Columnists and teachers share advice for students in preparation for the May AP exams.
BY CALLIA PETERSON, ‘22 AND BEN UNDERWOOD, ‘21.
Ah, the dreaded AP and IB exam season is upon us, and if you are anything like the two of us, you are currently thinking about how you can best prepare for your exams. Here are some tips and resources for studying. Above all, remember that these tests truly aren’t the end all be all, and all you can do is your best.
1) Want to refresh your memory on a unit topic? Go to AP Classroom on the College Board website, and you will find dozens of videos made by AP teachers from all over the country for each of your AP classes, broken down by unit.
2) Prefer your teachers’ lectures? A lot of AP teachers recorded their lectures during Enhanced Distance Learning and Hybrid. Go back and watch the videos they shared with you throughout the year.
3) The College Board publishes a Course and Exam Description for every test. This document lists every testable topic, and it even includes “essential knowledge” that lists off the specific facts and pieces of knowledge that could appear on the test. It isn’t advisable that you read through the entirety of documents, but feel free to check out any topics that you’re weary on.
4) Ask your teacher if they have a favorite review book. Some teachers, such as Mr. Endres (see above), will recommend a specific book that they find the most accurate, while other teachers will prefer you to use their resources instead.
5) Stay balanced. Don’t kill yourself poring over study resources. On the other hand, don’t stay awake until 3 a.m. watching House of Cards the night before your test.
ENGLISH
1. “Trust the things you’ve practiced in class and make sure that you read the questions carefully on the test and read prompts carefully.”
– Corrie Kentner, AP Literature
SCIENCE
1. “Start studying early. Studying after midnight isn’t terribly useful.”
– Brian Wenger, AP Chemistry
LANGUAGE
1. “Stay calm—restez calme! Don’t try cramming the night before—not going to help.”
2. “Go to bed early and then have some breakfast.”
3. “Wear clothes in which you feel good in. Don’t wear anything that is tight or uncomfortable.”
– Julia Voegt-Brooking, AP French
MATH 
1. “I would encourage you to be curious and tenacious as you review. So ask questions of yourself about both how and why ideas work the way they do.”
2. “As you review, don’t review passively but review actively. So in mathematics for example, really engage in solving problems, pencil to paper or stylus to iPad.”
3. “The week of the AP exam, take good care of yourself, your physical and mental and emotional you.”
– Jeff Reinhardt, AP Calculus
SOCIAL STUDIES
1. “I would recommend planning your time wisely in the weeks leading up to the exam and dedicate a little bit of time every day to reviewing the material for the entire year. For an AP history class, [there is] so much material, you really can’t cram it. You need to spend a little bit of time each day going back and reviewing the material that you have learned over the course of the entire year.”
– Joe Endres, AP European History