Photo credit: Christina Vaughan ’26

While Marci Rau ’24 struggled with AP Lang, Jazzy ’25 is loving life in Honors English III.

At the end of the school year, many sophomores taking Honors English II, including myself, have a big decision to make regarding which English class they should take junior year: AP Lang or Honors English III.

All AP courses at Rosary offer the rigor of a college level class, and as challenging as they are, they look great on a college resume. AP English Language and Composition is arguably the most challenging class in the English department, so deciding whether it’s the right class for you is a big deal.

Junior Celine Asido highlights the biggest curriculum difference between the classes: “AP Lang teaches you how to communicate your argument clearly and effectively. There’s three writing units (rhetorical analysis, argumentative, and synthesis) where you learn specific writing skills that make your writing stronger according to each category (for example in the argument unit, a helpful skill/tactic to score higher would be to qualify on a prompt).” In AP Lang, students learn an entirely new writing style and focus almost entirely on nonfiction. Honors English III is a little more familiar and does include fiction.

Before sharing student opinion on the matter, Ms. Barclay ’94 took the time to share her insight on taking AP Lang, “Make your decision based on two factors. First, how much do you like to write? And I’m talking timed write!! A lot of your grade is based on writing in-class timed essays and out of class longer essays. If you really don’t love writing and you enjoy reading specifically fiction more, then it’s probably not the class for you.”

Ms. Barclay adds that the other factor is, “how informed you stay and how curious you are about nonfiction-ish things. Successful students stay on top of events and try to make sense of them often. If you’re curious about how disciplines connect, the class will be great for you. If you wonder how psychology connects to religion or sociology, and you’re eager to see the relationships between people and art, science, politics, philosophy, etc., then this would be a great class for you too. An interest in nonfiction would be really helpful.”

She also shares, “We get our energy from lively conversations and debates so if this is not your thing, Honors English III might be better for you because it’s more of a standard honors literature course. We talk fiction and analysis of fiction. AP Lang is more serious than Honors English III. I don’t mean in terms of rigor. They’re both rigorous in terms of work load, but AP Lang is more business-like than Honors. We’re so busy writing and then going over the writing in AP Lang that fun is . . . less of a thing. I still love AP Lang with all my heart but it’s just a tough class. It’ll put hair on your chest though as my grandmother used to say. Figure out that one for yourself.”

Next, current AP Lang students share why they decided to take the class and some other factors that may influence a student’s decision. Junior Kate Piper explains, “I chose to take AP Lang because I was really interested in the nonfiction part of the class. If you’re on the fence about taking the class, I would consider how much criticism you can take. Think of your mental health because I think if you take writing grades personally, Lang might feel like doing a polar plunge challenge, but with the alarm you wake up to for school going off at the same time, but you can’t turn it off because you’re submerged in ice cold water. It would be painful and probably really annoying.”

Kate is right, writing can be personal, and it is no secret that Ms. Barclay is a very hard grader. Kate’s classmate Grace Rapskof ’25 adds, “Nevertheless, it’s really difficult. If you don’t like in-class writing (if it stresses you out in literally any way), do NOT take Lang. No matter what Ms. Barclay tells you, there’s also a hefty amount of homework involved, and you’re pretty much writing an essay every other week…Despite how hard and draining and annoying it can be, it is a really fun class, and I think it’s entirely worth taking; I’ve learned a lot, and I even got to write an entire essay about pickles. It’s those minuscule minutes of joy that make all the suffering worth it. But if it doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, don’t worry about it. Lang isn’t for everyone, and it’s not worth sacrificing your enjoyment of your junior year to add one more AP to your resume (because, as Barclay will remind you repeatedly if you take Lang, Collegeboard hates you).”

While AP Lang is based more on rhetorical analysis, there is a little more wiggle room in Honors English III. Lizzie Larson ’25 comments, “I chose Honors English III because I love literature and poetry analysis and still wanted the rigor that comes with a classic Honors English class at Rosary.”

Addison Patz ’25 adds that, similar to AP Lang, Honors English III includes a lot of analysis: “Honors English is all about reading something and analyzing it… It is all about getting into class discussions and trying to figure out what the characters are thinking.”

As Ms. Barclay already established, the workload of both classes is similar, Malia Simms ’25 shares what the workload of Honors English III looks like to her, “Honors English III doesn’t take up too much time of your schedule but it definitely causes you to think more in depth about the topic you’re learning about. It only takes up a lot of your time when you procrastinate but it’s never excessive.”

Senior Marci Rau gives insight into her experience, “I took Lang last year and had an absolute blast. However, transferring from a public school, my work ethic was simply not there, and my grades reflected that. AP Lang is super fun, but you either have to have a strong work ethic or be content with getting Bs.”

I hope this article gave the sophomores something to think about when making such a big decision, just remember that if you’re focused on letter grades, Lang might not be for you and that is okay!