<p>On so many posts I read about kids needing time at the end of their junior years to "prepare" for AP exams. Isn't that why they take the class? What extra preparation is needed? Are we just talking overachievers here?</p>
<p>AP classes cover a huge amount of material. In order to do well on the exam, preparation is needed. :]</p>
<p>Theoretically, if I'd paid 150% attention (and reviewed every night) through all of my AP classes throughout the year, I'd be prepared. I do so much else, it's easy for things to slip out of my memory.</p>
<p>In our school district, we have block scheduling (4 courses each semester), so some AP courses are taught only in the fall semester and definitely require some review prior to the May AP exam.</p>
<p>There is a need to prepare for an AP exam just as there is for any other exam. Some of the tests require lots of memorization of terms and facts and an entire year of material is covered so a review would be helpful to even the best student with the best teacher.</p>
<p>Have you ever actually SEEN an AP exam? They are very comprehensive, requiring not only objective answers, but also essays, showing your complete ability to subjectively argue a point. No need to review and prepare? Go check out an exam and tell me you wouldn't need time to prepare.</p>
<p>I say it depends on the kids. My two oldest never prepared for them like the kids over in the AP section do. Who really has time to spend hours every weekend and evening taking practice tests?<br>
They studied for them like they would study for a final exam.
Their teachers did a good job of preparation though out the year. Gave them practice tests and for history - DBQ's along the way.
They got all 4's and 5's on their AP's - English and History exams.<br>
But then they are naturally good test takers.</p>
<p>Last year my youngest was a jr and took the AP World History - she did nothing until about 3 nights before and most of it the night before - she got a study book - I forget which one - something gimicky - Spark notes maybe?
She got a 3 - passed it and she was happy.</p>
<p>I personally think if the teacher is preparing you WELL all year to take the test then you don't need to spend hours and hours. If you do then just retake the class in college - no big deal.</p>
<p>Right - in a well taught AP class, the preparation a student needs to do for the exam is comparable to preparing for a very comprehensive final. Carefully reviewing a year's worth of work does take some time.</p>
<p>Sometimes a class will get behind in the required curriculum, and in that case, more preparation might be warranted and more anxiety might be natural. </p>
<p>Beyond that, some of the kids who're all worked up about AP exams just get that way about everything; some haven't been keeping up with the work during the year; some have had less than stellar teachers; some are just catching the anxiety from others.</p>
<p>bandnerd: No I haven't. That's why I asked.</p>
<p>nceph: Good point. I have a friend in CA, and I remember now she told me the same thing about her child's school (long gap between end of fall AP class and spring test).</p>
<p>Just a mom...a 3 won't get you college credit in most of the tests....nowadays you need a 4 to get credit at all, even though a 3 might be "passing". After my parents paying hundreds of dollars for me to take these tests, I am going to take them seriously.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Just a mom...a 3 won't get you college credit in most of the tests....nowadays you need a 4 to get credit at all, even though a 3 might be "passing". After my parents paying hundreds of dollars for me to take these tests, I am going to take them seriously.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's not true. Tons of colleges, probably most (The top 20 is far from most colleges...) still accept 3's for credit. The state universities around here in Florida offer different amounts of credit depending on your score. Sometimes a 3 and a 5 offer the same amount, while a 5 will offers more than twice as much credit as a 3. It depends. Some people don't have to pay at all to take the tests; that's usually in affluent areas *where you pay<a href="I%20mean%20to%20say">/i</a>.</p>
<p>I usually didn't spend more than the night before preparing by flipping through my notes/book for two or three hours prior to taking the AP exams and still managed to pull off five 5s and three 4s.</p>
<p>I think a lot of it is about the kind of student the kid is (if during the class they learned the material for the test, or if they learned the material to know it) and the quality of the class offered by the school.</p>
<p>A 3 may get you nonspecific credit (science, humanities...) but a 4 or 5 is needed to get course specific credit at many schools- this makes the difference in having met a prerequisite for another course or specific course credit to meet college graduation requirements.</p>
<p>At our local hs, the AP teachers run review classes after school and work on practice essays, etc. during the month of April (and before). They aren't counting on your remembering things from the beginning of the year.</p>
<p>youdon'tsay: btw, the tests are not only given at the end of "junior" year. They are given at the end of each year for any AP class you took that year. My kids have taken them anywhere from freshman through senior year, tho I understand some high schools don't allow underclassmen to take AP classes, for some reason.</p>
<p>S did not study for any AP exams. His AP classes ran the entire sch. year so they did lots of review the month before the exams. He did fine, passed all 7 exams that he took.</p>
<p>At D's private school, the last month or so of the AP class was review for the test. That worked out great. As for college credit, each school has individual practices. D1 got credit for courses in her major, whereas D2's school only gave credit for courses that did not count toward her major. And I've heard that some schools only use AP test scores for placement. YMMV.</p>
<p>Our son merely did a study group session the nite before the exam. I am not sure if they did any in class review however.</p>
<p>I think the question of how much review is necessary has a lot to do with how much the teachers teach to the AP test. Some teachers really resent having to teach to the AP exam and teach a college level course that may not specifically cover every topic on the AP exam. I think especially in history courses, some teachers prefer to delve deeper into certain periods than the AP curriculum allows time for, and then it's up to the students to cover those omitted or glossed over topics on their own.</p>
<p>It's true lots of schools give credit for a 3. As a junior, my d was happy to get a 3. At her college next year, she won't get credit but she doesn't need it. She will be a nursing major.</p>
<p>In her high school, AP's are taught as college classes. The teachers teach the AP curricula and our high school makes AP teachers attend courses on teaching AP classes. They must attend one of these courses before they are allowed to teach an AP class and then attend periodically.
In fact, our AP english teacher learned that he could combine both English Lit and Eng Lang into one AP senior English class. They have had great success for 3 years.
Our high school pays for the AP tests that students take as a result of taking the class. In return, taking the AP test is NOT optional. They are required to take it.</p>
<p>Clearly, not all AP teachers and hs curricula are created equal. If the teacher has good success with kids passing that is an indication that the course is well taught.</p>
<p>Think about US or World History-most people don't have the ability to recall specific historical facts that they went over last September without a bit of review. Last night my son was looking over his US HIstory flash cards....after a few hours, he was in despair because he was not yet up to the American Revolution! (He's taking the SAT II in US History on Saturday.)</p>