Lewis-Palmer has always been known for its students’ academic prowess. But are students becoming too focused on getting weighted grades? Some say yes.

“I think that students feel pressured to take AP classes, and they consequently over-extend themselves. Certainly, students who are going to major in a certain subject should take AP classes selected to that subject; but its really challenging [for them] when they take five or six AP classes,” Ms. Susan Odenbaugh, English teacher at LP said.

When students take as many AP classes as they can, they don’t realize that they might be pushing themselves too hard. One advanced placement class is hard enough, because of the work load involved, and also the AP exam in May, which requires weeks of preparation. When students take multiple core AP courses, they put themselves in an incredibly stress-inducing environment.

Students should absolutely take AP classes if they can handle the course, but they should only take them based on their areas of interest and their plans for college. This raises an important question: is getting a 5.0 weighted GPA worth the stressful environment created by AP courses?