How to Prepare for At-Home AP Tests
Are you confused about the 2020 AP exams? That’s okay, so is everyone else! (Even the College Board.)
Don’t worry – we’ve got you. The most important things to do now are to change the way you think about the test and about studying.
The exams will now be online, shorter, and “open book.” But this doesn’t mean you don’t have to study! Because AP exams will be open book this year, you won’t have to memorize formulas or dates, but you will need to know how to apply concepts and context. You’ll want to study these “big picture” issues, knowing that you’ll be able to look through your course materials for the types of details you would normally have to memorize. These exams test your ability to synthesize information – in other words, the College Board wants to see if you know how to apply knowledge, not just memorize data.
Don’t take shortcuts. Your exams will be subjected to anti-plagiarism software and analytics, and your responses will be provided to your individual AP teachers. This is not a time to go fishing for answers on the internet! Instead, use your study time to prepare helpful resources to use during your open-book AP exam.
Know what’s tested. Most AP subjects will have 45-minute exams of one or two free response questions. The College Board has pledged to only test subject matter covered through early March, so for most students the last two or three sections of class content will not be on the exam. Find out which units won’t be included and double-check with your teacher to make sure you’re studying the right material.
Study with official resources. The College Board’s YouTube channel offers free, live AP classes and review sessions for almost every AP subject area. These are offered by AP Workshop Consultants, the people who train your AP teachers. For those of you who want a more lighthearted take, the YouTube Crash Course channel also has great resources.
Get to know the concepts. For humanities courses like AP English Literature or AP European History, instead of focusing on details, think about overall themes. A concept map or timeline can give you a sense of what happened when, and how one event relates to others. Humanities-based AP exams often test your ability to discuss in writing how events of the same era compare and contrast with one another, or to analyze both historic and literary documents. This is where your “big picture” studying will give you an advantage. For math classes like AP Calculus, be prepared to combine skills across units and to make reasonable inferences. For science classes like AP Physics or AP Biology, you’ll need to be comfortable analyzing processes and making predictions about data.
Make yourself a study guide. Use one page (front and back) to write down what you think will be the most important or challenging material for your exam. This will save you time during the test, because you’ll have done the hard work of locating and compiling your notes. For math, consider putting examples on your study guide so that you know how to apply formulas or difficult concepts. And for the sciences, make sure you have diagrams or tables ready to go, either copying them onto your study guide or putting sticky notes into your textbook. The goal of all this is to work smarter, not necessarily harder.
If you need more comprehensive review of information, or advice on crafting an independent study plan, reach out to us. We’d love to support you prepare for the May 2020 at-home AP exams.
