As the school year comes to an end, students across Granada finished another season of AP testing. From early morning exams to hours of studying after school, many students spent weeks preparing for some of their hardest tests of the year. While AP exams can be stressful, students each had different experiences when it came to preparation, testing environments, and balancing multiple classes at once.
Kashvi Jain (11) took several AP exams this year, including AP Biology, AP Calculus, AP United States History, and AP English Language and Composition. However, despite the stress that often comes with AP testing, Jain said her overall experience went smoothly.
“My testing experience this year was pretty great. I didn’t run into any issues with my Chromebook and most of my tests started on time,” Jain said. “My first test was AP Bio and I was the most scared about that one, so I was glad to have gotten that out of the way at first.”
Although the actual testing process went well, Jain said one of her biggest challenges was trying to relearn material shortly before exams.
“Some challenges I faced included cramming a lot of the material at the last minute,” Jain said. “I found myself doing two units of calc in a day to catch up for the test, which was not ideal as I wasn’t able to retain much of the information.”
Still, Jain explained that staying consistent with studying throughout the year helped her feel more prepared, especially for AP Biology. Even while traveling for DECA ICDC (International Career Development Conference), she made sure to continue reviewing material.
“I was most focused on AP Bio this year and although I was gone for a week from school for ICDC, I made sure to stay on track to my study schedule and was doing review questions for AP Bio and APUSH on the plane and at the hotel,” Jain said.
Jain also reflected on what she would recommend to future AP students based on her experience this year.
“Some advice that I would give future AP students would be studying the content throughout the year and making some sort of system on Google Docs or any other platform where you can take notes throughout the year and look back on it during AP exams,” Jain said. “This would be much more efficient than relearning the content and taking notes all at once at the end of April.”
Jeanne Judy (11) also experienced the pressure that comes with balancing multiple AP classes. Taking five APs this year, Judy said the testing season brought both stress and exhaustion.
“My overall experience was good but a little stressful with five APs,” Judy said. “Preparing for the first one came with so much anxiety, and the last one came with laziness.”
Judy explained that one of the hardest parts of AP season was maintaining focus while studying for long periods of time.
“Some challenges I faced were focusing for long periods of time because of the amount of studying I had to do and the stress that came with all of my five APs,” Judy said.
Despite the stress, Judy felt that her study habits helped her feel more confident going into exams.
“My study habits helped me feel confident in the topics tested, allowing me to alleviate stress and do better on test day,” Judy said.
Looking back, Judy said she wishes she had started preparing earlier for certain exams and emphasized the importance of consistent studying.
“I would suggest that students don’t treat AP tests like normal tests because it is cumulative,” Judy said. “Instead, start earlier and study not just the day before.”
Although AP testing season can be overwhelming, many students agreed that preparation and consistency played a major role in helping them succeed. With exams now over, students can finally begin looking forward to summer after weeks of studying and stress.
