Preparing for the AP Exams

The over-looming time for the AP exams have arrived.  After finals and midterms, students might find themselves relaxed and relieved from their school studies and projects.  However, a student’s study is never over.

AP Exams have finally begun and will last from May 1st to May 12th, making it the busiest two weeks for students who have enrolled in many APs this semester. One test after another, these next two weeks will be sort of a “make or break” moment for these students as they complete one test just to bury themselves in preparing for the next one.

So, many parents and students may ask: What’s the best way to get a 5 on the AP Exams?  Overall, the best way of achieving a high score on an AP Exam is always being prepared – even over-prepared.  Starting as early as possible is a great help in order to ensure that all content from the last two semesters can be comprehended and all test taking strategies can be applied.

Beyond that, students should take the opportunity to either self-study or find outside help for the AP test. Many students find themselves lost and drowning in all the studying and subjects begin to blur. So, these students find themselves enrolling at tutoring centers to augment their studying. For a long time, AP Prep classes have been around at institutions such as Gateway Academy, Elite, and many more tutoring centers. Many of these classes include experienced teachers whose profession is based on a certain AP course. Through tutoring, students can find the best help from AP Prep classes and also have the opportunity to take many practice tests with detailed review sessions.

However, many of these classes include a considerable amount of investment. That is why students who cannot afford classes may resort to self-studying. Also, although AP Prep classes may help, other students work best by themselves. There are many prep-books on the market that students can purchase online or in person released from The College Board, Barrons, or Princeton Review to take home and study.  These prep books include information from past tests, subject summaries, and very useful tips.  

Now, if even that gets too expensive, students can also find themselves sitting in the quietest corner of their local bookstore or library, studying from prep books at no cost as long as they don’t mark them up.  Libraries will mostly likely carry used prep books from previous years and bookstores will have the newest versions that students can “browse” as a form of studying.  

Whichever the method, in the end, studying for the AP Exams mostly requires that a student is well rested before the exam.  Getting plenty of rest before the exam will help improve memory and test taking abilities versus rigorously studying the night before.  Yes, the studying is important, but time managing to fit in sleep is also a necessity.