Use These 10 Test Taking Strategies to Conquer Your AP Exams
Students tend to be scared of Advanced Placement (AP) tests, and when you even mention those two letters it can shoot a jolt up the spine, sending students into a tizzy of anxiety thinking of all the concepts and equations they must memorize to do well. And this reaction makes perfect sense – doing well on AP exams can mean big gains in college, allowing students to skip entire prerequisites and get to more interesting and advanced courses sooner.
But fear not! We have all the tips you need to handle test day and the season leading up to it, to ensure each AP test goes as smoothly as possible. The tips mentioned here are not just useful for the AP exam, but they all apply as excellent tips and skills to utilize in college courses as well!
Overview of AP Exams
What Are AP Exams?
Launched in 1952, AP exams and curricula came out of Cold War fears that American students were falling behind and were designed as a means of offering college-level material to high school students. The College Board (maker of SAT and PSAT) works closely with scholars, professors, and other stakeholders in higher ed to design the AP curriculum to mimic college-level courses in the subject. At the end of the school year, students are given an exam to test their knowledge of the material covered, which is graded on a 5-point scale, with a 1 being the lowest (“no recommendation”) and a 5 being the highest (“extremely well qualified on subject matter”).
AP courses nowadays are offered on many different subjects, ranging from the arts (AP Art & Design), history and social science (AP European History, AP African American Studies, AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics), World Languages (English, Spanish, French, Japanese), to the natural sciences and mathematics (Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Calculus, Statistics, Computer Science) among other subjects.
As a reward for completing college courses in high school, students are often awarded college credit based on their ability to attain a score of 3 or higher on the AP exam. This can allow students to learn at a higher level while in high school, excel in college before they even get there, and save money along the way. For this reason, students have a number of excellent reasons to take AP tests. We have a dedicated article here written to further demystify AP tests for students and parents alike.
When Should You Start Studying for Them?
AP tests are usually held in the first few weeks of May, with 1-2 tests taking place on each day throughout the week. Tests run about 3 hours each. Students should register directly with their schools; if you’re interested in taking an AP exam and your school does not offer the AP version of that class, you’ll need to use AP Course Audit to identify a local testing site.
While students should be studying for AP exams throughout the whole school year, making sure to understand the conceptual breakdown of the test and how topics are weighted, the three months leading up to the test should be the largest time commitment. Students will have encountered much of the content by March, and should take full-length practice tests to gain an idea of what to focus on.
If a student doesn’t like their score, they’ll have to wait till the next year to retake the test. AP exams are only given once a year and you may repeat an exam in a subsequent year. Both scores will be reported unless you request that one be withheld or canceled.
What Resources Should You Use?
There are a number of excellent resources to help prepare any student for their AP exams, including the following:
Third-party AP practice books (we recommend Perfection Learning’s series)
Previously administered, official AP tests (FRQs are available via College Board’s website, but you may have to hunt around the internet for full-length multiple-choice tests)
Websites and video explanations on topics specific to a subject or course
1:1 tutoring with a seasoned AP tutor
Effective AP Test-Taking Strategies to Help You Ace Your Exams
What follows is a litany of problem solving techniques for all types of AP test questions. Many of the questions are geared towards not just towards subject knowledge, but also critical thinking skills, both of which we will cover in depth.
1. Managing Your Time Effectively
Talk about how long the exam is, how many breaks you’re given, and how you need to move at a good pace. Don’t get hung up on one question and waste 30 minutes trying to figure it out. Move on to the next question and come back later.
Every AP exam (save for the AP art exam) has a multiple choice section and a free-response section (where students have to write out their responses), with an equal or near equal weight to both sections.
Students tend to have trouble finishing the MC sections due to there being many questions and only enough time to spend about one minute per question regardless of the test. This necessitates students to employ proper time management throughout the whole test. This means keeping track of time as you progress, and making sure you don’t spend too much time on any individual question. If you don’t know an answer after the allotted time, choose your best guess and move on. While it doesn’t always feel right, it’s the best move to maximize your score.
2. Use Process of Elimination to Weed Out the Incorrect Options
A tried-and-true method for all AP multiple-choice questions is to find the right answer by eliminating the answers you’re confident are wrong. This can be done in a number of ways depending on the question, but the core insight is that each answer you eliminate increases your chances of guessing the right answer.
For example, take these answer choices from an AP Lang question about the speaker’s attitude:
superior and condescending
unbiased and dispassionate
sympathetic and admiring
curious and skeptical
conciliatory and forgiving
Instead of rushing to select an answer that jumps out at you, eliminate as many as possible that can be disproved by the text. If a choice is correct, there should be specific references in the text (“evidence,” as your AP teacher would call these!) that reinforce it. Start with the strongest or most extreme elements within an answer choice, such as “condescending,” as these are more easily dismissed.
3. Utilizing Multiple Choice Test-Taking Strategies
You may be faced with a dilemma that more than one answer seems correct. What do you do if more than one answer seems to be correct?
Look for clue words, numbers, and parts of equations that you remember for your studies. For instance, in a mathematical context if you’re stuck between two answers check to make sure that all underlying theorem assumptions are satisfied (every calculus tool relies on a set of assumptions about a function such as continuity or differentiability). One answer may subtly not satisfy the conditions; even if its just at a single point, this will likely play a role and disqualify the answer. Make sure the answer you choose actually answers the question (verify by plugging things back in if possible, or by going back to the text to get evidence for your answer). Don’t just choose an answer because it sounds right!
4. Dissecting Difficult Words
It’s inevitable that you’re going to encounter vocabulary that you don’t know. Don’t choose an answer just because it contains words that you know. The two key strategies here are identifying prefixes and suffixes, as well as using context clues to pinpoint meaning. While you don’t need to know what each root means, using prefixes such as Anti- (against), Dis- (not), Extra- (more), Homo- (same), and suffixes like -age (a result), -en (made of), -some (a tendency to) can help sus out what a word means. While you may not know what antediluvian means on the test, you can break it down by taking the prefix anti- (before) to know it before something else. Identifying that Deluge and diluvian have similar roots can help you identify that it means ‘before a great flood’.
Similarly, using the context around the word can help identify the meaning. If the word in question is an adjective, try to find other words that describe the noun to get an idea of what’s happening. As an example, here’s a description found in Frank Herberts’ Dune:
“An unmarked ornithopter squatted nearby, humming softly on standby like a somnolent insect.”
While both ornithopter and somnolent may both be foreign to you, notice that ornithopter has similar structure to other machines such as a helicopter, so the device probably flies. Similarly, while the device was described as somnolent, they also mentioned that it was ‘humming softly’ and was ‘on standby,’ so it’s unlikely that somnolent means ‘full of energy’ or anything of the sort. Indeed, somnolent is synonymous with being calm or sleepy.
5. Take Advantage of Annotating and Outlining
While this strategy may be most applicable to AP English or AP History, both of which require one to read longer blocks of text, annotating the passages and table and graphs in the test has wide-reaching use. In fact, nearly every AP test involves the interpretation of text and data.
In order to absorb the key information from the passages, be sure to annotate, underline, and physically demarcate important details (such as dates, people, and the purpose of each paragraph), and spend time interpreting the key data and patterns in any graphs or tables provided. Remember that written passages often use a conventional academic paragraph structure, with the most important info at the start and end. (Recall your teacher would tell you to start every paragraph with the thesis and end with a conclusion, right? Scholars and professional writers do it, too!). This structure lends itself to a mixture of close reading (at the start and end of paragraphs) and scanning and skimming the rest so you can save time but not miss any key details.
On tests involving writing lengthy essay responses, make sure to use the proper essay structure involving an intro with a thesis statement, then paragraphs dedicated to proving your thesis using evidence-based writing (using evidence from class and from the passage), and utilizing historical thinking to place the responses in the relevant historical context and timeframe. Make sure to identify and use keywords that are key to that passage or time frame. Click here for a dedicated article on preparing for the AP Literature exam.
6. Be on the Lookout for Distractors
Beware of answer choices that are really similar. Typical test-maker stratagems to confuse students include multiple synonymous answers, answers that would be correct if one altered a modifier (replacing “none” with “all,” or “always” with “sometimes,” for instance), and slightly altering a well-known math identity.
Because of the myriad ways in which an answer choice can be very slightly off, students should also be naturally skeptical of the “all of the above” answer choice – inspect each answer for deceptive wording. In brief, students should read each answer very carefully!
7. The Longest Answer Is Usually the Correct One
Another strategy that involves careful consideration of answer choice patterns concerns the length of an answer. Many times, the longest answer is the correct one. The logic here is that longer answers must to include more qualifying statements to render them accurate, which makes them longer. Incorrect statements (often) don’t need to be as meticulously written.
8. Don’t Rush During the Free Response Portion
Nearly every AP exam has free-response questions (FRQs), and regardless of the subject, the strategy remains the same: don’t rush!
Seriously. Resist the temptation to immediately rush into answering the FRQs, and instead spend the first few minutes reading through the questions and planning your strategy. On exams involving written text or requiring your knowledge of historical events, reading the questions in advance allows you to read the text more thoughtfully, helping to identify key info to deploy in your responses.
On science and math exams, reading the questions thoroughly allows you to start thinking about relevant topics, equations, and theorems. Being proactive here also enables you to predict subsequent parts. For instance, if you see a question on the AP Calculus exam about an infinite series, it should call to mind theorems involving series. The question will likely proceed to ask about the series’ convergence (or lack thereof), so consider the conditions needed for convergence and whether it resembles any known series.
Finally, make sure to allot yourself time to read through your responses and check for grammatical, computational, and other unforced errors that cost you points. Most often AP science test questions will ask you to format your answers in specific ways and include units or provide an explanation of an answer’s conceptual meaning.
9. Answer Every Single Question
This one’s simple: don’t leave anything blank! You don’t get penalized for answering incorrectly, so make sure to answer every question before time is called.
This is also true for the free-response questions. Write as much as you can (without contradicting yourself, of course) as the graders are often looking for the correct answer as well as your thought process to get there. Remember, you also get partial credit on FRQs!
10. Keep Your Exam Stress Levels Low
Regulating your stress level during the exam is important to keeping a clear head. Each of the strategies listed above can help tremendously. In addition, if you find yourself getting stressed and losing focus, try closing your eyes, taking a few deep breaths, and counting backwards from five.
Also, take a drink of your water. Since our brains are muscles, they need hydration the same way our legs do when running a marathon. Plus, this simple task allows you to focus on something non-stressful and causes a small reset for your brain so you can come back to the question with a fresh outlook. If these small steps don’t work, just skip the question stressing you out and come back to it.
How to Prepare For Your Exam the Night and Morning Before?
On the night before the exam, make sure to get a good night’s sleep. Studies have shown that poor sleep before an exam has negative effects on test performance the next day. In fact, one study saw that students who got seven hours of nightly sleep in the weeks leading up to the test improved their score by a full ten points. Similarly, try to eat a filling, nutritious breakfast on the morning before the exam.
In the hours leading up to the exam, doing a bit of exercise can get your blood flowing – like hydration, critical for optimal brain performance – and alert your entire body to the coming activity. Arriving early can allow you a few minutes to clear your head and ensure you don’t encounter any unforeseen obstacles that can throw off your mental game.
And perhaps most importantly, believe in yourself! Even if you have some doubts about your performance, push those aside during the exam, as they will only hurt your performance on the test (and life!).
Remember, this is all about getting yourself into the best possible headspace to do well on the exam. Every little bit helps!
Set Yourself Up For Success with the Best AP Test-Taking Strategies
The strategies outlined in this article, when combined with completing regular course assignments, can make the difference between a middling and an excellent score on any AP exam you meet! AP exams are tough, but with enough practice any student can excel.
Our trained AP tutors are here to help reinforce any areas that students struggle with. Reach out today to get expert help for your next AP exam!
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