At LHS, many tears have been shed over various classes from AP U.S. History to Drawing 1. These classes are the hardest, according to some LHS students. Despite the difficulty, they are also opportunities, or at least as some students see it: “I mean for me, I just want to exploit my free education… I’m very grateful for the APs at Lincoln,” said LHS senior Arthur Tao.
AP Chemistry (Mr. Jarovski (Jaws))
AP Chemistry was the most common answer to the question of the hardest class offered at LHS. Taught by Jaws, the class is essentially Accelerated Chemistry but much harder. All of the subjects taught in Acc. Chem are expanded upon in very granular detail making the class extremely difficult.
“It was worth it in the end, although it was a struggle… I got an A,” said LHS senior Laura Ge. The national AP test pass rate is 54%, although last year all but one of Jaws’ students received a three or higher on the test.
AP Physics 1 (Mr. Newitt and Mrs. DuBois)
This class deals with the same subject that made famous geniuses like Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. Although it does not go into as much detail as Einstein did, the class requires a great deal of studying, with pretty significant curves on most of the test. The homework in the class is also one of its hardest components. Students who put it off until the last day can expect three or more hours of homework.
“[AP Physics 1 is the hardest class I’ve taken], just because of the amount [of homework] there is,” said LHS senior Jackson Skuodas.
The AP test is on the harder end, with only a 43.3% pass rate. This is the single lowest pass rate of any AP test, making getting a good score on it as well as the getting a good grade in the class difficult.
AP U.S. History (Ms. Harte)
Unlike AP World History, AP U.S. History (or APUSH as it is known) goes into a lot more detail with the events and people, kind of like how AP Chem is a step up from Acc. Chem. APUSH has a lot of homework, just like AP Physics 1, and students who procrastinate will find themselves with hours upon hours of homework to catch up on. Along with this, a lot of the tests are stimulus-based, where a student can not simply just get by based on their knowledge of the content. This class’ AP test is also on the more difficult side with a mere 48% pass rate nationwide, but Ms. Harte always prides herself on her high pass rate: “We’re always better prepared than everyone else,” Harte often remarks.
AP Spanish Language & Composition (Srta. Saez and Sra. Tollinger)
As the only AP foreign language class offered at LHS, AP Spanish is the culmination for students who took Spanish 1, 2, 3 and 4. For those who did not start in the Spanish Immersion Program, learning a language, even one somewhat similar to English like Spanish, exclusively in their middle school and high school years is more than just challenging.
“I started Spanish in high school, so I had to grind,” said Tao. Although the class challenges many students, it has one of the highest AP test pass rates with a 90%.
