Advanced Placement (AP) testing is rapidly approaching, creating a strain on both students and teachers to get through the curriculum. Students, especially, find it difficult to juggle course curriculum with additional stress that comes from other classes.
In order to be prepared on the AP exam day, students should be sure to stay on top of their curriculum and find a way to cope with the intensity of AP courses.
“Study early. Don’t try to cram,” AP Biology teacher Kathy Richardson said. “At the end, ask your teachers if they have practice workbooks for test reviews or if they’ve got their own handwritten review.”
Students should use all of their resources and time wisely, and they should place a high emphasis on incorporating studying into their regular routine. While many students may be tempted to procrastinate until closer to the AP exam day, AP courses require continuous comprehension and application of the curriculum to be successful.
“If your test is in May then you should start studying sometime in January if you really want to do well,” Richardson said.
The time constraint has been worsened by unexpected weather which caused a multitude of snow days and delays within the county and surrounding areas. Even with these delays, the classes must stay on schedule because the AP exam date can not be moved.
“There’s just not enough class days in the semester to get through all of the material,” AP Biology teacher Jennifer Toney said. “I tell the kids that they have to do a lot of their own reading, and then we’ll do practice in class, because there’s physically no way for us to cover everything in depth thoroughly.”
It is critical for students to put in the additional learning hours because of the fast paced semester and the extensive coverage of the topics. With each day leading up to the exam, students have to practice good habits that allow them to be successful. Whether that is keeping a decent sleep routine or as the University of Pittsburgh suggests the Pomodoro technique which prioritizes a set work time followed by a break.
According to the official Pomodoro website, “The 25-minute work sessions are an important tool for dealing with time pressure and anxiety, but they’re just one part of a complete system that makes deep work sustainable.”
When students include efficient studying methods into their routines, it can have a huge impact on their scores. AP tests are graded using a 1-5 grading scale, with a three being sufficient for many colleges to consider counting the credits.
“So the people who tend to get fives are the ones who put in a lot of outside work,” Toney said. “If you’re just kind of doing what we’re doing in class, threes and fours are definitely possible.”
Students not only need to familiarize themselves with the material; they also need to have a positive mindset to endure the exam. When students start their test with a solid level of confidence, they lay the groundwork for an overall positive score and experience.
“It’s stressful because everybody’s like you have to get either a three to five,” junior Abigail Aurand said. ” Don’t stress, just remember how to write them because they teach you how to do it.”
There’s typically pressure on students to use the learning and test-taking tactics that the teachers have implemented to fit their teaching structure or style. However, there isn’t one standard way for a student to learn.
“It’s good to set up your own schedule to break it down, and if you need to summarize bullet points to help you study, I know some people who do flashcards.” Aurand said.
Ultimately, AP exams are a demanding task, but with the right approach, each student can pass the test using thorough preparation and a good level of optimism.
“Usually with AP, there are so many resources, so you kind of have to figure out which resource works best for you, and then be consistent with that,” Toney said. “Just make sure you’re putting out your best effort, because you don’t know what the test is going to be, so you just got to keep plugging along.”
