AP Class Advice

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

I’m going to be a junior next year, and I’m taking the following Ap classes:
Ap Chinese
Ap Lit
Ap Studio Art
Ap calc ab
Ap Bio
Ap Euro

Does anyone have any tips for efficiency, getting yourself to enjoy the class, and how to do well? If you could do it again, what would you do to make it better?

2

My first reaction to your schedule was yikes. This is a lot of tough, strenuous APs in terms of material. Junior year is one of the hardest years of high school, with test prep and the pressure beginning to ramp up, so I strongly urge you to think carefully about whether this is a feasible schedule for you. And by feasible, I don’t mean can you pull through with no sleep and just scraping by- will you actually be able to take these courses and enjoy them and truly understand the material?

As for some general AP tips:

  1. Do some studying/general prep the summer before. Don’t go crazy- get a review book, skim it, and maybe browse some websites. Get an idea of what you are going into.
  2. Be very organized. This becomes more important the more APs that you are taking. Get yourself an assignment book and keep careful track of homework, tests, etc.
  3. Do all the homework! For classes like Lit and Euro there might be a lot of reading- plow through! It is easier to learn the material throughout the year than to cram it in the week before the test.
  4. go to the teachers for extra help. Talking to them about concepts can bring you beyond the memorization stage and into real understanding.
  5. Start studying at least two weeks before the exam (preferably sooner!)
  6. Get sleep. Seriously, it is the most important thing you can do to ensure good performance.