Applying to university is a stressful process. Most students attempt to perfect their application to stand out amongst other applicants by taking Advanced Placement (AP) classes. These classes show universities that you were willing to challenge yourself throughout high school. 

At Alisal, there are between 12-17 AP classes. Although this is a decent amount, many University of California students took 7-10 AP classes while in high school and considering what our school currently offers that doesn’t leave much room for flexibility. 

Plus, other high schools in the district offer a bit more, with Salinas High leading the way with 19 AP courses. If Alisal students wish to become more competitive when applying to UC universities, it could prove beneficial to enhance the current AP course selection. 

Staying competitive with other schools in the district is why there needs to be a larger selection. “I think we need to have more AP courses,” senior Heidy Carillo said. “AP courses are really valuable and they can be extremely helpful especially when considering our major and what we want to study.” Carrillo has taken a total of nine AP classes, emphasizing that even students who have taken a good amount of AP classes believe there is still room for growth.

While there are many choices – Art, Chemistry, Computer Principles, Computer Science, Human Geography, Research, Seminar, Environmental Science – some, like art, chemistry, and computer science or principles, would be easier to add than others.

An informal survey of 257 students showed that 56% would be interested in taking AP Art. Offering AP Art could provide an extra GPA boost and help students discover their style as artists. 

Art teacher Karina Garcia has been pushing for this class to be created, and so far it has accumulated massive amounts of student interest. “AP Art would show students what kind of opportunities they have in art,” Garcia said. “I feel like a lot of the time they’re told that they can’t really make a career in art. While AP Art gets them connected with those opportunities.” 

Another great addition to Alisal’s AP course selection would be AP Chemistry. There is already interest in taking an advanced form of chemistry; as seen in the enrollment in Honors Chem. “I would take AP Chemistry because I believe that Mrs. Gonzales would do a good job at teaching this subject if she were to be a teacher and Chemistry has always been interesting to me,”  senior Ariella Garcia said. 

Chemistry teacher Deirdre Gonzales acknowledged the benefits that teaching AP Chemistry would bring. “Chemistry is related to everything, whether you think about different careers in archaeology, basic research, industry, even understanding global climate change comes down to understanding Chemistry. It is so fundamental to so many other related fields.”  

However, there are still factors that could halt the addition of these classes such as the cost of new supplies and the impact this could have on the enrollment of other AP classes. “It is the same group of students taking the AP classes,” Gonzales said. “It may be that AP Physics or AP Bio don’t get filled if you also offer AP Chem.” 

Perhaps one of the most relevant courses for our ever-growing digital world would be  AP Computer Science. The survey results indicated that 104 students would be interested in taking this course. 

AP Computer Science would be a great addition due to its many benefits. Not only is it major-related for the students who want a career in Software Engineering or Computer Science, but it could also be implemented in a variety of other high-paying professions. “As a freshman, having the opportunity to take AP Computer Science would have been beneficial since it would have put me in a better spot academically since my major revolves around Engineering and its unique branch,” senior Ayleen Campa said. 

Intro to Computer Science teacher Servando Narvaez also sees the advantages of the class. “Careers related to Computer Science are well-paid and Silicon Valley is close. It can help students get an internship.”

Assistant Principal Julio Gonzales, discussed the potential of adding some of these courses and what teachers may have to tell their students to garner student interest. “Next year, we may teach Computer Principles, we may teach ART 2D or 3D; creating that student interest is key.” Gonzales mentioned that student interest is when students are interested in the material and understand the rigor, so that if any of these courses are implemented those students stay in the class for the semester or the entire school year.

AP Computer Principles is in the same realm as AP Computer Science A. The clear distinction is that AP Computer Principles focuses more on the wide lens of computation. However, if the school district believes it could be beneficial, they might choose to implement either class and then prioritize gaining student interest. 

For example, the district decided to pilot AP World History before gauging student interest. According to AP World History teacher Steven Munoz, “It was discussed early on in the school year [in 2023], and then next year it looked like the district decided to pull the trigger with it and so Salinas High and us are the ones that are piloting it.”

One thing the school would like to improve on is AP ranking. The ranking is based on, how many students took an AP exam regardless of the score, the percentage of students in the graduating class who scored a 3 or higher on at least one AP exam, and the percentage of students in the graduating class who took 5 or more AP exams in high school, with at least one of those being in 9th or 10th grade. The more of these requirements a school meets, the higher the level. These levels include bronze, silver, and gold. 

At Alisal, only 15 out of 664 students of the graduating class met the criteria of taking 5 or more APs and one as a freshman or sophomore. Assistant Principal Julio Gonzales said the goals of the AP Program were to have more freshmen take AP classes, increase the number of students taking at least 1 AP each year in their four years, and have a very successful pass rate on the AP exams. 

Currently, Alisal is ranked at the bronze level, which means that 45% of last year’s graduating class took an AP exam (regardless of the score), 33% passed at least one exam, and only 2% of graduating students took 5 or more APs, with one of those being in 9th or 10th grade. 

If the percentage in these three areas increases, then Alisal could potentially become a silver or even gold-level AP school. “The ranking is important since it reflects all the hard work our students and teachers do here at Alisal,” AP coordinator Mariela Guido said. “It takes a lot of time, determination and dedication to pass the AP exams. ” By enhancing the current AP course selection, it would help many students achieve tremendous course rigor and help create their ideal application for their next step in life; college.