Drawing By @chatigres // Chatigres

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Hey it’s your girl Kat and I’m here with a post on prepping for AP exams! Having taken my fair share of AP tests (you can see them on my about page if you want help in a certain subject or are just curious), I’ve learned a couple things that have really helped me to be prepared and ready to knock out that test. 

TEST TIPS 

Come up with a study plan. I usually start reviewing for the test mid-March or early April so I’ll have ample time to go over everything. If you can afford to get a prep book like Barrons or Princeton Review, use the chapter outlines in the table of contents to figure out how to break down your review session. An easy way to break down your schedule looks like this: set aside a couple days/a week for final review and take the total number of remaining days you have until the test. Divide this by the number of chapters to review and the quotient should be the number of days allotted to each section. If you can’t or don’t want to buy a review book, I’ll have the link to the course outline for every AP subject below. 

Practice practice practice. You know that saying “practice makes perfect”? It’s true. Collegeboard usually uses certain types of questions for the AP tests and the format generally doesn’t change much from year to year, so taking a multitude of practice test will help familiarize you with the test. I’ll usually schedule in a full practice test every two weeks as I’m reviewing, and then take 3 or 4 consecutive ones during my final review week right before the test. 

Figure out your weak spots. If you’re consistently getting the same kind of questions wrong or have that one concept that you don’t understand, ask someone for help. It can be a teacher, a parent, a friend, KhanAcademy, or Google. Make sure you target your weak spots before the test because I guarantee you they’re going to show up. 

Do not cram. The night before the test, you should be completely relaxed. If you can help it, don’t even look at your book or your notes. Take the day to fully unwind. Take a bath or do some yoga. That way, you’ll be fully relaxed for tomorrow and ready to operate at your maximum potential. 

For free response, write down everything. My AP Government teacher, who’s graded tests for a couple of years, says that as long as you answer the question somewhere in your answer, you can earn credit for it, even if you have a lot of miscellaneous information (has to be correct though). So when it comes to free response, more is always better. A little trick he also taught us is to correspond your answers to the subsection of the questions, like a, b, c, etc so it’s organized, but then to cross out the letters when you finish writing the response (only for subsections). This is because if you accidentally include the answer to part a in part b, they cannot give you credit, but if you cross out the designations, the whole answer you wrote becomes fair game. 

GENERAL TIPS 

Get a good night’s sleep. Trust me. 

Eat breakfast and bring snacks/water. The tests often go for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time and you will get hungry. You’ll be allowed to eat a snack during break time, so make sure you bring some food and water with you.

TURN YOUR CELL PHONE OFF WHILE TESTING. You will not be allowed to bring your cell phone with you. You will also not be allowed to use your phone during break. CollegeBoard is very strict about this. One time at my school, a girl used her phone during break to text her mom during the AP Biology test and she almost made everyone have to retake the test. Don’t be that person. PLEASE TURN YOUR PHONE OFF AND LEAVE IT OUTSIDE. 

Dress in layers. You never know what kind of temperature it’ll be like in the testing room and a temperamental thermostat should not come between you and your hard work for this exam. Just avoid bringing hoodies because sometimes the proctors are very strict with them as the guidelines do not allow hoodies. 

Be prepared. Check ahead to see what kind of calculators, if at all, are allowed for your specific exam. Take note that for the AP Biology test, only 5 function calculators are allowed. That means no scientific or graphing calculators. Pack up all your stuff the night before and set it aside so you don’t have to worry about it the next morning. 

Breathe. It’s only a test. You’ll be fine. 

RESOURCES 

AP Exam Basics 

Exam Fees and Waivers 

Registering for Exams - Unlike SATs/ACTs, registration does not happen on the CollegeBoard website. Instead, it’s through your school’s portal. Ask you guidance counselor if you’re not sure how to register. 

AP Exam Calendar - which tests are happening during which day and what time 

What You’ll Need

Course Outline for Every AP Subject - click on your subject and use control+f or command+f “PDF” to find the outline quickly 

Practice AP Questions for Every Subject

Resources for Every Subject 

O T H E R 

AP Cram Packets - @if-dementors-were-pink​

AP Masterpost - @studaeing

AP Advice - @pittsfieldpp

AP Prep Folder - @tosinisupgrading

AP Study Guides - @back-to-school-series

Good luck to everyone taking AP exams this year! You can do it! 

P.S. CollegeBoard offers AP Scholar Awards depending on the number of tests you’ve taken. You do not have to apply separately since CollegeBoard already has your scores. Here’s how they’re awarded. Definitely look into them because they look really good on your college app. 

02 06 2019

here’s a flick of some of my apes textbook notes to help me study and a mini what’s in my pen case. all i really have in it right now is a pack of muji pens i bought recently, but hopefully my collection will expand, xo.

Mornings like these are the best

I thought it was time to show all of you my desk :) I put some personal annotations on it, if you have any more questions you can just send me a message! Anni

One of my resolutions was to eat out less, so I had a go at making some of these recipes – I made such a big batch that I had kimchi stew for days, no complaints tho 💁‍♀️

please set a good example 

What’s in my pencil case?

☆pencil bag is from typo (starting from bottom left) •sharpie pen • jetstream pen 0.5 (as a leftie, this pen is a godsend) • zebra sarasa 0.7 with uni ball signo 207 blue ink • random pen from india (cello butterstream) • 4 color pen that i randomly found • forary pen needle-tip 0.5 black ink • pentel pens pack metal tip 0.7 • pen type eraser from daiso • kuru toga mechanical pencil 0.5 • mechanical pencil that i stole from my dad. it is from pentel and its 0.7 • wood note mechanical pencil 0.5 •tombow mono soft-type eraser • tombow correction tape • daiso 0.5 lead refills • washy tape from daiso • bookmark that i made • smaller ruler is from a store called morning glory • bigger ruler was a gift ☆ THINGS NOT INCLUDED IN PHOTO • three post-it stacks of the three different sizes (the rectangular one, the regular square one, and the tiny rectangle one)

since i posted an advice post for getting a 5 on the ap, i thought i’d share a whole bunch of extremely helpful resources for you guys! :+)

videos:: 

period 1 review

period 2 review 

period 3 review 

period 4 review 

period 5 review 

period 6 review 

world history in 16 minutes  (i watched this the night before my test ahasajs)

how to write a dbq

how to write a dbq essay 

Keep reading

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