Whether through their counselors or through browsing the Program of Studies, students may have noticed something new in the Social Studies curriculum: for the first time, AP U.S. History, or “APUSH,” is being offered to juniors– and, more notably, sophomores.

As the College Board states in the course description, “AP U.S. History is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester introductory college or university U.S. history course.” The course examines our country’s history through seven themes: ideas, beliefs, and culture; peopling; politics and power; work, exchange, and technology; America in the world; environment and geography; and identity.

In addition, students learn and utilize advanced historical thinking skills such as analyzing primary sources, constructing persuasive arguments, and explaining multiple perspectives on a given topic. By the end of the rigorous course, students are prepared to take the AP exam in May, an arduous exam over three hours long that includes multiple-choice questions, essays, and short answers. For any student, the class is quite a lot of work.

Perhaps reflecting this difficulty, APUSH had previously only been offered to seniors after they had completed all the prior social studies requirements, including 10th grade American History and 11th grade U.S. Government. This might raise some questions about whether sophomores would be prepared for such a demanding class, whether because of their age or due to only having the experience of Global History.

However, APUSH is not the first AP class available to underclassmen; over the past few years, the school has been expanding the availability of AP classes in the social studies department to include high-achieving sophomores, now offering Human Geography (HUG), Art History, and European History (itself considered one of the school’s harder classes). Every year, rising sophomores eagerly sign up for these classes, and every year, these students put in the work to earn commendable grades and AP scores.

Mrs. Dwyer, a social studies teacher who currently teaches AP Government and Economics along with Global History 2, recalled that “the decision was made in the context of the Social Studies department’s commitment to opening options and opportunities for all Ridge students to have choices. Some highly motivated and interested sophomores are willing and able to tackle an AP level course, as proven by current and past sophomore success in AP Euro and AP HUG. U.S. History is a required course during the sophomore year, so why not make AP U.S. an option?”

What’s different, though, is that APUSH is the first AP class offered to sophomores that satisfies a major graduation requirement. The state requires that high school students take two years of American History, which Ridge High School had satisfied by offering CP and Honors American History to sophomores, and CP, Honors, and AP U.S. Government and Economics to juniors. APUSH had only been an elective for seniors; next year, however, the class will find its way into a number of students’ core schedules as part of the American History requirement. Students can only take the other three AP classes as electives, often adding to an already-tough course load or taking up space usually reserved for arts electives or study halls. Thus, the ease of fitting APUSH into one’s schedule may make the class more popular than the other APs.

Indeed, as Kyanna Ouyang ‘18 notes, “Since I need to fulfill practical arts credits and I don’t want to give up orchestra, APUSH is the only AP I can take since AP HUG and AP Euro are both electives.” However, since sophomores are restricted from taking more than one AP social studies class, this could also decrease the numbers of 10th graders willing to sign up for the other AP classes.

Still, even if sophomores can take APUSH now, why would they want to? Motivated students give a number of reasons. Some simply love history and see this as an opportunity to study it more extensively. Others want the GPA boost they expect from an AP class, weighted on a scale that reaches 5.33 instead of 5 for honors or 4.33 for CP.

Ouyang ‘17 gives a still smarter motive for enrolling in the course: “I’m taking it mainly because I want to test out the way an AP course is taught… so for experience, essentially.” Later in their high school career, students might take as many as five or six APs at a time, and getting a feel for these advanced courses early on is definitely an advantage. Reading thirty pages out of an AP Government textbook doesn’t seem quite as horrifying after reading thirty pages out of an AP history book as a sophomore. While only having one AP as a sophomore might seem like a paltry comparison, the amount of work, material, and expectations in any AP class would still give a 10th grader a first look and chance to develop habits for the future.

Before irrationally signing up for APUSH, freshmen should reflect on whether they’re ready to tackle one of the school’s hardest classes and discuss the matter with their counselors and current history teachers. If a student does decide to go for it, APUSH will definitely be a lingering memory of sophomore year. Whether it’s a bad or good one, though, is up to the student.