Many colleges encourage students to take challenging college classes called AP (advanced placement) courses. These courses can help high school students prepare for college level work, earn college credits, and boost their college applications.

However, not all high school students get this opportunity to take AP classes. Students living in rural areas may get less of a chance to take AP classes than students living in urban or suburban areas. Many students believe that their lack of AP courses will hurt their chances of getting admitted to college. But, admission experts say that students should not worry because colleges look at applicants within the context of their high school. Admissions officers also learn about the school through the school profile, which provides information about the curriculum and average test scores.

Students still looking to boost their applications without taking AP courses can take part in the following alternatives: honor classes, in-person college courses, online college courses, AP self study, and outside mentors. Honor classes are courses that can be offered by schools that offer few or no AP classes. By taking these classes students will be able to show that they have still succeeded in taking challenging courses without taking AP classes.

In-person college courses are classes students may be able to enroll in, while still in high school, through dual enrollment arrangements. Some high schools partner with colleges that offer dual enrollment programs so students will be able to take classes on a college campus. Online college courses are college classes that can be taken online which can be chosen with the help of your counselor. If students are interested in a particular course, they can look within their area to see if a person working in that field is willing to mentor them.

Many people also not only take AP classes for the credit, but take them for the experience a college level course can offer. These alternatives can help in this way, too.