AP tests increase pressure during last month of school

By Will Bodendorfer,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–

As the school year comes to a close and Davis High students prepare for final exams, some students had the added pressure of taking Advanced Placement (AP) tests. AP testing started on May 4 and concluded on May 15 , with three to four tests being administered a day.

For sophomore Jasper Murphy, who took both the AB Calculus and Physics 1 AP tests, the grind of studying and test-taking was something he wasn’t prepared for.

“Taking the tests was harder than I expected because it’s really draining to study for hours and then take a four-hour test,” Murphy said.

Junior Kathleen Pan, who also took the AB Calculus test, went all-out preparing for her first AP test, using several different sources to study.

“I went a little overboard and studied every single prep book I could get my hands on. Princeton, Barron’s, Kaplan, I did them all. […] In calculus, we take our semester final before the AP test and that helped a lot too,” Pan said.

AP testing offers students a chance to gain college credits for any college level classes they’ve taken during their high school career. The tests are graded on a scale from 1-5, and a score of 3 or higher ensures a student college credit for that specific course.

But for some students, like junior Spencer Ault, college credit isn’t the main draw to taking the test.

“I took the [AP US History] test partially because felt I had to, having been in the class all year, and also wanted to test my knowledge. […] The chance of getting college credit was a nice added bonus as well,” Ault said.

AP tests can take anywhere from two to four hours, and since the tests happen during the school day, some students are forced to miss several periods to complete their testing. Junior Francis Avoce took the US history and Art History AP tests, and says that most of his teachers were understanding of his situation.

“Teachers are aware of the stress that AP tests create and weren’t too picky about how promptly I had to turn in assignments; most of the time they gave me a day or two after the tests to catch up. Having the tests and classes in one day would be too much to handle all at once,” Avoce said.

While finding time to study for AP tests during the busy school year can be tough, Pan encourages students taking the tests in the future not to put off their studying to the last minute.

“My advice would be to study ahead of time far in advance. I know that it’s hard to do because as teenagers, we generally want to spend the least amount of time as possible on school work but this will really help lower the stress levels as the test approaches,” Pan said.