College credit is on the line for AP students as testing begins Monday with morning exams requiring students to arrive at 7:30 a.m., while afternoon exams require students to arrive at 11:30 a.m.

“This can help you to either get ahead when you head off to college or take fewer classes per semester,” AP Environmental Science teacher Richard Sabatier said. “Also, in college, there will be a week of finals at the end of each semester. AP testing is a way to simulate that in high school.”

Many teachers have taken the time to prepare their students for their classes’ AP tests, relying on unique strategies to counteract limited time for AP review.

“We gave a mock AP exam in class,” Sabatier said. “Based on the mock, students input their results into a spreadsheet that we designed that showed which units were strengths and which were weaknesses. The best use of your time is to study the topics that you have the most room for growth in, rather than focusing on the content that you already have down.”

Outside of the classroom, some students take it into their own hands to prepare themselves for the exams. 

“I got the Princeton Review books and have been taking notes and doing the practice from the books,” junior Kelly Shi said. “For history, I use Heimler’s History and take notes while watching the videos. I’m also trying out his Ultimate Review Packet this year.”

Senior Riya Khosla plans on taking four AP tests and feels that her previous experience has given her some perspective for this year.

“I think in previous years I found AP tests more daunting, but that is not the case this year,” Khosla said. “My advice would be to trust what you have learned in the past year. Technically, you have been studying for this test in class the entire year, so you must have picked up some information.”