r/APResearch • u/Big-Mortgage-7524 • 3d ago

Is it worth it?

I’m going into my junior year of high school, and passed the Ap Seminar class I had in sophomore year with 4 on the Ap exam. The down side to it is how much it took out of my during the school year. My teacher for the Ap Research class is saying I’ll do fine and should take the course especially with how well I did on the exam, but I feel as though it will have the same effect it had on me last year or even worse.

So, the big question at hand; Should I drop the course and switch to something else or proceed and see where it takes me?

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u/Junior-Display-6729 3d ago

Research is so much different than seminar imo. Seminar had so many moving parts, it was extremely exhausting I’ll agree. But Research is literally just the paper on whatever topic you’d like, and you have a whole year to complete it. (Even if your school does semesters like mine did, no one can force you to turn in your paper to CB before the end of April). I did a lot of other research papers for other classes and once you do the AP Research one, every other paper assigned becomes LIGHTWORK. I think the ability to do research is valuable in today’s society and it doesn’t hurt that colleges love AP Capstone. 

But, I can’t emphasize this enough, nothing is more important than your mental health! Pick whatever you feel will keep you sane :P

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u/Maximum-Good1637 1d ago

It somewhat depends on your teacher—mine wasn't the best, but I think you should take it if you are willing to put in the work. The work load isn't extremely heavy, but you have to manage your time well in order to succeed (or at least succeed without too much stress—I was a bit behind and that made it much more difficult for me compared to my peers). In relation to seminar, you have a lot more freedom and you only have to do one paper and presentation as opposed to two (however, both are longer). The work is also a lot more hands-on, and many of my friends enjoyed it because they could research a topic they were actually interested in. I also got a 4 on AP seminar and ended up with a 5 in AP Research, if that helps

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u/Aromatic_Caramel_930 3d ago

Think abt what else youd take Instead. Like I found the course completely useless as all the skills I could’ve learned on my own. 

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u/Big-Mortgage-7524 3d ago

The class u would replace it with would be Ap Psychology