AP Exams are Around the Corner!

While most students view May as the end of the school year, for AP students, it signals the beginning of AP exams. In order to receive college credit for their AP courses, students must prepare well and study hard.

Different subjects require different forms of studying. Some don’t require much studying at all. Ms. Anderson, the AP English Literature and Composition teacher, states, “[The AP English Literature] test doesn’t have a lot of studying to do, unlike many of the other AP tests. Students should review literary terms and be prepared for the third essay. Students have a prompt and they get to choose what book or play they write about.”

She adds, “The AP English Literature test always focuses on both poetry and prose passages. Students will have to answer multiple-choice questions first, and then they will have to write three essays. The majority of the test is about analyzing literature that they’ve probably never seen before!” This exam will be on May 5.

The AP Statistics exam will be on May 17. Mr. Boyle, the AP stats teacher, says, “Studying is an individual thing that each student has to tailor to best fit their strengths and weaknesses.” He recommends that students “look over old tests, review notes, complete review assignments [that] were given by the teacher, and check out help videos/sites online.”

Mr. Pierett’s AP United States History exam will be on May 6. He says the exam  “consists of four sections: 55 multiple choice questions (40%) in 55 minutes; 3 short answer questions (20%) in 40 minutes; 1 document based question (25%) in 60 minutes; and 1 essay question (15%) in 40 minutes. As such, there is no specific topic focus.”

Mr. Pierett puts the entire AP experience into perspective:  “AP courses are college level. The high school student that signs up for such a course has made a decision to step to the 18-22-year-old world and must accept that aspects of one’s childhood are being left behind. That is tough for a 15-16 year-old.”

He continues, “Once the learner accepts that one’s priorities must change, the next step is being honest with oneself, especially in regards to how much or how little time is needed for a task to be properly prepared for. Life’s experiences will aid in this process, if the learner is willing to accept the answers of the lessons being taught.” 

Ms. Anderson and Mr. Pierett agree schedule plans are a good method to organize your studying routine, but they also agree that students have different learning styles and techniques. Taking notes from the books, looking on College Board/AP Classroom, reading self-help books for AP exams, and watching videos about one’s subject are some of the ways students can prepare themselves for the exams.

Information about these tests and others can be found on the College Board website.