AP exams: The stress tests
As the school week ends, students across the nation and those at Tokay High School taking Advanced Placement tests are taking a sigh of relief and playing the waiting game until July to find out if their test scores equate to college credits. Most universities give college credit for students who earn 3 out of 5, with 5 being the top score. Top private schools and universities require a 4 or 5 depending on the subject.
Taking a series of AP tests in the span of less than a month puts a lot of stress and pressure on many students.
Students like the AP classes because they show rigor on a transcript and are weighted more to boost grade-point averages. Parents like the classes because they can potentially reduce time it takes for a student to finish college, which in turn saves money.
Despite the pressure of the test and the costs involved, ($94 or $5 with a waiver), Kristen Wilson, Tokay counselor, said that more students are taking the exams. She estimated that almost 600 AP tests covering topics such as art history to computer science were taken at several locations around campus.
Senior Christopher Arellano studies daily in order to potentially receive college course units while in high school. Having bought a review book ahead of time to prepare for the two to three hour exams, he is confident in himself since he has previously passed multiple AP exams, including AP art history, environmental science, European history, U.S. history, English literature and composition and psychology.
Arellano sees definite benefits for investing the many hours preparing for his tests.
“It’s beneficial because I won’t have to take the introductory courses in college and go straight into taking the more advanced classes,” said Arellano, who plans to attend Delta College and major in molecular biology before transferring to a University of California where he wants to pursue a career in medicine.
For those who will be taking AP tests in the future, Arellano recommends start studying several months in advance, purchase a review book with practice tests, and ask teachers for idiosyncrasies from previous exams.
His fellow classmate, senior Ravneet Rajasansi, prepares to take five individual tests as well. AP calculus, English, economics, physics, and statistics.
Rajasansi is aware of the hard work and responsibility needed. In addition to her regular academic load, Rajasansi, who will be attending University of California at Berkeley as a molecular and cellular biology or biomedical engineering major, estimated that she spends an additional 15 hours a month preparing for her exams. When she ends her exams, she will have taken 12. She started taking the tests as a freshman and has continued during her remaining years. Rajasansi said her lowest scores were for human geography and U.S. history where she earned a score of four.
Although she had to sacrifice weekends to study, Rajasansi believed that her passing scores would be a financial dividend in the end. She also watched videos and reviewed the numerous pages of notes that she had taken.
“Taking the AP tests helps me access what I have learned this year,” Rajasansi said. “I think that I learned a ton. Taking an AP class over a regular college prep class, I learned more information at a pace that is similar to what I will experience in a college class.”
Teachers who have AP classes spend time preparing their students for success.
For example, Kris Goldstein, who teaches AP European history, started his students’ preparation one month before the actual exam. In addition to reviews during class, Goldstein has study sessions after school and evenings.
After several years of hosting AP review sessions, Joe Johnson said that those who attend the extra sessions after school have in fact received a higher score than those who chose not to join.
Using a curriculum outline from the College Board, which administers the tests, he goes through every topic in both government and economics to make sure students accomplish what is necessary to pass the exams.
“I wish them the best. I know it’s hard, I know how tiring it must be but then they’re done,” Johnson said.