Here at Tesoro, we offer over 20 Advanced Placement or AP classes, which allow students to earn both high school and college credit for taking an AP course. In May, students will take an exam provided by the College Board, which is graded on a 5-point scale determining the amount of credit accepted by most colleges. As AP exams draw near, many students start to stress, but stress not as you are in the right place! Here is your guide not only to acing your AP exam but also to managing the stress that comes along with the highly anticipated test.
Start Studying in Advance
With a little over a month and a half until the AP exams, now is the perfect time to start preparing. Studying now gives you more time to review an entire year’s worth of content and prevents the stress of trying to cram and pull an all-nighter of inefficient studying the night before.
Use an AP Review Book or Follow a 30-Day Guide
AP Review books are great tools for reviewing a year’s worth of material concisely. Top-rated AP review books include; The Princeton Review REA, Barron’s, and 5 Steps to a 5. 30-Day Guides work similarly but outline day-by-day concepts to review for the specific course you take. For a 30-Day Guide for your AP exam, find more information here.
Find a Study Group
Working in a study group can help hold you accountable and prevent procrastination. It is also a great time to relearn concepts you don’t understand, ask each other questions, and take turns teaching each other difficult content, which is the best way to master a skill. Studying with a group can also be more fun and will make studying less stressful.
Take Practice Tests
Taking practice tests will help to familiarize you with what the AP test will look like, review important concepts you will most likely see on your exam, and determine which concepts you understand and which ones you should spend more time studying. Practice tests can be found on the College Board website and accessed through your MyAP account.
Take Time for Breaks
Breaks are almost equally as important as studying. Take time to let your brain relax and retain all the information you are learning. According to Harvard Health Publishing, exercise is a great tool to add to your study breaks as “just 20 minutes of exercise before studying can improve your concentration and focus your learning, memory, and thinking skills.”
Good Luck Titans and go ace your AP exams!