Advanced Placement Courses to Take Before College

May 8, 2026

High school students seeking guidance on academic course selection turn first to their school counselors or deans, of course, who know each student’s previous academic experiences. Guidance meetings take place regularly at schools like Dwight Global Online School, and counselors help pinpoint the best course strategy for all four years of online high school. 

In preparation for those meetings, it is helpful to have a basic working knowledge of how the Advanced Placement program works, what AP classes are offered at specific schools, and how the AP exams are scored. Wise students will prepare prior to any meetings with their school guidance teams to learn about their options for AP course selection. 

What is Advanced Placement?

Created by the College Board, Advanced Placement is a program offering college-level courses in high school, with the potential to earn college credit, place out of some freshman year college classes, or both, depending on AP exam scores and each college’s policies. 

AP classes are more rigorous than regular and honors classes, and they move at a faster pace. Students will need a deeper understanding of the material than classes at other levels.

AP courses are audited by the College Board and strictly tracked to ensure alignment, rigor, and standardization across courses, schools, states, and countries, regardless of where the AP course is taken. AP classes culminate in an AP exam that usually syncs with the class syllabus and prepares the student for the exam information. Sometimes, due to time constraints during the academic year, an AP class will not cover everything on the AP exam. Consequently, students should prepare for exams by taking practice tests, which are free online at the College Board website and elsewhere for a fee.

AP exams are graded on a scale of 1-5, with a score of five being the highest. Some colleges and universities require exam scores of 4 or 5 before awarding college credit or advanced placement. Others will accept a 3, which is a passing grade. 

Which AP Classes to Take?

A student’s academic strengths and interests will come into play when selecting AP classes in high school. It is best to take a mix of core subjects and those classes students have a passion for and that the student may be considering majoring in in college, or for a career. 

Core subjects in APs are the same core subjects at any level: English, History, Science, Mathematics, and World Languages. Most college admissions teams want to see three, preferably four years of high school study in each core subject. Being successful in an AP course in any core subject demonstrates an ability to handle a high level of academic challenge and rigor.

"At Dwight Global, we are proud to offer more than 24 different AP courses across all subject areas and with full support from our experienced educators and AP experts," said Dwight Global’s Renata Nikolayev, Director of Curriculum and Instruction.

What Other AP Tests are Offered?

In addition to the core subject AP classes and exams, there are many classes and exams offered for elective or specialized areas. Dwight Global typically offers the specialized courses below: 

• Arts: AP 2-D Art and Design, AP 3-D Art and Design, AP Drawing, AP Music Theory, AP Art History.
• Computer Science & Technology: AP Computer Science A, 
• Social Sciences & Humanities: AP Psychology, AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics.
• Business & Economics: AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, 
• Languages & Cultures: AP Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Spanish Language and Culture, Spanish Literature.
• Specialized Sciences: AP Environmental Science.

Students who are native speakers of a language offered by AP may wish to take that AP test, for example, or students who have had music theory or art instruction outside of school for many years may be able to pass after reviewing practice tests without taking the corresponding course. 

What if my high school doesn’t offer AP classes? 

Some schools do not offer AP classes. For those students, it is still possible to take AP exams without taking an official AP class. First, it may be that in those schools the highest level courses in any subject will provide adequate preparation for the exam offered. In any case, taking practice tests and studying the requirements, rubrics, and material included on each AP test makes passing more probable.

What are Colleges Looking For?

Colleges and universities are generally less concerned about which AP classes a student takes, and much more about how a student challenges themselves academically. Do they take the highest rigor courses offered to them at their school, and do they do well in these courses? AP exams with high scores in core subjects are impressive, especially if the student also passes an elective or specialized AP exam, but that should be balanced out with workload expectations, especially as AP courses require a much larger time commitment than courses only at the high school level. As a rule, passing any number of AP exams with 3 or above is a boost to students as they apply to college, and as a marker of succeeding academically once they get there.

For more about Dwight Global Online School’s Advanced Placement program, contact Admissions, or sign up for an Open House today.

Here is a list of AP courses we typically offer at DG: 

• AP Art & Design
• AP Biology
• AP Calculus AB
• AP Calculus BC
• AP Chemistry
• AP Chinese Language & Culture
• AP Computer Science A
• AP English Language & Composition
• AP English Literature & Composition
• AP Environmental Science
• AP European History
• AP French Language & Culture
• AP Japanese Language & Culture
• AP Macroeconomics
• AP Microeconomics
• AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based
• AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism
• AP Physics C: Mechanics
• AP Psychology
• AP Spanish Language & Culture
• AP Statistics
• AP United States Government & Politics
• AP United States History
• AP World History: Modern