The Advanced Placement program is available for girls hungry for even bigger challenges. It allows senior students to take advanced level courses and exams that will give them university-level academic experience, and possibly even first-year university credits at post-secondary institutions worldwide. At BSS, the AP program creates a community of students and educators who are passionate, curious and committed to academic excellence. AP course work has shown to improve writing skills, sharpen problem solving abilities and develop better study habits. The results of BSS students continue to far exceed provincial, national and global averages at every level. This program provides flexibility and effective enrichment in subject areas that are specific to our students’ needs and interests.
Highlights of the Advanced Placement Program
- The AP program provides academically prepared high school students with the opportunity to study and learn at the university level.
- Each AP course is modeled on a comparable university course. College and university faculty play a vital role in ensuring that AP courses align with university-level standards.
- AP courses culminate in university-level assessments developed and scored by college and university faculty.
- Students can earn university credit, or advanced placement or both and stand out in the university admissions process.
- Earning advanced university credits allows students to have time to move into upper-level courses in their field of interest, pursue a double major, or study abroad.
- Through their AP courses, students engage in intense discussions, solve problems collaboratively, and learn to write clearly and persuasively.
- The AP program is an internationally recognized form of student enrichment.
- 100% of Canadian Universities now have an AP policy in place.
Highlights of Research on the Benefits of the AP Program
- Students who take AP courses and exams are much more likely than their peers to complete a University degree on time.
- AP students earn higher GPAs in the advanced post-secondary courses into which their AP credit allowed them to place, compared to students with the same high school class rank and SAT scores who did not earn AP credit and who did not skip the entry level college course.
- Females exposed to AP in the subjects of science, math and technology are more likely to pursue these majors at university than those without an AP background.
- David Naylor, president of the University of Toronto, gave a Keynote address at an AP conference entitled “Curious and Motivated: Why AP Students Thrive in a Research University.” In his address, Naylor discussed the reasons he believes AP students are so successful at his university.
2010 BSS AP Results Summary Highlights
- Exams were written in 14 different subject areas.
- 85% of BSS students scored 3, 4 or 5 on AP exams, which allows them university credit.
- This compares with a provincial average of 74%, a national average of 76% and a global average of 56%.
- Outstanding results for students who had taken multiple AP exams.
- Many Grade 11s chose to write AP English Language, 96% of whom received a 3, 4 or 5.
- 100% of students writing Chemistry, Economics and Statistics received a 3, 4 or 5.