Christina Ruan

The irony is that by making advanced classes the standard, we’ve taken away what makes them special. AP and honors courses are designed for students who are genuinely excited to dive deeper and move faster, not as a default requirement.

It’s the end of lunch, and my friends and I are preparing to walk to our next classes. When she asks about which class I need to go to, I answer, saying “Psychology.”

“I didn’t know sophomores could take AP Psych,” she responds.

“It’s not the AP,” I say with a laugh. “I’m taking regular psychology.”

“Oh. Okay.”

I brush it off, but their confusion is familiar to me. I’ve heard the same reaction again and again. It points to a larger issue: somewhere along the way, “regular” stopped feeling regular. Taking a standard-level class now feels like something you have to explain.

At Harker, advanced classes are the norm. During course selection season, my classmates are not debating over whether to take advanced classes, but how many they can squeeze in. “I’m only taking three APs this year,” a friend told me once — as if it was something to be ashamed of.

In this environment, looking smart seems to outweigh actually learning. I’ve watched classmates suffer through AP classes they aren’t interested in and cram information they’ll forget right after the test. Many choose AP or honors classes over their regular counterparts because they worry that not doing so might make them look less ambitious or weaken their college applications, rather than because they want to explore the subject in greater depth.

Meanwhile, students who choose regular classes to pursue other interests or because they learn better at a different pace are made to feel like they’re settling for less.

While U.S. History is required for all juniors, most students automatically choose the hardest version, A.P. U.S. History. It’s rarely because they’re interested in the subject or have a specific academic reason for taking it. Rather, it’s often because they feel they need to in order to look competitive for college.

That same pressure shows up across departments. I’ve experienced an unfortunate attitude that if you’re in regular calculus instead of the advanced version, you must not be as smart or as serious about academics. Students who would thrive in the regular class instead feel pushed into the advanced one out of fear of judgement, not out of curiosity.

This comes at a cost. Students lose sleep and drop activities they love, all for the sake of stacking their transcript with words that signal high course rigor. As a result, course selection becomes less about building an education and more about building a resume.

It’s time we reconsidered what rigor actually looks like. There’s nothing “regular” about students who take regular courses. It means they choose classes thoughtfully, prioritize understanding and know that learning isn’t a competition, and there’s nothing wrong with taking the version of a class that matches your pace, your interests and your goals.

Advanced courses have their benefits: they challenge students who want to explore more thoroughly and can handle the increased workload. But regular classes are equally valuable, and they shouldn’t be treated like second-tier options.

The bravest academic choice isn’t how many APs you can fit into your schedule. It’s about knowing which classes will actually help you learn and having the confidence to take them, even without ‘Honors’ or ‘AP’ in the title.