48 TASIS Students Earn AP Scholar Awards To Establish New School Record

17 Jul 2023

In the analysis below, we offer a detailed look at the excellent job TASIS students did on the 2023 Advanced Placement (AP) exams. We congratulate the 149 students who sat for at least one exam, the outstanding teachers who helped them prepare, AP Coordinator Sonia Yo, AP Lead Teacher Isaac Carey, Headmaster Christopher Nikoloff, and Head of High School Academics Dr. Mark Abisi.

A Record Number of Exams Taken

This spring TASIS established new school records both for the number of students to take an AP exam (149) and for the number of total exams taken (339), topping the previous highs set last year, in which 119 students combined to take 264 exams. These figures are particularly impressive in light of the fact that nearly half of all TASIS upperclassmen choose to pursue a full IB Diploma instead of taking AP classes.

Perfect Scores on 79 Exams

All AP exams are assessed on a scale of 1–5, and TASIS students recorded either a 4 or 5 on 49 percent of their exams. Of the 339 exams taken, 86 were scored a 4 and 79 exams were scored a perfect 5.

2023 Overview

More AP Scholars Than Ever

A total of 48 TASIS students earned AP Scholar Awards, which the College Board grants to “students who have demonstrated exemplary college-level achievement on AP Exams.” This is the third straight year that TASIS students have set a new mark!

Matching the school record established year, 16 students earned the highest honor, AP Scholar with Distinction, for scoring 3 or higher on at least five exams while compiling an average score of 3.50 or higher. Congratulations to Mariia Andreichuk ’23, Annie Bezikian ’24, Trevor R. Drummond ’23, Nitzan Alex Gabriel ’23, Dominique Grigorian ’23, Leonid Gurevich ’23, Kaan Kartal ’23, Spencer LeGresley ’23, Ana Loza ’23, Amaya Norton-Scherer ’24, William Pacini ’23, Luigi Rebuffo ’23, Yueyi Shen ’23, Victoria Svetlova ’23, Alexey Varga ’24, Linzi Zhou ’24 for combining to take 119 AP exams throughout their time in high school and collectively posting a stellar average score of 4.35. (Special commendation is due to Class of 2023 Valedictorian William Pacini, who scored a perfect 5 on all 14 exams he took!)

Andrew Baker ’24, Kentaro Barnes ’23, Kseniia Bek ’23, Martina Gallone ’24, Lily Moore ’23, Louis Mut-Tracy ’24, Flynn Orr ’23, Isabella Ramirez ’23, Sofiia Rashnikova ’24, Katerina Smyslova ’23, Vova Varha ’24, and Misha Varha ’24 were all named an AP Scholar with Honor for scoring 3 or higher on four or more exams with an average score of at least 3.25. Kudos to these 12 scholars, who recorded a 3.93 average on their 58 exams.

An additional 20 students earned the designation of AP Scholar for scoring 3 or higher on at least three exams. Congratulations to Ryan Arbid ’23, Giacomo Bertola ’23, Lorenzo Carlini ’23, Mary Clardy ’24, Camille Girotto ’24, Lea Le Mat ’23, Michael Maffe ’24, Leopoldo Malacalza ’23, Rocco Metzger ’24, Andreas Riis ’23, Kathryn Robinson ’23, Carolina Rossetto ’23, Gabriela Rossetto ’23, Cecilia Storm ’24, Alexandra Svirina ’24, Sophie Tilman ’23, Pietro Virgilio ’23, Rocco Zanarini ’23, Rebecca Zhao ’23, and Sophia Zuchetto ’24.

Commendation is also due to Annie Bezikian and Lea Le Mat for earning an AP International Diploma (APID), a globally recognized certificate awarded to students who display exceptional achievement across a variety of disciplines. The APID certifies outstanding academic excellence with a global perspective.

Success Rate Remains Above 80 Percent

The College Board defines “success” as follows:

“Success” on an AP exam is defined as an exam score of 3 or higher, which represents the score point that research finds predictive of college success and college graduation. These findings have held consistent across the decades. One example of such a study comes from the National Center for Educational Accountability, which found that an AP exam score, and a score of 3 or higher in particular, is a strong predictor of a student’s ability to persist in college and earn a bachelor’s degree.

Of the 149 TASIS students who sat for exams this spring, 124 scored a 3 or higher on at least one exam. The College Board considers this a school success rate of 83.2 percent, marking the sixth consecutive year in which TASIS students have achieved a rate of 82 percent or higher.

Score Summary: 2019–2023

Standout Subjects

Led by Isaac Carey, four students took the Computer Science A exam and recorded a mean score of 4.50 that surpassed the world average by 1.29 points. 

Mr. Carey also helped 14 students prepare for the Calculus AB exam, and their average score of 3.71 topped the global average by 0.72 points.

Elizabeth Rodostianos guided 12 students to a mean score of 3.92 on the Chemistry exam—0.66 points above the world average.

Guided by Jerry Bleckel, 10 students took the Physics C: Mechanics exam and produced an average score of 4.10, which was 0.70 points higher than the global average. 

Taking full advantage of the state-of-the-art Şahenk Fine Arts Center, first-year TASIS Photography Teacher Chrissie Wild helped 15 students achieve a mean score of 4.20 on the 2-D Art & Design exam. The global average was 3.36.

Dan Kirsch guided 16 students to a 3.50 average score on the European History exam, exceeding the world mark by 0.55 points.

Emily Clark helped 16 English Literature and Composition students secure a mean score of 3.56—0.30 points better than the global average.

The 38 students Noah Clarke prepared for the Macroeconomics exam notched an average score of 3.29. The world average was 3.08.

Stephanie Chevalier taught the inaugural AP Psychology class at TASIS and helped 17 students produce a mean score of 3.00, topping the global mark by 0.11 points.

The TASIS student body continues to be defined by internationalism and multilingualism. With assistance from teachers in the Modern Languages Department, 43 of the 50 students who took the Chinese Language and Culture, French Language and Culture, German Language and Culture, Italian Language and Culture, Spanish Language and Culture, or Japanese Language and Culture exam scored either a 4 or 5. The aggregate score for these six exams was a sterling 4.40.

TASIS Advanced Placement ProgramTo learn why some students at TASIS focus their efforts on Advanced Placement (AP) classes while others choose to pursue an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, we recommend reviewing this article, which also includes an analysis of AP and IB results from 2015 and earlier. Analyses of more recent results can be found by following the links below:2023 IB2022 IB2021 AP2021 IB2020 AP2020 IB2019 AP2019 IB2018 AP2018 IB2017 IB and AP2016 IB2016 AP