As we have reached AP testing season, which started May 5 and ended May 16, students are preparing for their exams to feel ready for them. While some classes have reviewed before their exam, others are still pushing through new material, leaving students to cram on their own and also take in the new material they have been learning days before the final exam.
”I honestly felt way better going into the AP U.S History exam because we have spent the last week reviewing each period,” junior Elizabeth Schenker said.
Whether it is through mock exams, group discussions or content refreshers, students have stated that any form of review has helped them walk into their exam room feeling confident in their knowledge and skills.
“I was a bit nervous about AP World History, but Mr. Tavernia is a great teacher and his teaching style really helped me remember all of the material. We also had time to review in class, which helped me remember some of the earlier chapters that were a bit hazy in my memory,” sophomore Stella Agratchev said.
Due to some AP exams being on the first days, some teachers have less time to review and are at times unable to do so, such as in Mrs. Roisman’s AP European History class. “Mrs. Roisman prepared us so well during the entire year that even though we didn’t have time to review, I still went into the exam confident,” junior Sasha Kay Lindo said.
AP exams cover a year’s worth of material, and they require not only content knowledge but also application skills with test-specific strategies. Some students say that classes that have not reviewed the course material at the end of the year feel a bit lost with their studying and revision.
”Some of my AP teachers have barely reviewed at all, and when they said they would review, they just kept teaching more material. I understand it’s a lot of information to cover, but reviewing helps so much for the exam,” junior Aniya Melian said.
A few days before their AP exams, some students worked the final push to hopefully ace their exams and make their year-long effort worth it; however, some feel that in-class revision has helped them feel more prepared and confident in their exams. If teachers don’t have time to review in class, they should send their students resources that review the subject, post review videos and provide their students with any useful material they can prepare with.
Some students rely on books such as The Princeton Review to study for their exams. “I’ve been using the Princeton books since freshman year, and they have helped me revise before the exams since it has all of the material that will be in the exam, and it also has practice questions and mock exams,” Schenker said. (Photo/Nina Vieira)
