Advanced Placement® Program
The Advanced Placement® Program (AP) enables willing and academically prepared students around the world to pursue university-level studies while still in high school, with the opportunity to earn credit (points toward an undergraduate degree) or advanced placement (the chance to skip an introductory level university course). AP is recognized in the admissions process by more than 4,000 universities worldwide, and outside the U.S., more than 600 universities in more than 60 countries recognize qualifying AP® Exam scores. AP® courses and exams are available in secondary schools and measure your mastery of university-level course content. The program allows you to develop a global perspective, as well as skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving. There are currently 34 AP® courses and exams available. Exams are administered in May, and scores can be sent directly to the universities of your choice. AP® is recognized as a highly desirable academic credential around the globe.
The Advanced Placement International Diploma (APID)®
Today we live in a global community that greatly impacts how we share information, communicate and do business. That’s why the College Board is focused on helping students build the knowledge, skills and global perspectives to succeed in university and beyond. The AP International Diploma (APID) is a globally recognized award for students interested in pursuing university study outside of their native country. It requires students to display mastery on AP Exams across several disciplines, and represents an exceptional level of achievement.
APID Criteria
Student must earn scores of 3 or higher on five or more total AP Exams, based on the exam requirements listed within each of the content areas below. Exams taken multiple times will only count once; the highest score will be used for award calculation. Each AP Exam may count towards only one content area below:
- I. Two AP Exams from two different world language and culture courses or Two AP Exams from one world language and culture courses and one English course: World Language and Culture Courses offered at AIS-Salzburg: French Language and Culture German Language and Culture Spanish Language and Culture English courses offered at AIS-Salzburg: English Literature and Composition.
- II. One AP Exam offering a global perspective: Global perspective courses offered at AIS-Salzburg: Human Geography Environmental Science
- III. One AP Exam from either the sciences, or math: Science and mathematics courses offered at AIS-Salzburg: Calculus AB Biology Chemistry
- IV. One additional AP Exam; cannot be English or a world language. Courses offered at AIS-Salzburg which fulfill this requirement: European History U.S. History Psychology Human Geography Calculus AB Biology Chemistry.
AP® Examinations
Advanced Placement Examinations® are offered each year in the spring—usually during the first two full weeks of May. AP® Examinations are open to all students who feel competent to sit them and enrollment in a preparatory AP® course is not required. For example, if a student comes to AIS-Salzburg after having studied the Japanese language for three years, they may desire to sit the AP® Examination in this subject. Most students, however, will need the preparation and guidance in the subject provided by year-long enrollment in the course. It is also possible to take an AP® level course at AIS-Salzburg and then choose not to sit the examination. On average, AIS-Salzburg graduates will have enrolled in four or more AP® courses and over 75% of these will have taken the associated examinations.
Below is a listing of all possible AP® courses and examinations offered through the College Board. The subjects listed in bold are offered as full-credit courses at AIS-Salzburg.
AP® Examinations Offered
*Courses listed in bold-face are offered at AIS-Salzburg
English
- AP English Literature and Composition
- AP English Language and Composition
History and Social Science
- AP Comparative Government and Politics
- AP European History
- AP Human Geography
- AP Macroeconomics
- AP Microeconomics
- AP Psychology
- AP United States Government and Politics
- AP United States History
- AP World History
Math and Computer Science
- AP Calculus AB
- AP Calculus BC
- AP Precalculus
- AP Computer Science A
- AP Statistics
Sciences
- AP Biology
- AP Chemistry
- AP Environmental Science
- AP Physics: Electricity and Magnetism
- AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based
- AP Physics 2: Algebra-Based
World Languages and Cultures
- AP Chinese Language and Culture
- AP French Language and Culture
- AP German Language and Culture
- AP Italian Language and Culture
- AP Japanese Language and Culture
- AP Latin
- AP Spanish Language and Culture
- AP Spanish Literature and Culture
AP® Program Advantages
The school’s successful participation in the Advanced-Placement® Program since 1983, the widespread international recognition of AP scores, and the strength of the AP curricula have convinced the administration of AIS-Salzburg that the College Board’s Advanced-Placement program provides AIS-Salzburg’s students opportunities superior to those of the International Baccalaureate®. Given the fact that most international schools do offer the IB, we would like to provide the following specific comparative information to students and parents considering enrolment at AIS-Salzburg:
| Advanced-Placement® Program | International Baccalaureate® |
| Students can build up an AP profile over the course of several years. | Students are restricted to completing the IB diploma program during the final two years of school. |
| Students sit examinations as they complete the respective course. | Students write all examinations upon completion of the second year of the program. |
| Students can sample a wide variety of advanced courses. | Students must enroll in six two-year courses, excluding other possible interests. |
| Each course combines breadth and depth in treating the subject. | Each course emphasizes depth of treatment, not breadth. |
| The flexibility of the AP program allows for additional boarding-school demands on student time. | The inflexibility of the IB program does not allow, or comes into conflict with, some boarding-school requirements. |
| Entrance to German universities requires 4 examinations in year-long AP subjects, one of which must be mathematics or science.* | German universities require the entire IB diploma program plus four years of a second foreign language. |
| Austrian universities require 4 AP examinations in year-long subjects, one of which must be calculus.* | Austrian universities require the entire IB diploma program. |
*With acceptable scores.
General Information Published by the College Board:
http://www.collegeboard.org
Additional note: