03/16/2022
March is when things really kick into high gear for AP exam prep. Now is the time for students to start preparing even though it’s tempting to put it off. After all, sitting down to start mastering a whole year’s worth of advanced content is a pretty daunting task for most high schoolers and they often feel the pressure.
If you are looking for manageable yet effective ways to assist them with their APs—and enhance their overall study skills—here are five simple tips.
CREATE CHECKLISTS FOR FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
When the free-response sections of AP exams are evaluated, one of the best ways to earn a three or higher is to make sure you hit each and every rubric criteria. A great strategy for this is to underline or circle keywords in the prompt and to form a checklist from these words or phrases to ensure that you hit everything required. With the time limits of the exams, it is easy to rush and to miss these small details that graders so generously reward.
USE ONLINE RESOURCES—EVEN TUMBLR & TIK TOK!!
In addition to the College Board’s online resources, there are some fun online resources to help get them ready. If your student is growing tired of reading and needs some audiovisual reinforcement, the YouTube channel Crash Course (started by John and Hank Green) has videos on every subject, humanities and sciences. And while Tumblr may not seem like a conventional study resource, there are hashtags for just about every AP class. Here, students will find more than just memes lamenting the difficulty of these exams. The AP Tumblr community actually has resources detailing how best to approach DBQs and how best to prep for success. And don’t sleep on the hashtags for AP classes on Tik Tok; they are surprisingly informative.
SHORT STUDY SESSIONS
Retaining key facts is essential for doing well on AP exams and students are more likely to retain this information with short—but frequent—study sessions. For example, instead of cramming for two hours straight, try twenty minutes of AP Chem, twenty minutes of AP Psych, and then switch to other homework assignments or activities. Then, make sure to get plenty of rest while the hippocampus processes these memories and stores them long term. And then do the same thing the following night.
TEACH OTHERS
Teaching others about what we are learning helps create new memories with that information in a different context and strengthens our neural networks. Instead of quizzing students with flash cards, pick a topic and have them teach you about it.
DON’T LET THEM GO IT ALONE
Students have a lot to juggle this time of year and an experienced AP tutor like myself can help them make the most of their limited study time.
