Every year, hundreds of students at Wilcox face the dreaded month of May—the month of AP exams. AP exams arrive near the end of the academic year for students enrolled in AP courses. During the first two weeks of May, students will gather in the Science Lecture Hall to complete exams that may last up to four hours.
While AP exams are an extreme source of stress for students, students should make the effort to reap the benefits of taking the tests. Although qualifying students can receive a fee waiver, the exam fee per test is $100 this year, which is especially burdensome for students who are taking multiple AP courses. This seems like a hefty sum of money, but it has the potential to save students money and time in the long run.
Wilcox offers about 20 AP courses, and if a student passes their AP exam with a score of a three to a five, they can possibly receive college credit for the class. Therefore, it can save students a lot of money on classes in the future. While many students take AP courses just for the GPA boost rather than for the college credit, teachers like Mr. Simoni strongly encourage their students to take the AP exam.
As a result of this encouragement, 100% of Mr. Simoni’s students are taking the AP US History exam this year. He commented, “You’ve taken the whole class and put in all the work. Why not take the test? Why wouldn’t you want to know how much you know? That’s like going to all the practices and not going to the game… I think you owe it to yourself after putting in all that work and time to see what you can do.”
With many other things to focus on at the end of the year, such as GPA, SATs, and college acceptances, AP exams only add to the level of stress. As a result, many students attempt to cram during the weeks leading up to the exam. Students are stuck memorizing a year’s worth of knowledge in a short amount of time, only for a single test. AP Exam registration itself also places stress on seniors. The early registration deadline forces seniors to sign up for their AP exams before they know which college they are going to. They do not know whether their future college requires them to take a specific AP exam, and may later find out that they did not actually need to take it.
Senior Neel Manthani expressed his discontent with College Board’s deadline because, “They claim that AP tests help save money, but with earlier deadlines, seniors cannot plan which tests they want to take based on what college they will be attending.” This is yet another burden placed on students.
Many teachers joke that AP stands for “advanced procrastination” rather than “advanced placement” because AP students are generally known to procrastinate. Junior Selina Feng advises, “People who plan to take an AP exam should start preparing early. An AP exam is not something that you can or should cram for, so it’s important to create a study schedule to gradually review the information over the course of several weeks. Procrastination will only stress you out later on.”
Additionally, Mr. Hedlund advises his students, “Study by taking practice test because you need to know what it looks like. It’s like a sport, where you need to learn all the individual skills in the game. With AP practice tests, you see what it’s like, so you’re able to practice all the individual parts.”
As for the AP test itself, Mr.  Soykin advises, “Get sleep the night before because if you look at studies, cramming doesn’t work the night before. You’re wasting your time and you’re going to be exhausted during the exam. If they allow you to, bring hard candy to help you concentrate. Bring a snack for the break during the exam. If you’re taking the European History exam or the US History exam, watch the clock. They aren’t going to watch the clock for you and you need to know how to divide up your time.”
Ultimately, the stress of AP testing is avoidable. Students can avert their stress by managing their time well, studying ahead of time, and simply relaxing. While it seems impossible at times, it is important that students do not get too hung up on their AP exam scores. Stay on task, stay motivated, and, of course, good luck.