AP Psychology: a solution to the humanities deficit

May 7, 2014 — by Ashley Chen and Shreya Tumu
One of the favorite pastimes of Saratoga students and parents is asking administrators to add or upgrade classes, especially if they can have an Honors or AP designation.
 
One of the favorite pastimes of Saratoga students and parents is asking administrators to add or upgrade classes, especially if they can have an Honors or AP designation.
These efforts have resulted in classes like AP Government/Econ and AP European History, among others.
But other classes remain stubbornly free of an AP or Honors designation — such as psychology. 
Why? Although the school offers two semester-long psychology classes, an introductory course and child psychology, many students choose not to take the subject because it has no Honors or AP options. 
It’s sad that this causes student to miss out on a valuable class. 
Not only that, AP Psychology would help balance out Saratoga’s AP offerings. Currently, the school offers five humanities APs, compared to 10 math and science APs. With the addition of AP Psychology, humanities students would have more options to explore their interests.
The subject can also help with daily life. For instance, because psychology explores the effects of stress on the brain, students can learn more about healthy ways to deal with their own emotions and motivations.  
Although some people may be worried that an additional AP will put more pressure on students, AP Psychology is a relatively easy AP class. As a result, students can still take the classes they like without overloading themselves.
In fact, 15 students took the AP Psychology test last year. While this number might seem low, only 13 students took the AP Music Theory test, despite AP Music Theory being a class at the school. Also, the addition of the AP class is bound to attract more test-takers. 
In addition, around 100 students are in regular and child psychology, which demonstrates enough interest in the subject to create a high-level version of the class. Plus, an informal Facebook survey of 92 students showed that 59 would sign up for AP Psychology if it was offered — enough for two classes. 
While some may argue that three psychology classes is too many, the AP course goes beyond the regular classes. Introductory psychology classes are often part of the core class requirements at universities, too, so taking AP Psychology is a great way for a student to earn college credit at schools like UCLA, Berkeley, Brown and more. 
AP Psychology would give students a chance to take a fun, interesting AP humanities that might help them become a better person. The logical conclusion: The school should offer it.

 

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