Three Illinois Students Named State AP Scholars
Students recognized for earning high scores on prestigious AP exams
SPRINGFIELD, IL –Two Illinois high school students and one 2014 graduate earned high accolades for completing up to 20 college-level Advanced Placement courses and scoring above average on those exams. The College Board, provider of the Advanced Placement program and exams, named all three as “Illinois State Advanced Placement (AP) Scholars†in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the AP exams.
The state’s honorees are:
·        Anand D. Abraham, a senior at Neuqua Valley High School in Indian Prairie School District 204
·        Bryce Z. Cai, a junior at Barrington High School in Barrington Community Unit School District 220
·        Vivian Wan, a 2014 graduate at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Adlai
Stevenson High School District 125
“The AP program provides high school students a competitive edge in preparing for the rigors of college and careers by giving them the opportunity to earn college credit or advanced placement – or both – before they graduate,†said State Superintendent of Education Christopher A. Koch. “High scores on these challenging, college-level exams are a tremendous accomplishment and Illinois should be proud to have three students who showed such exceptional performance across multiple tests. Anand, Bryce and Vivian represent the very best of Illinois’ hardworking and dedicated students, and there is no limit to what they will be able to accomplish in college and beyond.â€
The College Board awards this prestigious honor to the one female and one male student in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia with scores of 3 or higher (based on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest) on the greatest number of AP exams and then the highest average score (at least 3.5) on all AP exams taken. This year, Illinois had two male students who qualified for the honor. Illinois’ honorees are among 103 students nationwide to receive this award.
AP exams measure a student’s content mastery of college-level studies in specific academic disciplines. Research shows that students who score a 3 or higher on an AP exam typically achieve greater academic success in college and are more likely to earn a college degree than non-AP students.
This year is the 24th annual celebration of the AP Scholar Awards. Here’s a closer look at Illinois’ honorees:
Anand Abraham of Bolingbrook is currently a senior at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, where he is in the top 25 percent of his class. He has taken 20 AP exams, earning the highest score of 5 on 19 of those tests. He is a National Merit Semifinalist and a member of the Neuqua Valley Math Team. Anand has also traveled extensively, particularly to Tanzania, Costa Rica, India and Poland. He hopes to attend college at the University of Chicago.
Bryce Cai of South Barrington is currently a junior at Barrington High School in Barrington. He has taken 20 AP exams thus far during his high school career and earned a score of 5 on 16 of those tests. Bryce’s extracurricular involvements include Scholastic Bowl and Science Olympiad. He also attended this year’s Chemistry Olympiad summer camp.
Vivian Wan of Hawthorn Woods is a 2014 graduate of Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire and now attends Harvard University. She took 17 AP exams during high school, earning a 5 on all of them. She also achieved a perfect score of 36 on the ACT and was a 2014 National Merit Scholarship finalist and 2014 Illinois State Scholar. Vivian also earned a spot on the 2014 Daily Herald Lake County Academic Team and is a three-time qualifier for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination.
A total of 43,835 Illinois graduates took at least one AP exam during high school in 2013, more than double the 20,968 students who took the test in 2003. Illinois also ranked 13th in the nation for the percentage of 2013 graduates – 21.5 percent – who scored at least a 3 on an AP exam during their high school career. The national average is 20.1 percent. AP participation and performance data for the 2013-14 school year will be released later this fall.
For more information about starting an AP course and building an AP program, visit http://professionals.collegeboard.com/k-12/assessment/ap.
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