AP Research – AP Students (2024)

FAQs

How many AP Research students are there? ›

The program has reached a milestone of over 100,000 students participating during the 2022-23 academic year, representing over 2,500 schools worldwide. Approximately 15,800 students earned the AP Capstone Diploma, and 9,600 students earned the AP Seminar and Research Certificate.

While your decision whether or not to write about it in depth probably won't make or break your applications, any substantial, completed research project and paper should look relatively impressive to admission officers regardless of whether it was for a class or not.

Program Details

Students typically take AP Seminar in grade 10 or 11, followed by AP Research. Each course is yearlong, and AP Seminar is a prerequisite for AP Research.

AP Research's difficulty also depends on the workload from your other courses. While there isn't any inherent memorization or testing, the writing process and preparation for the presentation may be burdensome for many students who are also taking other AP courses.

The 2023 AP Research scores: 5: 13%; 4: 26%; 3: 45%; 2: 13%; 1: 3%. Congrats to this year's AP Research students and teachers, who have achieved all-time high scores in this subject, 84% earning scores of 3 or higher.

Harvard only accepts AP® scores of 5 for course credit. If you have 4 scores of 5, you can opt to obtain Advanced Standing. You can use AP® credits to opt-out of lower-level classes. Harvard has general academic requirements that all students must take.

Colleges typically view both AP Seminar and AP Research courses as equally rigorous, and both can demonstrate your willingness to take on challenging coursework. So, the decision is more about which one you feel will set you up better for academic success down the road, given your goals and priorities.

It's a great way to hone your skills in effectively conducting research and formulating arguments based on evidence. It also might be a nice break from your other classes because of the level of freedom it provides to students. It's an opportunity to learn more about nearly any topic or question that intrigues you!

United States History, Biology, English Literature, Calculus BC, Physics C, and Chemistry are often named as the hardest AP classes and tests. These classes have large curriculums, tough tests, and conceptually difficult material.

How to take AP Seminar. Unfortunately you can not self study AP Seminar or Research, it must be taken in a class. This is because of the group work and presentations that must be completed.

Does AP Research count as an English class? ›

When calling one highly selective public university, the person who answered the phone in admissions said that the AP Seminar and AP Research classes would be considered an English class (i.e., satisfy the high school English requirement).

The easiest and least time-consuming are in the bottom-left corner. Computer Science Principles earns the easiest difficulty rating based on real student reviews. The colour indicates the pass rate for that AP exam. Red is a low pass rate, green is a high pass rate, brown is about average (College Board, 2023).

1. Skill Development: The program is designed to help students develop important skills such as research, analysis, and communication. 2. College Credit: If a student earns a passing score on the AP Seminar exam, they may be able to earn college credit, which can save time and money in the long run.

AP Research consists entirely of a year-long research project. The end product is a 4000-5000 word academic paper and a 15-20 minute presentation with an oral defense. You will also be expected to compile the materials you used in your research into a portfolio.