After years of being forced to take easy classes, I chose my 11th-grade schedule to be rigorous and challenging. I signed up for 4 AP classes (AP US history, Lang, Earth Science, Sats), and am definitely having a hard time getting As. AP US isn’t bad, and I should be able to have an A, albeit a low one, in AP Lang, but ES and stats are taking it to another level. I have an 88 for both of the classes and I just don’t know how to improve it.
I told myself I was going to study even harder to get an A this quarter but even after studying for hours, doing well on the review, and doing all of the optional homework, I got a 75 in my stats test, one of my lowest grades in the class. ES is hard because most of the things on the test have never been taught to us, and the FRQ have to match the college boards answers, meaning that a right answer can be marked wrong just because it wasn’t exactly what the college board wanted(ex. what a drawback to using sugarcane as fuel? Your answer: Using the ethanol from sugar canes emit greenhouse gasses and pollutes the air. correct answer: sugar canes will be cut down and planting a lot of them can hurt the nutrients in the soil).
I have been studying hard and asking questions, but the tests are just really hard to study for. In stats we occasionally have problems we were never taught before at all, but we’re expected to understand it. I have been studying like crazy to get a higher score, but even when I have a pretty good understanding of the material, the trick questions on the tests just ruin my grade, and there’s no book, study guide, or notes that I can use to study for some of the questions they ask on the test.
I’m sorry for basically just complaining for a few paragraphs for classes I signed up for, but I just have no idea what to do and right now I don’t feel challenged, I feel really confused and overworked. I signed up for the class, so I will deal with it, but any advice would really help me out. Stories about how you got your grade to jump would also help. Thanks.
I’m currently in/have taken all these classes except Stats! Something that’s really helped me for APES is reading through the textbook we have; also look up old FRQs and practice those! Many times I’ve been able to get near perfect FRQ scores on APES tests because I pre-studied old FRQs on the topic and they ended up being the ones my teacher used on the test.
I know it can be super frustrating, especially if it feels as if your teacher isn’t the best and is constantly overlooking certain materials. I would also recommend buying AP review books and using those to supplement what you learn in class (therefore, you can make sure you know everything in a chapter/unit in the event that your teacher never went over it).
And I don’t know how close the correlation would be for Stats, but something that has really helped me with AP Calc is again practicing lots of old FRQs. Many times you can also find videos on youtube giving you a step-by-step guideline on how to work through these problems, so you can later apply them on your own.
Also some general tips of mine:
Quizlet is the best, especially for memorizing terms! I like it better than traditional flashcards because I can’t “cheat” and have to fully type in all the answers.
Sketchnotes! This definitely isn’t for everyone, but it really helped bring my grade up in APES. Basically the premise is that you rewrite your notes in your own words, adding in sketches/diagrams/pictures that help you better understand the information. As silly as it sounds, goofy pictures have helped me remember info more than once (recently, a picture I drew of a pig in a bikini top and winter boots helped me remember that warm air is on top in temperature inversion haha)
Make sure your complete attention is devoted to studying. Oftentimes for me, this means putting my phone in a completely separate room, and going somewhere where it is completely quiet and I have a hard time getting distracted.
It is extremely hard to balance a high AP workload! If I have time, I’ll try to get a headstart on assignments/projects over the weekend so I don’t have to spend hours each night of the school week (this would be so mentally draining!)
5)Talk to your teachers! Sometimes teachers don’t realize that students aren’t comprehending the information, and may be willing to reteach it to you and help you. It never hurts to ask.
Make sure you get enough sleep. Oftentimes IMO, sleep deprivation makes it harder to comprehend and recall information and you’re better off going to bed at 12 than staying up until 3 studying.
Junior year (I’m currently a senior) was by far my hardest year academic wise, as I was not fully adjusted to the toll created by a heavy workload. The best thing you can do is experiment around with different study methods, and see what works best for you! Also it seems you’re likely burned out, so don’t feel bad about occasionally giving yourself time to relax and not stress about school in the moment. I wish you the best in your classes and I hope this helped a little!
Hey @kavitis186 I have some advice for you from my experiences:
Believe in yourself - you can achieve straight A’s in everything - start with the fundamental psychological confidence.
Phone in another room while studying, if on computer do NOT go on websites that you’ll get distracted on (youtube). - this could make or break you
Productivity = Focus - meditate for a couple minutes each day to train your mind to optimize its focus. It sounds crazy, but I can assure you it works. Train your mind to seclude itself from drama, hardships, happiness and enter a state of sponge learning.
write everything by hand, over and over again. draw images, mentally recite. Create acronyms. This is how you properly memorize
get help to understand concept - the most important thing
schedule your study time precisely (2hrs for social studies 2hrs for stats etc)
practice practice practice - weekends, car/bus rides, strengthen foundation (you may be failing because you don’t understand the basic)
What you may not be doing is the magic 8)
Strategize your study time to focus on weaker subjects. This is relatively obvious - if you have 3 tests in a day choose to study the subject you are weakest in, much more extensively over the other two.
Have you met with your instructors to ask them what more you can study to prepare for your exams? Can you go over the problems you got wrong with them to figure out how to get them right in the future? Can you consider studying with others in your class, forming a study group?
@Scou9273
How did you access the types of FRQ you’d see on the test? My teachers have told me where I could go to access previous AP questions, but it gives all of the problems from the from the whole AP exam, not the ones specific to the unit.
You can usually look up the topic your learning about and examples will come up- again, you may have to scroll through and find the FRQs that correspond with the unit.