Each year, students find ways to improve their GPAs and boost their college resumes. The most popular is taking AP classes, considered the most rigorous and challenging. In my opinion, there’s one AP class that I feel should not be considered as rigorous as the other science classes and shouldn’t be seen as big of an accomplishment as it is now. I’m talking about the classes known as the easiest AP, AP Environmental Science.

For some hindsight, APES is a class that “requires that students identify and analyze natural and human-made environmental problems, evaluate the relative risks associated with them, and examine alternative solutions for resolving or preventing them.” Doesn’t sound that bad, right? Let’s compare it to what you do in AP Chem and AP Physics. In AP Chem, “students cultivate their understanding of chemistry through inquiry-based investigations as they explore topics like atomic and molecular structure, chemical reactions, kinetics, equilibrium, and thermodynamics.  AP Physics says, ” Students cultivate their understanding of physics through classroom study, in-class activity, and hands-on, inquiry-based laboratory work as they explore concepts like systems, fields, force interactions, change, and conservation.” These two classes sound way more ambitious than APES.

So APES is way easier than the other AP sciences, but what about it? The issue is that some students claim to be top students, yet they take APES as their 3rd year science. This makes me infuriated because, in my opinion, you’re giving up on yourself. If you claim to be a top student, then you’re probably good at school, and taking APES feels like you’re wasting your potential by taking a class known for being calm. Which begs the question, are you a top student? You could take another science AP like AP Chem, AP Physics, or AP Bio. These classes are way more grueling than APES, but they’ll show why you’re a top student. I feel so confident in my point that if I took it this year as a sophomore, I’m sure I’d kill it and get a 4-5 on the exam. APES is not a demanding class and shouldn’t be considered one.

You might claim that more people fail the APES AP exam than other AP science exams, so it should be more difficult. The reason for that is that NO ONE studies for the APES exam. APES’ reputation of being such an easy class that it can be self-studied causes people to not study for the AP exam. It’s a common fact known by everyone that if you don’t study for an exam, you’ll be more likely to do worse than a student who studied. So even though AP Bio and AP Chem have a higher pass percentage than APES, you have to keep in mind that the AP Chem and AP Bio students more than likely studied for the exam due to how rigorous those classes are.

I do believe that there are some exceptions to taking APES. The first exception is if you want to take another science class considered “rigorous,” yet you’re not good at science, then APES is perfect for you, but I don’t think you should be given the same credit as students who take the other AP Sciences. The second exception is if you’re taking it with another AP science. It’ll be a class you can do without stressing over, and it’ll be a nice GPA boost. It will also help your schedule that year look more rigorous. The third exception is if you’re taking it as a senior so that you can relax but still be productive and boost your overall college resume. I feel like it’s a perfect Senior class as you can relax knowing it’s a pretty easy class, and you won’t have to do much in it that’ll cause you some good night’s sleep like the other AP Sciences, and colleges like seeing it in students resume.

Just know that I’m not hating on the class in general, as I think learning about the environment is essential. I will also take this class senior year as it sounds interesting and fun. What I hate is the idea of it being as big of an accomplishment as the other AP Sciences and students being seen as Brilliant and talented for doing well in that class. I’m so confident that APES is such an easy class that if I started self-studying from the time the current APES class started and took the test along with the current APES students, I could outscore a majority of them. I stand so stiff on this statement that I dare everyone to come to ask me at the end of my senior year after I take this class if I still feel the same about it, I WILL.