How to Review for Apush Exam in One Day

Preparing for AP exams can feel similar a Sisyphean task. On pinnacle of keeping upward with the enervating coursework and all your other obligations, you accept to gear up for a three-hour, multi-part exam?

Yes, you do—but more chiefly, you tin! If you don't know how to study for AP exams, this is the guide for you lot. I'll cover all the major steps to AP success, including content review, test skill-building, and prepping for triumph on test twenty-four hours.

5 Essential Steps to AP Test Training

Once the school twelvemonth is underway, it tin be easy to go caught up in the cyclone of classes and clubs, and completely forget about exam prep. And even in one case you do remember, you might not know how to study for AP tests.

Never fear—read on for our v-step AP prep plan!

Step 1: Establish What You Need to Review/Learn

Nearly halfway through the school year is when you'll want to showtime studying for AP exams. This is the ideal time since you'll have plenty of fourth dimension to prep and will know enough information to actually become into reviewing content.

A crucial commencement pace to AP prep is to establish what you lot need to review or learn for the purposes of the test. There are a few resources you lot'll desire to gather in gild to practise this:

• Syllabus for your AP grade
• Whatever of your old tests, quizzes, or papers
• AP Course and Exam Description for the course

Y'all tin can find this last certificate on the main course page for the class, which you can admission on the Higher Lath's AP Student list of AP courses. This certificate offers a comprehensive description of the skills and content areas that will be tested on the exam.

You'll want to review, at least on a high level, all the major content areas from your AP grade. But since it'south not efficient to try to retain every single slice of information your instructor tells yous, your AP prep should exist specifically focused on reviewing what you need to know for the exam.

Once you have all your documents gathered, compare your class'southward syllabus with the AP Course and Exam Description. Your form should cover all the major content areas—the syllabus had to get approved past the College Lath, later all! That said, teachers do have some discretion on the specifics of what they can cover within the College Lath's broader structures.

By comparing the two documents to run into whether there are areas your class syllabus focused on in less (or more than) detail than is necessary for the examination, yous'll become an thought of what y'all should target in your ain studying. Concepts you covered sparsely in class should be reviewed more than closely, while things you lot covered more in depth might non need to be reviewed equally much.

Your tests and quizzes are too important in establishing areas yous should review. Yous don't need to spend as much time reviewing cloth you lot got loftier marks on. By contrast, you lot should be sure to focus on reviewing content areas for which your test and quiz scores were weaker.

The AP Form and Exam Clarification will besides clarify for you what exam skills you demand to build. Are there free-response math questions? Curt answers? Essays? You'll desire to make certain you know how to succeed on all parts of the AP test, and so programme to practice working on all question types.

In sum, this is what you'll want to review:

Content

• Loftier-level review of all major content areas of your form/test

• Focus more on areas where your noesis is weaker, equally adamant past your AP quiz and test grades and the AP Course and Exam Description when compared with your grade syllabus

Exam Skills

• Exist prepared to answer all question types on the AP test

Student diligently reviewing the AP Course and Exam Description (artist's representation).

Footstep 2: Brand a Study Programme

Once yous've figured out what you demand to review, you'll need to come upwardly with a review schedule. This doesn't have to exist super specific—you don't have to know exactly what you lot are going to encompass every single day. Only y'all should have a general idea of what content areas you'll be reviewing and what skills you'll be working on every week leading upwards to the test.

This is another fourth dimension your course syllabus volition come in handy, equally y'all'll be able to plot out your review schedule in a way that makes sense. You'll want to review all the major content areas you have covered or will cover in form. Merely it doesn't make a lot of sense to review something earlier your teacher has gone over it! And then schedule the things you lot're going to acquire later on for afterwards review.

Yous'll want to weigh your prep program more toward content review when yous brainstorm to prepare, and then shift it more toward exam prep as you get closer to test day. Assuming you lot're preparing over the course of several months, the start few weeks of your prep schedule should be dedicated almost entirely to reviewing content, and the concluding few weeks should exist dedicated mostly to taking do exams and doing practice questions.

Here'due south a sample study program a student might make for the few months leading up to her AP Euro examination:

Calendar week	Learning in Class	Content to Review	Prep to Consummate
ane	Turn of the century	Make outlines and flashcards for Renaissance (Italian vs Northern), 100 Years' War, black plague	Look over some old gratis-response questions and a few sample multiple-pick questions
2	WWI	Brand outlines and flashcards for Reformation, religious wars	Write practice DBQ and get Mr. Smith to score
3	WWI	Make outlines and flashcards for Columbus, other explorers, thirty Years' War	Write practice FRQ and get Mr. Smith to score
iv	Russian Revolution	Make outlines and flashcards for absolutist rulers, agricultural revolution	Accept consummate timed multiple-pick section
5	Betwixt the globe wars	Make outlines and flashcards for slave trade and colonialism, Enlightenment	Work on thesis statements and outlining do for DBQ
6	WWII	Make outlines and flashcards for French Revolution, Industrial Revolution, Napoleon	Work on thesis statements and outlining practice for FRQ
7	WWII	Make outlines and flashcards for nationalism, Marxism, socialism	Practice DBQ and FRQ, and get Mr. Smith to score
viii	The Cold War	Make outlines and flashcards for Western imperialism, WWI	Take consummate timed multiple-option section
9	The Cold War	Make outlines and flashcards for Russian Revolution, between the wars, WWII, Common cold War	Take complete practice test
10	Mail Common cold War	Review outlines and flashcards	Terminal practise FRQ (timed)
11	In-class review	Review outlines and flashcards	Final exercise DBQ (timed)
12 (examination week!)	Final review and test prep!	Last outline review/flashcards	Rest upwards!

See, this business organisation suit lady gets the importance of making a written report plan.

Step 3: Find Content Review Resources

A loftier-quality review volume is your best friend in AP prep. We currently have guides to the best review books for AP Psychology, AP Biological science, AP United states of america History and AP Chemistry. Across that, The Princeton Review and Barron's mostly make reliable review books for AP tests.

Supplemental resources can be helpful as well. Your textbook for the course, beyond providing explanations of fundamental concepts, likely includes practice questions or tests at the end of each chapter. You lot can besides look for podcasts, watch YouTube videos, and employ websites such equally Khan Academy for content review purposes.

Another selection is to make your own resources. I can't recommend Quizlet enough. With this website, yous tin can make your own flashcards and and so quiz yourself using various tools. You lot accept to make an account to be able to employ it, but the service itself is free.

Once you lot've amassed all your review tools, yous'll be ready to review content. However, you'll still demand to practise AP examination questions.

Be sure to actually drill downwards in your search for high-quality AP resources.

Step 4: Find Exercise Exams and Questions

In improver to content review materials, you'll want to find practice exams and questions to build specific AP test competencies. The best AP practice questions and tests are those created by the College Lath—the group that makes the AP exams. As a result, their materials will be about similar to the real AP test yous'll take in the spring.

And so where can you notice College Lath AP resources? In iii places:

• AP Course and Test Clarification: Remember the AP Form and Exam Clarification booklet I mentioned above for figuring out what yous need to review? Information technology also has sample exam questions (of all types) in the dorsum. Hurrah!

• Official free-response questions: The Higher Lath has kindly released costless-response questions (and sample responses) from previous testing years. Yous tin get these past going to the College Board's AP exam data folio and clicking on your desired exam; scrolling down from that page will have yous to the free-response questions.

• The Higher Board sometimes releases consummate exams from past years for gratis: You can usually find these on the College Board exam overview page for your specific exam; however, some of these are hard to observe even though they're hosted on the College Board website. If you're having trouble finding tests for your exam, Google the proper name of your test along with "previously released materials higher board" or "consummate released exams college board" to find free exams.

For your convenience, here are the previously released materials pages for some of the most popular AP exams:

AP English language Literature and Composition

• 2012 AP Lit Exam
• 1999 AP Lit Exam
• 1987 AP Lit Exam

AP Chemical science

• 2008 AP Chem Exam
• 2002 AP Chem Test (multiple pick only)
• 1999 AP Chem Exam
• 1994 AP Chem Exam

AP United states of america History

• 2017 APUSH Exam
• 2015 APUSH Test
• 2008 APUSH Exam

AP Psychology

• 2016 AP Psych Examination
• 2012 AP Psych Exam
• 1999 AP Psych Exam
• 1994 AP Psych Exam

AP Biology

• 2013 AP Bio Examination
• 1999 AP Bio Exam

AP Statistics

• 2012 AP Stats Exam
• 1997 AP Stats Test

AP Environmental Scientific discipline

• 2008 AP Enviro Examination ($xxx at the College Board store)
• 1998 AP Enviro Exam

AP Calculus AB

• 2014 AP Calc AB Sample Questions
• 2012 AP Calc AB Test
• 1998 AP Calc AB Exam
• 1988 AP Calc AB Examination

AP Usa Government and Politics

• 2018 AP The states Gov Test
• 2013 AP The states Gov Exam
• 2012 AP United states Gov Exam
• 2009 AP U.s. Gov Exam
• 2005 AP US Gov Exam
• 1999 AP US Gov Exam

AP Macroeconomics

• 2012 AP Macro Exam
• 1995 AP Macro Exam

We've also gathered some practise question and examination materials for you here:

• AP Biology
• AP Chemistry
• AP Environmental
• AP Physics 1
• AP Physics 2
• AP Physics C
• AP Calculus AB
• AP Calculus BC
• AP Statistics
• AP Psychology
• AP US History
• AP World History
• AP Human Geography
• AP English Language and Composition
• AP English Literature and Composition

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Step 5: Get to Work and Stay on Schedule

Once yous've gathered all your materials—content review equally well as do questions and tests—it's time to go to piece of work!

How many hours y'all need to spend on studying for AP tests every week is going to depend a lot on how much textile y'all demand to review and how comfortable you are with the format of the exam questions. In full general, though, y'all should expect to written report for several hours a week split over ii to three sessions. Setting specific times and places for your AP studying volition help you stay consistent and keep pace with your review schedule!

With good content review and a solid approach to practice exams (more on this later), maintaining a consequent studying pace and schedule will catapult y'all to test success.

The true path to AP success: the trebuchet.

AP Review: 3 General Tips

As you review form fabric in training for your AP test, hither are some things to keep in mind.

#1: Be Aware Of Your Own Learning Fashion

Focus on review methods that piece of work for y'all and not against you lot. If you're a visual learner, don't force yourself to heed to recorded lectures; draw diagrams or mind maps instead. If you're an auditory learner, discover podcasts and audio books to listen to for concept review.

#2: Review Material More Than Once

Information technology'south mostly accepted that you lot need to encounter a piece of information several times earlier yous actually get-go to retain information technology. Therefore, programme to review essential information for the test more than in one case. The more important it is, the more times you should get over information technology.

#three: Engage With the Textile

The more you interact with the textile you're studying, the meliorate you'll retain it. If you can do some kind of activity with the information—such as practice problems, outline-writing, flashcard-making, etc.—y'all'll be able to recollect it amend.

Not THIS kind of engagement!

How to Make the Most Of AP Practice Tests

Since College Board AP practice tests and resource are express, yous want to brand sure you make the most of them. Here are my peak three tips for how to do this finer.

#1: Take an Entire Do Exam Under AP Test Atmospheric condition

It will exist a huge assist for you to take an entire exercise test under bodily AP-similar conditions. So with a timer, in a quiet room, with brusque breaks—the whole nine yards.

If you just have 1 complete practice examination you can utilise, do this toward the end of your prep time (maybe a few weeks before the test), when you lot've reviewed well-nigh of the content already. This will help y'all get a feel for what the actual test day volition exist like. And the more comfortable you feel, the better you'll practice on the exam!

#2: Track Your Progress

If you lot take admission to more than 1 complete practice examination, it's a skilful idea to also take a practice test toward the beginning of your prep time so you tin effigy out what areas you need to work on the nigh. This will give you a rough benchmark of where you're starting, so and then when yous take some other practice test toward the end of your prep, you'll be able to run across how you lot've improved.

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#3: Prep for Individual Sections

Apart from complete do tests, do questions serve as nifty prep for individual parts of the AP examination. Because the College Board has released so many free-response questions, you can practice those over and once more. You don't necessarily have to do a consummate, timed essay every time, though you should practice that. You can also practice outlining your essays or even writing thesis statements for prompts. Piece of work specifically on the skills you need to build.

In addition, be sure to wait over practice multiple-choice questions closely so you lot can get a sense of the feel and format of AP multiple-option questions.

Make like an astronaut and prepare for everything!

Critical Test-Taking Tips for AP Exam Solar day

When test time arrives, you'll desire to maximize your written report fourth dimension investment with positive test-taking strategies. Here are my superlative tips to call back for examination solar day.

Before Your AP Test

• Get a good night's sleep the two nights before the test. This will assistance you stay alarm and call up everything you've studied.

• Pack your handbag for test day the nighttime before. You lot don't want to stress yourself out running around looking for your calculator five minutes before the coach comes on exam day. Be sure to also pack a snack and water—you can't have them during the test, merely you'll appreciate the nourishment during the suspension!

• Swallow breakfast the morning of your test. Again, yous want your brain to be running at total ability. Try to stick with a balanced meal that isn't besides sugary.

• Bring lots and lots of pencils and erasers. The College Board requires #two pencils on exam 24-hour interval, then don't forget to bring a bunch. Also, bring a skillful eraser for back-ups and mishaps.

During Your AP Test

• Step yourself. Y'all'll be under time pressure for every section, then brand sure you know what pace you need to exist working at. Periodically check that yous're on footstep. You can (and should) bring a watch, but so long equally information technology doesn't beep or accept an warning.

• Maintain positive self-talk throughout the exam. If there's something y'all don't know, don't waste time chirapsia yourself up about it. Just keep telling yourself that y'all are awesome and volition beat the rest of the test.

• Don't go hung upwardly on a question y'all're stuck on. This is truthful fifty-fifty on the costless-response department—motion on to the 2nd essay if you're getting stuck on the commencement. If yous endeavor to break through a mental block total-on, you might cease upwardly running out of time.

• Answer every question—there's no penalisation for guessing! Become through the ones that y'all know offset, then go back over the exam and answer any remaining questions in the fourth dimension you have left.

With all these best examination-taking practices, you lot'll exist set upward to succeed on your AP test, guaranteed!

Don't fail this critical aspect of test mean solar day (bananas optional).

How to Prepare for AP Tests: Key Takeaways

The AP prep procedure tin can exist overwhelming. To lend you lot a hand, though, I've summarized how to study AP exams into digestible steps beneath.

Choose an AP Exam

1. Figure out which classes your school offers and which fit into your schedule.

2. Consider your interests and abilities.

3. Consider how much fourth dimension yous'll have for studying.

Gear up for the Test

1. Establish means you need to review/acquire.

2. Make a written report plan.

3. Observe content review resource.

4. Find (official) practice questions and tests.

5. Become to piece of work and stay on schedule!

AP Content Review Tips

• Exist mindful of your ain learning fashion.

• Review things more than once.

• Engage with the cloth!

AP Practice Exam Tips

• Have at least 1 complete practice exam under full test-day-like conditions—and do this more than once if at that place is more than ane practice test available to you.

• Practice individual exam sections, especially free response, to work on skills for those specific sections. Await closely at all sections to ensure yous're familiar with the style AP questions are worded.

AP Test-Taking Tips

• Exercise all the usual best test practices—get a expert night's sleep, consume breakfast, pack your bag the night earlier, and bring extra pencils.

• Pace yourself and stay on runway.

• Think positive!

• Don't become hung up on a unmarried question—if you lot find yourself stuck, skip it and come back.

• Respond every question—there'due south no penalisation for guessing!

Ultimately, but remember that breaking down the AP into lilliputian steps will brand information technology manageable for you to scale the whole AP mountain!

AP Mount (artist'south rendition).

What's Next?

Looking for more information about your AP examination? We've got expert guides to AP The states History, AP Chemistry, and AP Psychology.

If your AP examination has a Document-Based Question, or DBQ, check out my total overview of the DBQ and my how-to DBQ essay guide.

Looking for AP exam resource? Accept a await at our guide to finding quality AP practice tests.

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? Nosotros've written a guide for each examination about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for complimentary now:

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About the Author

Ellen has all-encompassing education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

matthewslearallings.blogspot.com

Source: https://blog.prepscholar.com/how-to-study-for-ap-exams