NLIS offers Advanced Placement College Board-certified courses to high school students. Students work independently in class and at home online with SevenStar, an accredited global online school. The students have a SevenStar teacher who teaches the course online and answers questions through emails and Zoom. NLIS teachers help the students complete the work on time. After completing and passing each course, the student must take the AP exam for college credit.  However, the student receives high school credit, written on NLIS High School transcript as an Advanced Placement course, which colleges like very much.  If the student takes and passes the test, that is also written on the transcript with the score.  The exams last anywhere from 90 to 200 minutes depending on the subject. The tests are either in the traditional format with paper and pencil, multiple-choice questions, and a free-response section or in digital form. The exam score is calculated based only on the correct answers. The examination is delivered worldwide once a year, often in May, but changes from year to year.

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The Benefits Of Taking AP Classes  

1. They Give Students Skills for College

The most obvious benefit of taking AP classes is that they give students skills for college. Taking college-level courses before entering college can help students be better prepared and know what to expect.

 

2. They Can Show Your Passion

Taking AP exams is a way to demonstrate a genuine academic interest in a particular subject. For example, if you're an aspiring engineer, taking the AP Calculus and AP Physics courses and passing their respective exams will prove to college admissions committees that you're serious about engineering and have the skills necessary to pursue it. If you're interested in political science or pre-law tracks, taking AP US History, AP US Government, AP Statistics, and AP Economics would show vital preparation for those subjects. If you're hoping to be pre-med, taking AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Calculus would indicate that you have the skills and background needed to handle challenging pre-med classes as a college student.

 

3. They Can Help with College Applications

What better way to show a college how dedicated you are to your studies than to take college-level classes while still in high school? Colleges love to see that students have challenged themselves and will be capable of handling the coursework about to come their way.

 

4. Provide College Credit

Saving money in college is great, but the credit you can get goes far beyond just a financial saving. You'll also be saving yourself time and energy in college, and you can perhaps spend that time to focus more on your other courses or even work a part-time job if your schedule permits.

 

5. Colleges Well understand the Standardization

Advanced Placement courses are standardized. So, if you take them, you don't have to worry about the credit being accepted or understood. If you want to transfer colleges at any point, this standardization is also beneficial and can help avoid any issues.

 

6. Can Help with Scholarships

Taking AP courses is a great way to increase your scholarship chances. It shows you are a dedicated and serious student capable of succeeding in college.

AP Courses Available at NLIS through SevenStar:

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AP Biology

In AP Biology, students develop a foundation for understanding biological concepts through scientific inquiry, investigations, interactive experiences, higher-order thinking, real-world applications, writing analytical essays, statistical analysis, and data collection. The critical big ideas of the AP Biology course are system interactions, evolution, energetics, information storage, and transmission. Students participate in various engaging activities that enhance their mastery of biology concepts. 

Credit: 1.0 (Two semesters)

Prerequisites: Biology, Chemistry, Algebra 1 (all offered at NLIS)

Recommended Grade Levels: 11th–12th

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AP Physics 1

The AP Physics 1 course uses inquiry-based instructional strategies focusing on experimentation to develop students’ conceptual understanding of physics principles. The following steps involve developing, testing, and applying models. Students construct and use multiple representations of physical processes, solve multi-step problems, design investigations, and reflect on knowledge construction through self-assessment rubrics. They use graphing calculators and digital devices for interactive simulations, Physlet-based exercises, collaborative activities, and formative assessments. Students design their laboratory investigations using guided inquiry (GI) or open inquiry (OI).

Credit: 1.0 (Two semesters)

Prerequisites: Geometry, Algebra 2 (offered at NLIS)

Recommended Grade Levels: 11th–12th

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AP Calculus AB

Students in this course follow Newton and Leibnitz's footsteps as they discover the wonders of calculus, the mathematical study of change. An interactive course framework combines the exciting online course delivery to make calculus an adventure. The course includes a study of limits, continuity, differentiation, integration, differential equations, and the applications of derivatives and integrals. An Advanced Placement (AP) course in calculus consists of an entire high school year of work comparable to calculus courses in colleges and universities. Students who take an AP course in calculus are expected to seek college credit, college placement, or both from institutions of higher learning. Most colleges and universities offer a sequence of several courses in calculus, and entering students are placed within this sequence according to the extent of their preparation, as measured by the results of an AP examination or other criteria.

Credit: 1.0 (Two semesters)

Prerequisites: Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, *Pre-Calculus or Trigonometry/ Analytical Geometry  *Pre-Calculus is only offered with SevenStar for an extra fee. All other courses are offered in the regular classes at NLIS. 

Recommended Grade Levels: 11th–12th

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AP Statistics

AP® Statistics introduces students to exploring data, sampling, experimentation, anticipating patterns, and determining statistical inference. 

Credit: 1.0 (Two semesters)

Prerequisites: Algebra 2 (offered at NLIS)

Recommended Grade Levels: 11th–12th

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AP Art History

Prerequisites: World History; strong reading and writing skills recommended (offered at NLIS)

Prior art training is not a prerequisite. The course does not cater exclusively to future Art History majors.

Recommended Grade Levels: 11th–12th

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AP Psychology

Additional topics include the scientific method, the biological bases of psychology, sensation and perception, learning, cognition, development, motivation, emotion, personality, psychological disorders, and social psychology.

Credit: 1.0 (Two semesters)

Prerequisites: None

Recommended Grade Levels: 11th–12th

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AP Microeconomics

In this course, students explore the power of marginal thinking from a biblical perspective and apply it to daily common decisions that individuals and business firms encounter. Students examine, interpret, analyze, and model key microeconomics concepts and processes, from the shifting supply and demand of familiar products to the labor market model and how wages are determined. In the long run, taking AP® Microeconomics develops the critical thinking and analytical skills that empower students for a lifetime. As students participate in these activities, they become better consumers in the real world, using their resources for God’s glory and the good of others.

Credit: 0.5 (One semester)

Prerequisites: Algebra 1 recommended (offered at NLIS)

Recommended Grade Levels: 11th–12th

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AP Computer Science A

AP® Computer Science A is equivalent to the first segment of a college-level computer science course. At the same time, the development of useful computer programs and classes is used as a context for introducing other important concepts in computer science, including developing and analyzing algorithms, developing and using fundamental data structures, and studying standard algorithms and typical applications. In addition, an understanding of computer systems' basic hardware and software components and the responsible use of these systems are integral parts of the course.

Credit: 1.0 (Two semesters)

Prerequisites: Algebra 1 and 2 recommended (offered at NLIS)

Recommended Grade Levels: 11th–12th

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AP Human Geography

AP® Human Geography introduces high school students to college-level introductory human (cultural) geography.  The content is presented thematically rather than regionally and is organized around the discipline’s main subfields: economic geography, cultural geography, political geography, and urban geography. The approach is spatial and problem-oriented. Case studies are drawn from all world regions, emphasizing understanding the world we live in today. Historical information enriches analysis of the impacts of phenomena such as globalization, colonialism, and human-environment relationships on places, regions, cultural landscapes, and patterns of interaction. Students also learn about geographers' methods and tools in their research and applications.

Credit: 1.0 (Two semesters)

Prerequisites: None. However, students should be able to read college-level texts and write grammatically correct, complete sentences.

Recommended Grade Levels: 10th–12th

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AP Macroeconomics

In this course, students establish the fundamentals of economics with a survey of scarcity, opportunity cost, supply, demand, and market equilibrium. They then zoom out to the largest scale of economic analysis, learning the indicators of the whole country's financial health, specifically gross domestic product, unemployment, and price level. With that foundation, the rest of the course looks at fiscal and monetary policies, their consequences, and the basics of international trade and the foreign exchange market. Besides being intentionally prepared for the AP Exam, students gain a much deeper understanding of the world, the government and banks' roles in an economy, and the economic outcomes generated by their policy decisions.

Credit: 0.5 (One semester)

Prerequisites: None

Recommended Grade Levels: 11th–12th

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AP US History 

Credit: 1.0 (Two semesters)

Prerequisites: World History recommended; strong reading and writing skills required (offered at NLIS)

Recommended Grade Levels: 10th–12th

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AP World History: Modern

Students collaboratively discuss specific historical issues, analyzing them from biblical and secular viewpoints. They analyze primary and secondary documents—in addition to other quantitative, cartographical, and artistic sources—to understand and support specific viewpoints of history and differentiate issues from one region to another. At the end of each module, students connect with the course's themes and have opportunities to practice answering multiple-choice and essay questions in AP® format.

Credit: 1.0 (Two semesters)

Prerequisites: None

Recommended Grade Levels: 10th–12th

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AP US Government and Politics

In AP® US Government and Politics, students investigate key political concepts, ideas, institutions, policies, interactions, roles, and behaviors that characterize the constitutional system and political culture of the United States. Students study the structure of the Constitution, its Judeo-Christian influences, and its implications for the functioning of government today.

Credit: 0.5 (One semester)

Prerequisites: US History recommended (NLIS may offer this class, or a student can take it through SevenStar.)

Recommended Grade Levels: 11th–12th

What are the Average AP Passing Rates?

AP tests are given a score between 1 and 5. Any grade above three is passing, equivalent to around 65% or more.

  

Who Should Take An AP Class?

 

1. Students with High Grades

Students with an impressive GPA should consider taking these college-level classes, as it will give them an extra challenge and help them grow. However, those struggling with their grades are better off avoiding such courses (for now, at least) since a low grade in a challenging class could affect their GPA.

 

2. Students with High Skills

Even if you aren’t the top student in your class but are highly skilled at a specific topic — such as art — you should consider taking an advanced placement course. It will only help you in the long run.

 

3. Students with Time

A student overloaded with work and extracurricular activities is not the ideal candidate for advanced placement courses. These classes are time-consuming and are outside of the standard high school schedule. Only students who genuinely feel they have extra time to invest should take these classes.

 

Course and Exam Fees

SevenStar charges $755 for one credit. Parents can pay this directly to SevenStar or pay NLIS, and we can pay SevenStar.  The international fee is $124 per exam.