What is AP Seminar about?
AP Seminar is offered to sophomores at Mountain Lakes High School, so if you are a current freshman with eligibility to take the course, read on to see if this course is for you. The course combines in-depth research with high-stakes public speaking while having students investigate interesting and acute topics. After completing AP Seminar, students are required to enroll in AP Research, the second component of the AP Capstone diploma. This diploma enhances resumes and college applications.
For anyone who wants to learn more beyond this article, come to the lunchtime Q&A panel this week in room 611 during the first half of lunch on Wednesday 3/2 and Thursday 3/3.
Survey
I asked my peers in AP Seminar this year to answer two basic questions to guide possible future students into making the right decision.
The questions are as follows:
- Would you recommend taking AP Seminar (yes or no)?
- Offer a piece of advice for future students or explain your answer above
The first answer comes from the current AP Seminar teacher, Ms. Seibert. She said:
“For any student who is looking for a non-traditional English course in their Sophomore year, who enjoys the process of investigative research, who relishes the opportunity for complex group work and performative assessments such as oral presentations, I would say AP Seminar was created for you! Though this course fulfills your English requirement for 10th grade, it is not a literature-based course: our discussions and work are rooted in conducting scholarly research to solve problems and answer questions about the world around us. There’s really no other course like it being offered at the high-school level in terms of learning how to conduct college or graduate level research. If this was offered when I was in high school I would have signed up in a heartbeat!”
The rest of the students’ answers are below:
“I would definitely recommend taking AP Seminar because of how much experience it’s given me regarding research and collaboration. It may seem like a lot of work, but if you stay on top of the deadlines and don’t procrastinate, it’s pretty manageable. I also had so much fun getting to know everyone else in the class and working with my group during the TMP.”
A common theme between the student answers: don’t procrastinate.
“Yes; Make sure you never procrastinate, especially for your annotated bibliography. It’s always better to complete 1-2 annotations a day rather than complete all of them the day before they’re due.”
Annotations are a big part of our workload in this class, and future students will understand the struggle.
“AP Seminar, while requiring a great deal of time management, is probably one of the most easy and helpful AP classes to take. You learn multiple skills, including analyzing sources and solving problems as well as presenting and time management! I love AP Seminar and definitely recommend it to future sophomore classes!”
“Yes; you are able to expand creative thinking, learn to work with others and collaborate, learn about topics you are interested in. It creates a positive atmosphere in which learning valuable life skills like time management and how to research is prioritized”
“Yes, I would. It is a really good program. You get to learn about different research topics and you get to work with your friends to present your topics. It might be hard in the beginning, but it is a nice class to have to learn how to write papers, especially for college. One piece of advice I would give is always spread your assignments over multiple nights. You won’t be able to get it done in one night. Don’t procrastinate and choose a research topic that interests you.”
AP Seminar allows for creativity as the topics you research in this class is entirely up to you! You can choose to research anything! While my groupmates and I examined the crisis of adolescent drug use, another team researched how climate change impacts countries in south/southeast Asia.
“Yes; because it’s an easy grade and I think it does teach some good work habits.”
“Yes but only if you’re ready for the work. It’s a fun class and the atmosphere is great, but in return there is a lot of work to be done. I would recommend it because it provides you with a lot of good skills for the future such as researching and presenting. Just be ready for the stress it can put on you.”
This class does involve a lot of work and time put into researching your topic. The trade-off is that while you do have to work a little harder, you are working with your friends along the way, as many parts of AP Seminar are a team project.
“I would definitely recommend taking AP Seminar! The kind of research that we do in class is very high level, but I think it’s great preparation for college courses and many careers.”
“Yes, I would recommend, bc…
1) GPA boost (yay!)
2) You can choose what to research and do so at your own pace
3) You learn important skills about gathering research and collaborating with a team
Advice: choose research topics you are really passionate about or interested in! If you don’t like your topic you will be super bored the whole time.”
Simple and to the point (and enumerated!)
“Yes – Seminar is a completely different experience from what I have had in any other class that provides a different structure than your typical core classes which is good because exposes us to more opportunities for learning and trying new things. The way the information is assigned also allows students to be more self motivated and it really helps with limiting procrastination in everyday schedules”
Note: the recurring point about procrastination.
“Yes. There are so many valuable skills you gain by learning how to research. AP Seminar teaches you how to think.”
“AP Seminar teaches you how to think.” Although this point seems a little broad, I think the author means to say that this class allows you to consider multiple points of view of an issue, such as the scientific, political, social, and/or ethical aspects.
“Yes, but do work or you’ll be screwed later.”
Not as eloquent, but enforces the point of the detriments of procrastination in this class.
“I would recommend AP Seminar to those with less aggressive schedules or anyone who doesn’t like the traditional English class. I think AP Seminar offers a lot of practical skills that other classes just cannot enforce, and it may be a valuable course to take. Although I think the lack of potential preparation you face for AP Lang is notable, overall I think it’s a course that should be taken out of interest and not for the GPA points because you will suffer otherwise.”
This is the most different take on whether or not to take AP Seminar. It covers a lot of information and considers many different situations that students may face. It doesn’t give a straight yes or no answer because the student is conveying the message that there are many factors to consider when deciding to take this course.
Conclusion
The students of this year’s AP Seminar class have overwhelmingly said, “Yes! AP Seminar is worth taking!” Only one answer gave a conflicting answer, but it was insightful and most relatable for future students, as everyone’s situation is different. Future students should consider their own schedules, gauge their ability to take on an intense workload, and do a little bit of research on their own to decide about AP Seminar. Since everyone’s circumstances are unique, this article only hopes to place students on the right track to decide whether or not this is the course for them.
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