In light of the nationwide shutdown, the CollegeBoard has released a new format for every single AP Exam, which is different from what students and teachers are used to from year’s past. All of the AP exams will be taken at home for 45 minutes and 5 minutes for submission (except for a couple of the art exams, which require digital submission).
[For more information, please see the CollegeBoard Website.]
However, all the effort that students have put in studying shouldn’t be flushed down the drain due to a new format. Here are some tips on studying for the new AP exam.
1. Break down the exam into subtopics/units
Breaking down the exam into multiple sections allows students to study a step at a time, rather than trying to study the whole exam at once. Most exams now only include the first few units, so it is important to know that you are studying what’s on the exam.
Making a review sheet for every unit can help you study.
Students can find the units they should study on the CollegeBoard website (https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students/taking-ap-exams/ap-exam-schedule).
2. Make a plan and follow it
Be it only reading one page of your textbook or doing all practice problems of your exam prep book, do it. Making a plan allows students to have a bit of control over the exam. As long as you stay consistent and continue diligently working on your exam, you can surely get a five.
If you have not started studying at all for your exam, an easy way to start is by splitting your topics into two days: one day, study the content and the next day, do practice problems revolving around that topic.
At the same time, having a plan helps students know how much time they have left until their exam.
3. Use your resources
Your teachers are also quarantined, and even though it’s strange to ask them for help, they will help you. Sending a quick email about a problem you don’t understand can help you study for the future.
Here are some other resources:
All the previous material your teachers have given you → Google Classroom & MyMCPS Classroom
→ Quizlet (<atarget=”_blank”href=”https://quizlet.com/”>https://quizlet.com)
→ Study with flashcards
→Advanced Placement YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/advancedplacement) → Actual AP exam graders are conducting classes and showing how to answer different FRQs
→Onstudynotes (http://onstudynotes.com) → Notes on almost every single subject you can find are here
→Class Central (https://www.classcentral.com) → Extra online courses about different subjects can be found here
→AP Students Discord (https://discordapp.com/invite/apstudents) → If you have questions about specific problems, people here can help out
