In the month of May, high school students will take their AP exams held by the College Board. As the month of May approaches, students should carefully and efficiently prepare themselves before partaking in the exam.
In order to achieve the best score on an AP exam, it is recommended that students begin studying a month or two before the date of their exam. This provides a balanced period of preparation and prevents stress from having to study a year’s worth of material in a short amount of time.
The amount of time students need to study may also vary depending on the number of exams they will complete. If a student is taking multiple exams, they should prioritize the subjects they struggle with the most and they should establish study sessions focusing on one class.
It is important to provide a break in between long study sessions to have the best retention and focus during the time you spend working. Students can also shorten their study sessions each day and start studying for the exam earlier. Students should analyze their study habits in order to determine the best study path for them and their desired goals.
Jahnavi Jha (10), said, “Active recall is a really good method that helped me for my AP test where you focus on a topic and repeatedly quiz yourself throughout a duration of time to ensure you retain that information.”
There are many resources available for AP students to be successful in their courses. One such source is the College Board website which provides different unit guides, daily videos, topic questions and much more.
Another free online resource is Kaplan Test Prep, and it sets an efficient timeline for students to follow with different practice questions, question strategies and information on the exam scoring.
There are also prep books for AP exams made specifically for certain subjects. Although these cost money, they are a very good resource to guide students through important topics and knowledge they must know before the exam.
AP exam tutors are available to target specific students and help them on topics that students may be struggling with. This is a great method to increase the likelihood of a good AP score as students are given targeted support and feedback
Ridhima Adhikari (12) says, “Make sure to pace yourself during the test, especially in english exams you should practice timed writing beforehand to get a sense of how fast you should go and what to improve on.”
On exams for history, students should focus on themes of continuity and change as well as focusing on little details and memorization. For language exams, it is important to have key ideas or key terms memorized about music and culture in preparation for the oral portion to efficiently compare cultures.
Practicing free response questions and multiple choice questions for subjects such as math and science a few weeks before the exam is extremely beneficial for students to get an idea of how the exam will be like and how they should pace themselves for it.
AP exams allow students to challenge themselves and prove to the College Board their own abilities. These exams help build bright futures for hardworking students as they approach college.
