It’s finally April and school has started up again after Spring Break. For all students, quarter four is an important time to stay motivated and attentive in class. Finals are on the horizon, along with the end of the 2023-2024 school year, and graduation for the seniors. But for AP students, another thing looms in the near future: AP tests. Without much thought, you’ve been preparing for these tests all year by just simply being in the class. But this doesn’t mean that you can easily get a perfect score, even if you have a high grade in the class. On the flip side, this also doesn’t mean that you’ll fail the AP exams if you haven’t been doing too hot in the class. Thus, here are some tips on getting the score you want on the upcoming tests in early May.
The first tip is to start now! The AP tests are culmination of an entire school year’s worth of information. It’s taken you up until now to get through all these units, so it’s important to realize that in order to review and relearn information, you can’t cram it in the night before, or even a few nights before the test. This is even more important if you plan on taking multiple AP exams. Studying a little bit everyday, and going unit by unit at an easy pace, is an easy way to review information without it being overwhelming and it gives information the ability to stick.
Another tip is to focus on your strengths and weaknesses within the subject. Which topics do you remember without any review, which do you clearly understand, which do you not recall, which do you still struggle with? Time management is so important, and realizing which information you can simply read over to refresh and which information you need to relearn in order to understand can save you so much time and help you make a study plan.
Finally, to prepare for AP exams, the best thing to use is Collegeboard. Although the classes are structured around the tests, using the multiple choice tests on the Collegeboard, along with the writing practice, looking at AP test breakdowns, and reviewing old AP exams will help you to understand what is most likely to be on the test. More specifically, not all that you learned in class will make it onto the exam, and so by using the website, you can often figure out what has a higher chance of making it onto the exam.
Overall, by starting now, you can get a good head start on preparation without it being too overwhelming. There is a lot to review, but with good time management and motivation, you can reach the score that you hope to achieve.
