Grade-level participation in the AP curriculum

Abstract

Since its inception in 1955, the Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum has grown and evolved-both in terms of the number of subjects and the number of students attempting the AP tests. Students take AP classes to position themselves better for college admissions, to earn college credit, or to simply pursue their passion and interest. Although the AP program is designed primarily for high school students, participation among the younger students has increased over the years. In this paper, I seek to understand the participation in the different AP subjects among high school and pre-high school students. I analyze the data published by the College Board from the May 2016 AP examination made available on Kaggle. I divide the AP subjects into six categories as suggested by the College Board, and compute the preferences for the subjects in each category for four grades of high school and a single group of pre-high school students. I find that the preferences for AP subjects vary dramatically through the four years of high school. Moreover, the preferences in the pre-high school group are definitively different from the four high school grades; with younger students choosing more difficult subjects. I conclude the paper by providing detailed insights into these observations and their implications.