By: Thu Nguyen
April 7, 2022
SAN JOSE, CALIF. —With AP exams coming up in May, many students are rushing to prep for their courses. As someone who’s taken 3 AP classes, studying is the key to getting a 5 on the exam. Here are the ways you can get started.
- Review your notes.
Reviewing the materials for the course is especially important. As time goes on, our memory fades. Taking a look at your past work can help rewind your memory to the earlier chapters that you might’ve forgotten. For me, looking at my notes helps me remember the smaller details. Without it, I could only remember the big overall theme.
- Watch Heimler’s History on Youtube and take notes.
If you’re taking a social science class, this step can drastically change how much knowledge your brain consumes. Watching the videos and taking notes helped so much in APUSH and allowed me to get a better understanding than just reading the textbook. Even if you never look at the notes again, just paying attention to the video and then writing it down helps improve your memory.
- Watch AP Daily Videos on AP Classroom
These videos include step-to-step tutorials on the skills required for your courses. They cover all of the content as well in your units as well. The short videos can help build your understanding if you get tired of reading from the textbook.
- Make a study schedule.
Proper time management is essential to making sure you cover all of the content in time. Depending on when you’re starting to prep, you might have to crunch the number of units you review in a week. With only 3 to 4 weeks left until May, making a good schedule and sticking to it is important if you don’t want all of the work to get piled up.
- Practice doing the test questions (FRQ, DBQ, LEQ, etc.)
Doing practice questions can help you get more familiar with the length and style of the AP exam. It can also help identify where your weaknesses lay. As it is a mix of free questions and multiple-choice, practicing can help improve your preparation.
- Make a study group with people taking the same class.
By surrounding yourself with people who are studying for the same class as you, it is easier to gain more knowledge on the subject. They might know some information that you haven’t known before or have forgotten. You can also help test each other on the information.
Kaylani Trinh, a junior at Silver Creek, says “I think taking the AP exam can be beneficial for anyone, given that you pass of course.” As a student currently taking an advanced placement class, she says, “The AP exam is expensive but it’s worth it for the credit.”
Raider Review 
