Every May, AP testing takes over Mountain Lakes High School. “AP U.S. History score calculator” suddenly has hundreds of viewers on the site daily and, no matter how prepared someone feels walking in, they always leave feeling nervous. In light of these events, The Mountaineer team thought it would be nice to conduct an in-person survey, asking AP students what their experience was like and what advice they could give to future students (even themselves).
For this survey, we interviewed a few people who took multiple AP tests and they shared their perspective. Although it does not holistically represent all MLHS students, it does give us a good insight into what AP testing week looks like for AP students. All participants consented to doing an interview and they understood that their responses were recorded. The names of the following participants are kept anonymous.
Interviews
One junior, who took AP U.S. History, AP Physics, AP English Language, AP Calc BC and AP Research noted that their experience was “surprisingly calm.” They thought the tests were easier this year, especially some of the multiple choice questions. That seemed to be a common theme. However, they told me that when some of the FRQs were released afterwards, they felt less confident in their answers especially after their teacher went over them. Their biggest exam advice was to not think about the exam too much after you take it since it could cause more nerves. “At this point, there is nothing you can do. So just relax,” they told us.
Another student, who took AP U.S. History and AP English Language, told me that they did not study that much before the tests because they had sports obligations that they needed to go to. They said that they tried to get as much studying in beforehand but were extremely tired after practices. Their biggest piece of exam advice was to start studying earlier, especially if you know that “you are going to have stuff to do during the [AP testing] week.”
Some students also mentioned their strategies while taking the test itself. One student, who took AP Seminar and AP World History, mentioned that the time limit was difficult for them to manage well. They told me that, oftentimes, they would run out of time on a section (during their AP World exam) and would need to rush to finish their responses. Their biggest piece of advice was to make sure to “write whatever you can.” Since AP tests score you with partial credit on many of the FRQs, writing down something can end up helping significantly in the long run.
Conclusion
Although AP tests will probably never be a student’s favorite part of the school year, the experiences shared can certainly help everyone make this time period more manageable in the future. At the end of the day, any score is worth applauding since you took a hard course and challenged yourself with the curriculum. Hopefully the scores are what you wanted and get ready for summer!
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