AP US History, taught by both Mr. Matt Smith and Mr. Matt Hooten, has a reputation for being one of the hardest classes someone at Brophy can take.
Students are burdened with “…a minimum of 10 hours of homework a week.” according to Brophy. Furthermore, students are put through extremely detail-oriented tests and note-taking requirements.
Each year, students are taken aback by the level this class is taught, and this year is no different. Many inevitably end up dropping the class.
This is a testament to the unexpected difficulties of the class. Other students, however, who were too late to drop the class are now stuck with it for the rest of the year and must find ways to manage the workload. Brophy student Adam Shamoun ’27 states in an interview,
“It’s affected my sports and friends. I have very little time after school anymore.”
This begs the question: Is APUSH worth taking?
Here at Brophy, too many students are pressured into taking this class, and it is pretty much expected of honors students to take it. This is a flawed expectation, as for most students, this is the wrong choice. While it is important to learn history to preserve the past, most students who go on to college and their careers will never use this information again.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only seven percent of degrees are in social sciences and history.
Mr. Matt Smith actually agreed with this sentiment during an interview, saying,
“I have no clue what job you could directly use AP history for unless you wanted to progress toward becoming an AP US History teacher.”
However, he then went on to state, “What I do know is that the historical thinking skills that are involved in AP US History…are applicable in every single job profession.”
Now, is taking APUSH the worst decision you will ever make?
No.
At Brophy, it is overvalued. It could easily be replaced with a more important and useful AP class for the same amount of time that more closely relates to the student’s interest. These other AP classes would also develop many of the same critical thinking skills that APUSH does while being more applicable in the real world.
Ultimately, students must educate themselves on the details of the class in order to make the best possible decision about whether or not to take it.
