In the 2025-2026 school year, Buena High School has become the first school within Ventura Unified School district to provide a two-year research capstone program which includes students taking AP Seminar their sophomore year, and an optional AP capstone class their senior year. Since AP Seminar was introduced at Buena, students and teachers have a variety of opinions in regards to this new course.
It is clear to me that AP Seminar is not an easy class; it requires attention to detail and diligence. With presentations being completed and essays being written, there is a precarious amount of work still to be accomplished, but, despite this, there are still benefits to the class. It has been noted that this is a rigorous course which provides students with the opportunity to learn necessary skills for their future classes and careers early on.
“It’s not a content based class; it’s a skills based class. [The class] exposes students to high level skills that students normally don’t get until their junior…[or] senior year… even until college. [Students] translate the skills into [other classes],” AP Seminar teacher Antoinette Perez said.
However, students, myself included, reported initially wanting to sign up for the AP Seminar class for college credits, a GPA boost and because they expected doing smaller independent projects. It has become apparent that this is only a partial reality of what the class is about.
“I thought it would be more reading-based writing… with less [emphasis on] researching… I didn’t expect the class to be easy, but this is [different] than how I [imagined],” sophomore Michaela Isordia said.
In addition, there is some pressure due to the strict timelines and challenging workload. Getting behind or procrastinating leads to risking the quality of your work, which then affects your overall AP Seminar score and builds up more stress in the long run.
“This class has made me more stressed… I have to [really focus] since we have some strict due dates… Although, [AP Seminar] has made me better academically since [it helps me] not procrastinate as much,” sophomore Rei Rethmeier said.
Sophomore Emely Ramos reported similar feelings about the effects of the class on her personal and academic life.
“[The workload] really started overlapping with my other AP classes and extracurriculars… It’s hard to keep everything on track, and it feels like you always have something to work on,” Ramos said.
Additionally, signing up for the class may be even more discouraging to students since according to the College Board, the college credits from AP Seminar are typically transferred as elective credits, if they are even considered at all.
Despite these challenges, I believe the class builds valuable skills for future success, including stronger writing, greater efficiency, effective study habits, better preparation for future coursework, and increased competitiveness as noted by the College Board.
Current students note that the workload itself is the main source of their struggles, but they acknowledge teachers are still learning how to best support their students.
“It’s the teacher’s first time [teaching AP Seminar] too. The class will be much better when they’ve figured out the kinks of it and gone through [a year of it],” Shayne Purdue said.
It is evident that students and teachers have different obstacles with the newly introduced AP seminar class. “The main difficulty… is finding time to do the [College Board] trainings because [they are] not built into our contract hours… and there’s too much information to do everything in advance, so we have to do it one part at a time” Perez said.
Throughout the school year, AP Seminar students have learned some crucial skills despite difficulties with the workload. As the class is still being developed, and teachers and students are both learning, the class will gradually improve in the coming years.
I agree that the class has a meticulous workload that requires dedication, and I also acknowledge that the class can be useful to learn valuable skills for the future if the individual pays attention, puts in the effort and meets deadlines. Overall, I believe that this class is a good learning experience; however, it is important to note the challenges that come with the class.
