Beginning next week, approximately 1,000 out of the 3,000 enrolled Shen High School students, which represents 30% of the student body, will take the AP exams. This marks the culmination of their year-long, in-depth studies in their respective subject areas.
Many students enroll in AP courses to earn college credits or boost their college applications for senior year.
As Aditya Jha, a senior taking 5 AP exams this year, said, “I need a four or five on my AP US history exam this year so I will be able to skip the Gen Ed for history next year at Stony Brook University.”
Jha is currently taking AP Literature and Composition, Calculus BC, Biology, US History, and Statistics. Jha said he is self-studying US history this year to improve his score, as he did not achieve a satisfactory score on the exam last year when he took the course.
Preparing for AP exams is no easy task. Kendrah Sargant, a senior taking AP Biology and Literature and Composition, said she prepares by doing past years’ questions and tests released by the CollegeBoard.
“I am spending hours each week studying and reviewing old tests,” said Sargent.
For some students, prioritizing their study time is important when juggling multiple AP subjects. Jha said that he spends an hour or two per day on STEM subjects, but does not do much studying for humanities courses.
“I don’t like humanities at all so I stay away from it,” said Jha.
However, Jha did say that he spent his entire February break watching the popular study channel, Heimler’s History, and taking notes on every unit.
Keith Stark, a senior taking the new AP Computer Science Principles exam, said he has been using more unconventional ways to practice. He said that he can just write and test code himself.
“You are given a lot of viable resources you can use,” said Stark.
Jha said that he didn’t believe his AP US History teacher prepared him adequately for the exam last year, however, for other subjects such as Calculus BC, his teachers did prepare him well.
“AP US History last year didn’t prepare me at all, but self-studying is far more efficient than taking the class in person,” said Jha.
Sargent, on the other hand, said her teachers have put significant effort into preparing their students for the AP exams.
In terms of score predictions, Sargent is most confident in Literature, but has been struggling with Biology, though she hopes to score a 4 out of 5 on both exams.
“I am most confident with AP literature because it is mostly writing and comprehension,” said Sargent, “I am struggling with AP Biology because there is so much memorization”.
For Stark, he said he feels eighty percent confident for his exam because of the studying he has done in class. Jha said that believe he will get a 4 or 5 for all of the exams except for Literature, which he thinks he will get a 3 on.
