AP Capstone: Tips and Approaches from Expert Advisors
- What is AP Capstone?
- AP Seminar: Essential Foundations for College & the AP Capstone Program
- AP Research: The Next Step in Your AP Capstone Journey
- Building Your Research Skills through AP Capstone
- Tips and Tricks for AP Capstone Success
- Common AP Capstone Pitfalls and Mistakes
- BartyED’s AP Capstone & U.S. College Admissions Support
What is AP Capstone?
The College Board, the organisation that administers the AP programs in the U.S. education system, created the AP Capstone diploma program in 2014. It was created to give students the opportunity to develop their independent study and research skills. The AP Capstone program places a great emphasis on critical thinking and communication skills, with the view to thoroughly prepare students for entry into higher education. College admissions officers greatly enjoy seeing a strong AP Capstone score on applications, as it indicates an excellent standard for the applicant’s writing and independent research skills–two skills of high value for college freshmen.
AP Capstone takes place across two AP courses taken in high school. First is AP Seminar, and a pass in this course allows students to go on to take AP Research. Upon completion of these two AP courses, as well as completing an additional 4 AP exams of their choice, students are awarded the AP Capstone diploma. It is important to note that the AP Capstone diploma is awarded alongside the high school diploma, rather than existing in place of it.
AP Seminar: Essential Foundations for College & the AP Capstone Program
AP Seminar, the first part of the AP Capstone program, takes full advantage of the flexibility of the AP course design. It lays the groundwork for college education through its focus on critical thinking. AP Seminar, much like AP Capstone overall, is student-led, meaning that students are expected to come up with their own projects with guidance from their teacher. These AP Seminar projects should be based on themes introduced by the teacher and designed to have the student reflect on divergent perspectives that they examine in class.
AP Seminar students are then expected to produce a research paper that is also presented to the class. While this may seem fairly typical for U.S. curriculum courses, AP Seminar distinguishes itself in the rigor and polish demanded from students’ research skills. This is, overall, a fantastic preparation for both the second half of the AP Capstone diploma, as well as for college education.
AP Research: The Next Step in Your AP Capstone Journey
The next part of the AP Capstone diploma is a year-long project in AP Research. While AP Research builds upon the skills developed in AP Seminar, students are not required to follow on from their completed AP Seminar projects. Instead, students are invited to use the year to develop a new piece of research, under supervision of their AP Research teacher.
Students are asked to reflect on their progress through both short and longer-term projects, culminating in a scholarly work in the form of a research paper of 4000-5000 words. This is then presented alongside the student’s oral defence at the end of their AP Research year. Passing AP Research means that students will be awarded the AP Seminar and Research certificate. If this is done alongside 4 other AP exams, then the student will be awarded the AP Capstone diploma.
Building Your Research Skills through AP Capstone
Over the course of AP Capstone, students develop their skills in research in a number of ways. Teachers of AP Seminar and AP Research assign a wide variety of tasks to students, from compiling literature reviews, to developing a compelling abstract. These are all skills that universities will appreciate on students’ applications, as it will show a pleasing degree of academic maturity.
Teachers will invite students to explore their interests, and see how their personal interests can be put towards academic examination. For example, some of our AP Capstone students have had great success in evaluating topics as diverse as the algorithmic aspects to K-pop music, the effects of sleep deprivation, and language acquisition among elementary school students.
Tips and Tricks for AP Capstone Success
Students looking to succeed in AP Capstone should bear in mind that the diploma is the result of two academic years of intense work. This means that candidates cannot expect to cram in all their AP work in a short period. AP Capstone students should aim to spread their work out over the two years, and aim for steady progress in their research and skills.
Maintaining good academic practices, like comprehensive note-taking and tracking of sources, is essential for AP Capstone. Too often, students come to us concerned about not remembering important sources that they need for their paper’s bibliography. The best way to avoid this is to be thorough in your AP Capstone research.
Common AP Capstone Pitfalls and Mistakes
As noted above, AP Capstone requires students to plan their work in both AP Seminar and AP Research. Students who try to cram the work into a short period of time will not enjoy much success. What’s more, the AP Capstone requirement to pass another four AP courses can also lead students to become overwhelmed with work. Students should aim to prove their maturity and conscientiousness throughout the AP Capstone program.
The more specific issue that students run into during AP Capstone is that students can choose overly broad topics for their AP Seminar or AP Research investigation. Instead, students should aim to be very specific. While 4000 words will seem like a lot when you start the project, you will quickly realise that your AP Capstone investigations will have to be intensely focused.
BartyED’s AP Capstone & U.S. College Admissions Support
The AP Capstone is a challenging and rigorous program that pushes students to develop their study and research skills. This makes it very attractive to see on students’ college applications. The BartyED admissions team always advises students to consider the AP Capstone diploma when planning their final years of high school.
We pride ourselves on providing holistic support of students throughout their high school education. This includes offering bespoke US college admissions packages to support candidates through the challenging process of applying for US colleges and universities. If you or your child feel like you would benefit from our expert support in AP Capstone, AP Seminar, AP Research, or U.S. college admissions, get in touch with us today via our contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
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AP Capstone is a diploma program devised by the College Board to develop students’ critical thinking and research skills. Over two years, students who pass both AP Seminar and AP Research, and also pass four other AP exams, are awarded the AP Capstone diploma.
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In order to be awarded the AP Capstone diploma, students must take both AP Seminar and AP Research. However, AP Seminar can be taken independently and is a great opportunity to develop a student’s research skills.
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AP Capstone is very helpful to college applicants. Obtaining AP Capstone is a sign of academic achievement and rigor, indicating to college admissions officers that the candidate has the requisite research skills to succeed in college.
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Students who perform well in AP Capstone are organised and work consistently throughout the two years. This is not a subject where cramming is a valid study tactic. Instead, AP Capstone students should develop diligent and thorough note-taking skills to support their projects.