AP students get ready for exams

Mayfield Yearbook Staff

AP Government teacher Ryan Pubentz, seen here instructing a class last school year, has been preparing his 2nd period AP Government class for this year’s AP Exam, which takes place at 8:00am on Monday, May 1.

Danielle Prilepskiy, Staff Writer

As the school year enters the month of May, many students are preparing for their Advanced Placement exams. This year, they will start on May 1 and end on May 12.

AP Chemistry teacher Christina McClure is focusing on getting her students ready for the AP Chemistry exam, which takes place on May 1. She said, “There are study guides and worksheets for my students to look over and use to get ready for the upcoming exam. In both years of Chemistry, I have been using CollegeBoard questions on their tests to make sure they are ready and understand the material to their best ability, as well as asking them to create mind maps to help them remember.”

McClure also plans on using the College Board daily review sessions to help her students. She said, “AP Exam week can be a stressful time, but learning a little each day can go a long way. That’s why I ask my students to use resources like College Board, Albert, and their textbooks to enhance their knowledge before the test.”

Esmer Hatten, a senior taking AP Statistics and AP Music Theory, has been starting to look over notes and worksheets from past units. She said, “In AP Stats, we’ve got lots of study guides and AP Classroom assignments to do. In AP Music Theory, I’ve been practicing chords, pitches, and just stuff we went over in class.”

On a similar note, junior Sky Varovsky has started doing practice tests and writing notes for her AP tests, as well as learning what works best for her. She said, “I am getting ready for AP exams by looking over my notes and class work, and doing practice tests. I also take breaks from studying or else I will get too stressed out and my brain won’t work.”

Junior James Adair hasn’t started studying for AP exams yet, but he has an idea of what he will do. He said, “I will prepare by reviewing flashcards and doing lots of active recall. I feel that just looking over notes is not enough, but doing practice tests and writing study guides and notes will help.”

For her first year taking AP exams, sophomore Nithyashree Arun used the resources provided in her classes during end-of-course testing. She said, “To prepare for AP exams, I attended the review sessions hosted by my teachers the week during EOC testing slots, since I didn’t need to take any of them. I’m sure the practice tests and test-taking tips will give me a good idea of what’s on the AP exams and how to ace them.”

Arun also plans on watching AP Practice session videos on the AP College Board website for her AP Statistics, AP World History, and AP Biology classes. She said, “We’ve already been watching these videos in AP Stats, and they prove to be pretty helpful at previewing the AP Exam questions and covering main ideas from every chapter that we need to know. There are also many walkthroughs on YouTube, which I will be watching.”

The AP Exam schedule can be found by visiting Mr. Legan’s weekly newsletter.