May is the time for flowers, mothers, and AP testing. Advance Placement (AP) classes are college level classes that are offered in high school. Designed by the College Board, these classes give high schoolers the opportunity to earn credits depending on their score on the AP exam at the end of the year. The exam is on a five point scale, with a score of one meaning no recommendations, and a five meaning extremely well qualified. In order to earn the college credit, students must earn a score of three or higher. Though some classes reward more credits than others, there is one baseline rule that all of the courses follow. The higher the score, the more credits are rewarded. This combined with the rigorous coursework create a pressure on how they will perform that only increases as the exam grows closer and closer.
West Albany offers up to 23 AP classes a year, covering six subjects. Each exam has a different layout depending on the subject and the class in general. For history classes like AP World History the exam is broken into two main sections. The first section has fifty-five Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ’s), and three separate Short Answer Questions (SAQ’s). The second section consists of a Document Based Question (DBQ), as well as a Long Essay Question (LEQ). Traditionally, AP World History is the first AP class sophomores can take at West Albany. Though this year is not only the first AP class for the students, but the teacher as well.
The 2024 – 2025 school year is the first time AP World teacher Jen Winchell has ever taught the class. “I’ve been very nervous about planning the course,” said Winchell. Because this was her first year teaching the class, she wanted to ensure all the kids got all of the content learned by the test.
“When I was planning this course, I started by reverse planning from the test date,” said Winchell. One of Winchell’s goals was to make sure students had the skills learned to succeed in the test. Because AP World is the first AP history course students take, and often the first AP course over all, it is important that they learn the fundamentals to help them not only do well on the AP World exam, but also in other AP classes they will take later on down the line.
For Math courses, the test is broken up quite differently and needs different skills. Sam Hartman teaches AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, as well as AP Physics C. As a teacher and a former AP student, Hartman understands the workload that comes with the classes he teaches. “It’s a college course, there’s significantly more content involved,” said Hartman. Both of the AP Calculus exams and the AP Physics C exam have more content than classes in a year, making out of class studying a big contributor to students’ success on the test. Throughout the year, Calculus students have access to a text book full of problems that are designed to mirror the AP exam.
“A lot of preparation happens in the weeks before the test,” said Hartman. In the upcoming weeks to the exam, his classes will start to take old AP tests. They will have 45 mins to complete 35 questions. This, along with the preparations they have made through the year, will ensure they feel comfortable answering the style of questions. Hartman recommends students look at these resources that are provided to the students whenever they can.
In all AP classes, the differentiator between successful students and students who struggle on the exam is their engagement in the class. Hartman has observed that the people in class who turn in their assignments and engage in every lesson do better on the exam than the people who use things like Chat GPT. “[Students who] work really hard all year in AP, whatever class it is, and study at the end of the year shouldn’t be overwhelmed because you’ve learned it all year.” said Hartman.
