Walt Whitman High School senior Angelina Liclican has become one of a select group of students to achieve a rare “perfect” score on an Advanced Placement (AP) exam. This means she earned every point possible on the May 2023 AP Research Exam and scored the elusive ‘5.” She was one of only 357 students in the world to do so on that college-level exam last spring.
AP exams are scored on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the very best! Colleges and universities use AP scores for college credit, advanced placement, and/or consideration in the admission process.
“I am extremely proud of the dedication and effort Angelina has displayed throughout her four years at Whitman. To achieve at such a high level is a testament to her focus and resilience towards her studies,” said Interim Principal John Murphy. “It is no surprise that she has achieved this level of academic excellence and I look forward to seeing her continue to showcase her talents within the South Huntington School District. It is students like Angelina who allow others to understand the tremendous work that is going on in South Huntington to ensure the continued success of our students.”
After taking the AP Seminar course, students who take the challenging AP Research course get to choose a topic that must be approved, collect data, hit certain research deadlines throughout the school year, and finally put together their presentation and conclusion.
Angelina chose to analyze and compare how Disney has presented gender roles in their movies throughout the decades. That meant she spent a lot of time watching the animated versions of Snow White, Cinderella, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, and Moana over and over again. After presenting her research conclusion for the exam portion, Angelina received the maximum score on every section of the exam.
Angelina said she had to find a topic that she would want to focus on for an entire year. “I found a lot of research on gender representation, which I thought was cool, because I like seeing [gender representation] when I watch movies. You'll notice something and you'll be like, ‘Oh, that's interesting. They were allowed to say that in a movie then.’ In movies now you don't really notice it, but there are still certain things about the films that make it sexist in a way. There are still things Disney has to work on, but it's a lot better in comparison to how it used to be.”
AP Capstone is an advanced diploma program and only 2,000 high schools are approved currently to offer it. To earn a Capstone diploma, students must pass both AP Seminar and AP Research with a score of 3 or higher, along with four more AP classes of their choosing.
“We applaud the educators who encourage students to challenge themselves, who motivate and encourage diverse students to achieve their academic potential,” said Trevor Packer, head of the Advanced Placement Program.
To learn more about the AP Capstone program click AP Capstone Diploma.