At this school, students have a wide variety of course levels to choose from, on level, honors, and Advanced Placement (AP). While all aim to prepare students for college and beyond, AP classes are known for their rigor, faster pace, and deeper exploration of subjects. Comparing AP courses with their honors or regular versions reveals just how different the learning experiences can be.
Take a look into physics first. Gavin Kramar, who taught both Honors Physics and AP Physics 1 last school year, said, “They’re both introductory physics classes, so they cover the basics of mechanics, including kinematics, forces, energy, and momentum. From there they diverge. Honors moves on to electricity, thermodynamics, astronomy, and optics, whereas AP Physics 1 digs deeper into each topic and adds rotational motion, harmonic motion, and fluid dynamics.”
While both classes challenge students, the differences lie in the depth and independence expected. “Between the two, I enjoy teaching AP Physics 1 slightly more. That’s mostly because I can trust that the students are up to the challenge of really diving into the crunch. I actually assign less homework in AP Physics because I don’t need to micromanage how much students practice,” Kramar said.
Similarly, in AP Statistics, according to AP and honors statistics teacher Michelle George, AP Statistics students experience a noticeable shift in pace and complexity compared to honors or regular statistics. “AP Statistics must cover the AP curriculum, while honors statistics must cover the curriculum determined by MCPS,” George said. “They both cover similar units, but AP goes more in-depth into the topics and covers more at a faster pace, while Honors provides more time for practice and repetition.”
George said she appreciates both versions. “I honestly love both classes, as I truly love statistics. AP gives me a chance to explore higher-level content, but the slowed-down space of honors is a nice chance to breathe,” George said.
The differences are not limited to STEM courses. History courses also have similar aspects between the levels of the course. Starting with AP Government or honors government, AP U.S. History or honors U.S. history and AP World or honors world. These are all the history classes required to graduate and they each have a different level students can choose from. The AP version of these classes teaches key skills tested on the AP exams and college-level analytical skills while the honors versions, while still rigorous, focus more on coverage than on analysis.
There are also classes like biology or chemistry where the honors or on-level versions are needed for a credit but the AP version is a course students can take if they choose and the AP version expands much more on what is learned in honors or on-level. “I took honors chem as a sophomore and AP Chem as a junior; having a foundation from honors chem was very helpful going into AP, but AP Chem is a much harder course and really deepens your understanding of chemistry,” senior Mia Coven said.
