Guest Columnist Peter Hua

It’s a nagging thought that gets more bothersome as the year progresses. It’s a timeless ordeal that strikes fear into the hearts of all men and women. It’s challenging and almost as fun as brushing your teeth with a cheese grater. Yes, friends, I refer to the AP tests that loom over the horizon of another slow six weeks, the ones many of us have joyfully signed up for in eager anticipation.

While not all of us choose to subject ourselves to Advanced Punishment, we each choose our own poison. AP testing can earn some hefty extra college credits, and what AP student doesn’t drool at the mention of extra credit? 

It also prepares students for college-level learning, so taking a class in a subject completely unrelated to one’s future field is not a bad idea. AP courses can be rewarding endeavors. 

The test itself is a completely different animal. Even as I rush to complete this column before the onslaught of a stampeding deadline, I am reminded of all the things that went wrong in preparation. As an AP veteran, there are a few things I’ve learned about time management to ease the minds of the newly initiated. 

First, doing things by the book may be safe but time-consuming. The proverbial book recommends preparation well in advance, but to study for the AP test months in advance is madness, and in some cases, to do it many weeks in advance borders on insanity. For the most part, most tests take only two to three weeks to prepare for (some of the history ones are rare but important exceptions). 

In fact, there are some that can be crammed in the week of the test, based on personal judgment. The book also endorses the fact that you can’t really study for a test the day before and do well, but that idea is more or less unconditionally and irrevocably false. Let’s not pretend like we don’t do that for most of the tests in the school year. 

Speaking of which, the AP test is not such a big deal. It is like any other test, except bigger. On the bright side, you’ve already learned the material, and you’ll most likely have known the answers to every question on the test at one point in time. A simple sift through past papers usually does the trick in bringing those points back. 

And finally, if you’re absolutely out of time, the key is psychological readiness. A calm mindset can work charms on subjects like the calculus exam. You envision yourself taking the test and acing it without any actual preparation. On test day, as a good luck charm, you mutter some irrelevant Zen saying to yourself like, “The universe is the mind,” and get down with taking the test in a way that doesn’t involve your freaking out halfway through.

Now, armed with these possibly effective purely anecdotal techniques, there’s no way you can fail any of the tests. The AP Test is a winnable battle, and as a wise man once said, good luck, and may God bless!

AP TEST DATES

Today:  is the deadline for any changes to AP test registrations, with full refunds. 

After today:  changes to AP test registrations will be a partial refund minus $13. 

After May 1st: any changes made will not be refundable.

WANT MORE?

To have your voice heard or to submit your own column, contact the Student Section editor at [email protected].