AP testing season begins Monday
Rather than taking place in one of the school’s two gym, the COVID-19 outbreak led the College Board to allow students to take their exams at home, with the first one having taken place Monday. For many freshmen, their first AP exam came Tuesday with AP Human Geography.
May 6, 2019
The culmination of preparation and studying that began in August, is being put to the test starting Monday and continuing until May 17 as AP exam season is underway.
“AP tests are important because it gives students an opportunity to go in college and get college credit for that subject,” AP Statistics teacher Evan McGee said. “It’s also a good way to challenge students to learn more and to grow up. It’s also a great way for a student to boost their GPA, class rank, and things students are concerned about.”
In AP classes throughout the school, teachers are helping students review for their AP tests.
“Right now in AP Human Geography we’re doing the big review unit where we test over each unit and review,” AP Human Geography teacher Jennifer Nelken said. “And they have review books and things like that to get them prepared to remember material that we learned back in August and September all the way to now.”
Several AP classes, such as AP Government, Macroeconomics, and Human Geography, are hosting review sessions so that teachers can provide students with last-minute lectures to help them prepare for testing.
There are also several steps students can take on their own to ensure their success on their exams, which go beyond simply studying.
“The big thing is not to cram everything into the night before and not to panic or anything the night before and just take each unit and each step just a day at a time, piece by piece instead of focusing on the whole course cause you might get overwhelmed,” Nelken said. “Getting enough sleep is also very important as well as relaxing.”
Despite the potential for stress, students such as sophomore Shriniketh Mukundan see value in taking AP classes and tests.
“I very much encourage other students to take AP courses if they have not already, it’s really beneficial,” Mukundan said. “But at the same time you need to make sure that you’re not overwhelmed by the material and the amount of hard work there is because it is very time consuming. But AP courses are definitely worth the time and work.”
