AP classes bring many benefits to students; they offer academic rigor and in-depth learning, impress college admissions officers, and can earn you college credit. However, they also come with a metric ton of stress–heavy workloads that make you stay up all night and difficult tests that force you to study for hours upon hours. And then, in May, you have to sit for the dreaded end-of-year exam that makes you question why you even took the class in the first place. Here are a few tips to help ease the stress of AP exam season and help you earn a 5.
1) Start Preparing Early
If you haven’t started studying for your exam(s) yet, START NOW. The earlier you begin preparing, the better off you will be. I urge you not to wait until the last minute–you will regret it. I recommend reviewing content first and then moving on to practice as soon as possible. It is also important to hone in on the topics you struggled with during the year so that you can demonstrate mastery of the material once the test date arrives.
2) Use Your Friends
Your peers can be great tools. You may decide to have a study group with your friends where you review a unit or two each week. Or, you could check in on each other to make sure everyone is studying and hold each other accountable.
3) Look Up Exam Weighting
On AP exams, it is very common for specific units to be weighted more heavily than others, meaning that some topics will appear on the test more frequently than others. For example, units 1 and 2 of AP U.S. History are weighted much less than the other units. This is public information that can be found through a simple Google search of the course and exam description. By finding the exam weighting, you can quickly figure out which topics will be more important for your exam and, therefore, which topics you should study the most.
4) Use Your Resources
Plenty of resources are available for students to help them prepare for their exams. If you don’t know where to start, ask your teacher. They are likely to be able to provide you with Youtube videos, review books, or courses that they recommend. Office hours/extra help are other great resources! Whether you have a few specific questions or need help clarifying a larger topic, don’t be afraid to ask your teachers for help each morning. Additionally, the College Board has many offerings, including practice exams, live review sessions, and daily videos. The resources on AP Classroom are great assets as they come directly from the College Board, the company that will create the actual test.
5) Practice, Practice, Practice
Although cliche, practice does make perfect. There truly is no better way to prepare for your exams than to study the types of questions on them. The best way to do this is to create a schedule for yourself and to hold yourself accountable for completing your allotted tasks each night. At the end of the day, the more practice you have under your belt before the exam, the better off you will be.
All in all, AP exams bring a lot of stress to the surface. Although everything about the next few weeks can be overwhelming, there are plenty of resources and ways that you can study. If after reading this article you still find yourself lost, don’t be afraid to ask students who have already taken the class their advice and what they recommend. Good luck!
Commentaires