Issue 6 - North Canton City Schools - sparcc

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With AP exams just around the corner, now is the time that students
and teachers really begin to study and prepare for the exams. While I
am certainly not an expert on AP classes or tests, I have compiled a list
of ways for you to prepare leading up to your exams that will hopefully
help everyone do a little bit better. - Commentary by Jenn Shaw
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Guide to AP Exams
A few weeks before:
One of the things I find to be the most helpful is getting organized. I like to take the time to sit down for a few
hours and take out all my notes and work sheets and separate them by chapter or section. This makes studying
much easier and then you can more easily focus on the difficult information. For me, this is also a good time to
find an exam review book; I have found that Barron’s and Cliffs Notes tend to be the most helpful.
A few days before:
A couple of days before my exams I like to go through and figure out exactly what information I don’t know
and spend the most time focusing on that. I also like to take practice tests online or out of exam review books.
These can be really good for helping figure out what you don’t know. In addition to taking these tests, reading
the explanations for multiple choice answers can also be beneficial.
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The night before:
I am a firm believer that the best thing you can do the night before an exam is get a good night’s sleep. Don’t
stay up until two a.m. watching television because you don’t want to be tired in the morning when you’re
taking the exam. Also, don’t try to cram all the information into your head the night before. Chances are you
won’t remember much of the information and it will only stress you out more; believe me, I know this from
experience.
The day of:
After getting a good nights sleep I think a good breakfast is also crucial. There is nothing worse to me than
sitting in the middle of an exam and having you stomach start growling. Not only is it super embarrassing but
it also is distracting. Secondly DON’T STRESS OUT! I find that the more I worry and freak myself out the less
prepared I feel. Be confident in yourself, if you studied the material you were given there is nothing else you
can do to prepare and to be honest by the morning of the exam if you don’t know the material your not going
to know it for the test so just relax and do the best you can.
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