Anticipating Preparation: A Guide to Studying for APs

AP exam season is upon us, and with it, many students are scrambling to memorize hundreds of vocabulary words and understand brutally nuanced concepts they initially learned months ago. Alongside them are also students who have spent the last few months studying with their eyes dead set on the glamorous 5. For those who don’t know, AP (Advanced Placement) classes are standardized college-level classes taken by more than 1.2 million students. These classes feature rigorous content ranging from chemistry to music theory, and include a standardized exam at the end of the year that lasts up to 3 hours and 15 minutes. These are graded on a scale of 1-5, with the passing score set at 3. It’s entirely up to colleges to individually decide what scores to accept, but if accepted, these scores open up the possibility of earning the respective college credit, saving students time, money, and continued stress. This year, I’ve gathered a valuable toolbox of strategies that have helped me study for my exams, which can hopefully help rising AP students succeed on theirs next year. Though my experience is limited to the five I’ve taken, I firmly believe that the skill set I’ve cultivated this year through studying is not limited to one specific AP and will be applicable in all of my future endeavors. 

AP U.S. History

As the most populated AP for juniors that I’ve taken, APUSH is a unique class. It draws from the many facts of other tests and combines them into one long exam. APUSH incorporates plenty of memorization, a concept many science APs are saturated with, while employing a large section of writing, the center of the AP English classes. Here, preparation consists mostly of memorization and practice. However, students can only spend so much time memorizing before (1) they’ve run out of content to memorize in the first place and (2) they start hearing Quizlet Learn sound effects in their dreams. A good timeframe for APUSH is to start studying three weeks before the exam. The first eleven days should be spent simply memorizing vocabulary. After you’ve done this, you’ll have just ten days before the exam. Luckily, Mr. Ruderman has prepared a comprehensive review guide, which he calls the “Chunks,” that spans the final ten days. Additionally, the chunks, along with the plethora of tests you’ll take throughout the year, allow you to be well-versed in the nature of the APUSH free response (FRQ) section. Some last-minute review, including Heimler’s History live review sessions, is a must to solidify all of the information you’ve just learned. If you complete this three-week timeline, it’s more than likely that you’ll open your score in July to at least a 4. 

AP Spanish

With just three people, including myself, in the AP Spanish class, this class relies heavily on intrinsic motivation. The year is spent with sufficient practice for students to be comfortable with the format and demands of the test, but the key to success is being genuinely motivated to learn. Although this class moves extremely fast, rest assured that Ms. Watterson is receptive and will gladly reroute the class in a direction that suits the entirety of it. It’s tough to give a timeframe here because, realistically, studying begins at the beginning of the year. Insofar as the exam includes five lengthy tasks, being very intentional with your time and recognizing your weaknesses before spending time to practice them is the most productive way to prepare. If you’ve given your best throughout the year, the best thing you can do in the weeks leading up to the exam is to memorize transitional and comparative phrases. These will be strategic to employ throughout the argumentative essay on the exam, and give you the best shot at achieving a passing score. 

AP English Language & Composition (AP Lang)

This class is frequently regarded as the most applicable AP. Students spend the entire year developing their writing skills to quickly and concisely analyze and write text on the exam. AP Lang requires you to perfect your time management skills to effectively write three essays in an extremely short period of time. Mr. Naj has an adept consideration for the time crunch on this exam, and, luckily, begins assigning practice exams in the first quarter. As long as students complete these practice exams and the subsequent reflection Mr. Naj asks of them, the skills needed to complete a well-written essay quickly will likely be developed come May. Students often think that they need to memorize a myriad of rhetorical devices, but as long as they can recognize patterns in writing and describe them, the rhetorical analysis essay shouldn’t present too much on an issue. 

AP Chemistry

AP Chemistry is the most rigorous course that I’ve taken at Parker School. This class consists of nine units filled with concepts that, at times, seem fictitious. Consequently, believe me when I say that you need to start studying early. Allow yourself an entire month to revise each unit using notes, take entire practice sections, and rework any misunderstood concepts. Ms. Weigle assigns her students plenty of practice beginning weeks before the exam, and ensuring your preparedness before this practice is the key to succeeding. Starting one month before the exam, watch each Jeremy Krug 10-minute unit review video every other day. Along with every video, utilize Knowt to complete at least 20 multiple-choice questions per unit. This will help you actively reflect on the material you just learned and encounter it in exam form. After 18 days, you should be able to work on practice FRQ sections to apply your knowledge and simulate testing conditions. All of this, along with the practice exams Ms. Weigle assigns during class time, should be enough to pass the exam.

AP Psychology

From the complexity of neurotransmitters to the layered reality of mental health, the information in this class is some of the most fascinating you’ll find in an AP class. AP Psychology is considered a humanities class, but it involves concepts rooted in biology, chemistry, art, and more. The best way to succeed in this class is to become attuned to Quizlet. Mx. Lai utilizes daily quizzes that allow their students to consistently revise material, alleviating substantial stress during exam preparation. After reading the textbook, you should encode the array of vocabulary using Quizlet. My favorite tool is Quizlet Learn, which includes sets of multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions to efficiently memorize. Since this class is content-heavy, it’d be a good idea to begin studying around two weeks before the exam so as to avoid last-minute cramming in the days before the exam. Along with memorizing vocabulary, writing one of the two FRQs on the exam every other day within the two final weeks should maximize your ability to obtain a five.

It’s extremely important to note that studying works differently for everyone. While taking notes from videos or text works great for me to actively process information, it has no impact on my good friend Gibson McIntosh’s (‘25) ability to remember information. As a result, take this information with a grain of salt, and stick to what you know works the best for you. Happy studying!