By Connor Hawthorne, Staff Writer
As the third quarter comes to a close, one of the most dreaded parts of the year for many students begins: AP testing. AP classes are college level classes for high school students, with the option of gaining college credit for their efforts. However, in order to gain the college credit, students need to take an AP test at the end of the year that checks their understanding of the respective course’s content. Although taking the test is not mandatory for students enrolled in an AP course, many still opt to take the test in the hopes of skipping entire semesters of courses in college. With such high stakes, it is no surprise that students begin studying early for the tests, which are scheduled for the beginning of May.
Spring break is a time when many students begin studying for AP tests. Sophomore Dev Shah explains that “the AP tests are usually a lot harder than other tests.” Because of this, he plans to “start studying over spring break.” Dev spends more time studying for the AP exams than an average test. Dev explains that “I’m going to study a lot harder and longer for the AP test than I would any other test.” Since he took AP tests last year, Dev can reflect on his past experiences to help him this time around. For Dev, “last year my teacher did not do a good job preparing us for the AP test, so it was more of a self study class.” Dev’s advice to anyone taking AP tests this year is that “the best way to study is creating a study guide and taking practice tests.” For Dev, all the practice tests paid off and “the AP test wasn’t a surprise since I took practice tests that were really similar to the AP test.”
Other students, however, are not as worried about the AP test and plan to start studying after a relaxing spring break. Jazil Khalid explains that “this year I’m taking three AP tests” and “this is my first time preparing for AP classes.” Jazil’s philosophy for AP tests is that “it’s just a test, we take them all the time. It’s just a big test, and if I fail it’s not going on my transcript.” Jazil aims to start studying after spring break.
Fritz Orlofsky, a sophomore, also has a more relaxed attitude about AP tests. Unlike Dev’s class last year, his teacher has planned a lot of in class study time in preparation for the test. Fritz explains that “we’re going to study in class for my computer science class, so that’s when I’ll begin studying.”
Whatever your plan is for spring break, good luck on your AP tests! And if you aren’t taking any this year, enjoy it while you can!