AP grades; those in over twenty other countries do likewise. Policies vary by institution. Most require at least a three to give a student credit. Others may only waive pre-requisites. Colleges may also take AP grades into account when deciding which students to accept, though this is not part of the official AP program.
2 Subject areas
The College Board offers AP exams in the following subject areas:
- Art History
- Biology
- Calculus AB: both differential and integral
- Calculus BC: superset of AB, covering functions of a single variable, including polynomials and Taylor series
- Chemistry
- Computer ScienceIn its most general sense, computer science CS or compsci is the study of computation and information processing, both in hardware and in software. Introduction Computer science encomposses a variety of topics relating to computation, ranging from abstrac A: object-oriented programmingObject-oriented programming (OOP is a computer programming paradigm that emphasizes the following aspects: Objects packaging data and functionality together into units within a running computer program; objects are the basis of modularity and structure in methodology; switched from C++C+ (pronounced "sea plus plus") is a general-purpose computer programming language. It is a statically typed free-form multi-paradigm language supporting procedural programming, data abstraction, object-oriented programming, and generic programming. Durin to JavaJava is an object-oriented programming language developed primarily by James Gosling and colleagues at Sun Microsystems. The language, initially called Oak (named after the oak trees outside Gosling's office), was intended to replace C++, although the fea for the 2003-4 academic year
- Computer Science AB: superset of A, with more formal and in-depth study of algorithmFlowcharts were often used to represent algorithms. An algorithm is a finite set of well-defined instructions for accomplishing some task which, given an initial state, will result in a corresponding recognisable end-state (contrast with heuristic). Algors, data structurebinary tree, a simple type of branching linked data structure. In computer science, a data structure is a way of storing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently. Often a carefully chosen data structure will allow a more efficient algorithm ts, design, and abstractionObject-oriented programming In computer science, abstraction refers to two related, but different concepts. Software development In software development, abstraction is the process of combining multiple smaller operations into a single unit that can be re; also switched from C++C+ (pronounced "sea plus plus") is a general-purpose computer programming language. It is a statically typed free-form multi-paradigm language supporting procedural programming, data abstraction, object-oriented programming, and generic programming. Durin to JavaJava is an object-oriented programming language developed primarily by James Gosling and colleagues at Sun Microsystems. The language, initially called Oak (named after the oak trees outside Gosling's office), was intended to replace C++, although the fea for the 2003-4 academic year
- English Language
- English Literature
- Environmental Science
- European History
- French Language
- French Literature
- German Language
- German Literature
- United States Government and Politics
- Comparative Government and Politics
- Human Geography
- Latin ( Vergil), based on the Aeneid
- Latin Literature, based on any two of the following: Catullus, Cicero, and Horace
- Macroeconomics
- Microeconomics
- Music Theory
- Physics B: (for those pursuing majors in the life sciences, premedicine , and some applied sciences)
- Physics C: (for those pursuing majors in the physical sciences or engineering. The level C test requires the use of calculus, while the level B test does not.)
- Psychology
- Spanish Language
- Spanish Literature
- Statistics
- Studio Art (2-D, 3-D, drawing)
- U.S. History
- World History
In 2003, trustees of the College Board approved in principle a plan for new courses in Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. The first of these was announced several months later: an AP course and exam in Italian Language and Culture, with the first examination in 2006.
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