May is moving fast, and as seniors prepare to finish out their last few weeks of school, AP exam season is in full swing. Severna Park High school offers around 30 total AP classes with exams lasting anywhere from 2 hours to 3.25 hours (4-5 hours for those with extra time). Stress levels are high and sleep is rare, so finding unique ways to stay energized is more important than ever.

After polling 47 (53) random students, data was compiled on which AP exams were responsible for the highest number of crash outs. Surprisingly, AP World and AP Gov were tied for the lead with a 13.2 % majority. The latter is reasonable being that it is often the first AP many students enroll in. Lang, physics and calculus were tied at 11.3%; Chemistry and Biology tied at 5.7%. The remaining answers had one to two responses (1.9-3.8%) and included psychology, computer science principles, Chinese, pre-calculus, literature, environmental science, statistics, APUSH, macro/micro economics, Spanish.

So how can we best prepare for these exams and reduce rage-quits schoolwide? Well, the poll also recorded responses concerning the best tips to destress, study, and prepare for next year from AP students across grade levels:

Q: “Best ways to study for AP exams?”

• Wake up at 5:30 day of and lock in
• Heimler’s history, re-writing what you learn IN YOUR OWN WORDS, practice tests.
• Flash cards and practice tests
• Reread the notes you should’ve been taking the whole time but didn’t so you have to go back through all the slides and make new notes and or teach yourself something.
• Read the textbook
• Cram the night before
• Random Quizziz reviews based on your class. Looking up AP Exam reviews on Youtube… just watch that 2 hour long video it will help.
• Videos on Youtube
• Do practice questions and practice tests to get used to the type of questions that will be on the real test.
• Review notes
• Quizlet, and AP classroom
• Doing homework
• Heimler’s history videos
• I do practice tests and play roblox
• Get into study groups with friends to make it more fun and less stressful.
• Flash cards and sleep
• Short notes and then test
• My best ways to study for AP Exams in my opinion is taking practice quizzes, asking friends for help understanding the subject, using falcon block to ask for help whenever you need it and taking breaks so you don’t feel overwhelmed with the amount of content you need to know for the AP exam.
• Keep notes from the very first class and throughout the year go over old content
• Watch Heimler’s History and the Organic Chemistry Tutor.
• Definitely not the best strategy, but I watch review videos for 5+ hours the day before my exams. Surprisingly it’s worked.
• Review what you know you need to study, but don’t overstudy.
• Literally review everything
• Take practice tests and find out what you need to work on
• Start studying early and slow, a little bit each day goes a long way, and helps you to not crash out when you try to cram before the exam!! I also love to get together with my friends and do group study sessions— it helps me look forward to studying!
• In small chunks
• Khan academy or crash course
• Quizlets!
• Review notes and play review games
• Blue book and Knowt
• Start studying early.
• Look over notes and watch review videos (ap classroom)
• Reviewing notes, find a friend to review questions with
• For any of the history classes, Heimler’s history is the absolute G.O.A.T.
• Practice tests
• White boards and flashcards
• Don’t—low cortisol
• Study guides and practice questions.
• Gym
• Focus well in class and ask for help weeks prior so you understand the material best you can.
• Putting flashcards/ sticky-notes around your house with important vocabulary/graphs/other important info so you can look at it multiple times a day.

Q: “Tips for students taking your AP class next year?”

• You have to really be prepared to focus because it’s a ton of memorization and you may be deceived by it, like oh it’s just word problems it can’t be that difficult – it is.
• For AP Calc, perseverance is key.
• Take good notes all year
• Study a lot
• Prioritize AP classes!!
• Practice as much as possible on listening and comprehension
• AP classes can be difficult, especially if you are taking one for the first time. Remember to always do your best, and that is all that matters! Effort, determination, resilience, and positive attitudes will always pay off in the long run!
• Try not to miss any classes, if you can.
• Chill out, take your time, wear something comfortable, bring a snack to school. It’s easier to take a test when you’re calm
• Best of luck 🫡
• Make sure you are taking detailed enough notes.
• Read the books!!!
• Make friends, and help each other out.
• Take your time to understand a question before answering it, or skip it and return to it later if it takes too long
• Look at “Ultimate Review Guides” of your AP test to quick-review right before the test
• Get a good night’s sleep before the test
• Lock in all year
• Keep up with the workload and notes
• Pretend it’s fun
• Study early- spread studying over weeks, not days.
• Do not underestimate any class
• Have confidence going into each exam you take.
• Gym
• Ask for help if you don’t understand. You can do it!
• Pay attention, take notes, and practice, practice, practice especially outside of school.
• Just read the book bro. If you cannot handle it then go to Youtube and google _____ audiobook and read along.
• Study as the year goes on, you will remember it all way better at the end! Start studying EARLY. It really creeps up on you.
• DONT DO IT
• Take notes like you drink often, and that’s to say, do it more then you think you need to.
• For AP Chem, Jeremy Krug was the best resource ever on Youtube, he is awesome! Having ptable.com up while doing homework is super helpful sometimes. Khan academy and Quizziz and AP Daily Videos are your best friends.
• Watch Heimler’s History
• Don’t stress about not speaking very fluently. Just focus on elaborating as much as possible.
• Just lock in
• Make sure to study throughout the year so when it comes time to review for everything you already have an understanding of all the content and just need a refresh.
• Take at max 4
• Study for every test, make flash cards, go to your teacher during blocks because they really do help!
• Do Khan Academy practice throughout the year
• Do all of your homework on time and turn it in because it makes a difference.
• Cry
• Take a lot of notes and properly categorize them
• Do lots of practice questions.
• Try your best
• Use flash cards to study
• Not getting a 4-5 is not the end of the world, and if it is you may need to review what truly matters to you
• Don’t fall behind!! If you’re absent any time, make sure to review class notes.
• Practice the Multiple Choice
• Have fun and enjoy yourself during the classes. Take advantage of any outside resources you can find, whether YouTube or practice tests. You’ve got this!

Q: “Best ways to destress during exam season?”

• Sleep
• Not studying
• Talk with friends, nap, cry.
• Going to hang out with friends to take your mind off of the work and test.
• Sleep, food, yapping.
• Minecraft
• Just study and take breaks, an episode of The Office can’t hurt.
• Talking with friends
• Take lots of breaks when studying. It helps to calm yourself down.
• Sleeping
• Don’t get behind on work, and take breaks. Do stuff that you find fun
• Hang out with friends
• I go to the gym
• Hang out with friends and family.
• Doodles
• The best ways to destress during exam season in my opinion is hanging out with friends, watching sports , working on a hobby and/or passion project and just taking some time for yourself to do what you love to do.
• Forget about your exams
• Take a Walk.
• Leave
• Take frequent breaks. Don’t get overly distracted, but if you set a time frame, like ten minutes for an example, and you allow yourself to do whatever to rewind during that ten minutes, you’ll want to fall asleep less.
• Watch a comfort movie with your favorite snacks
• Going for a run
• Meditation
• Hanging out with friends
• Go outside, take a walk, listen to some music, and take some time to reset yourself!
• Do things you enjoy. Take a break from studying.
• Arts and crafts. Making origami stars, or just origami in general
• Self care day – do what you want, eat the food you like, etc.
• Learn that taking a break is helpful when studying
• Crafting!! Scrapbooking has been such a good way to take my mind off all the testing.
• Read or spend time for myself, by myself.
• Taking a nap (even 10 mins helps), shopping spree
• Doom scroll
• Going to the gym and taking time away from studying prioritizing self care or else exam performance won’t be good
• Reels
• Hobbies!
• Spend time with friends during your free time.
• Gym
• To remember to breathe and relax
• Hang out with friends, go to the gym, or go to sleep early.
• Doing anything else then AP work
• Eat
• Listening to music
• Read or spend time for myself, by myself.
• Relaxing with friends on the time off of studying.
• Keep up with your hobbies; I’ve still played D&D and performed improv even during testing season.