As April comes to an end, Manhattan High students are looking ahead to the Advanced Placement exams in May. MHS is administering 594 AP exams this year. Students can utilize a great selection of resources and study tips in order to succeed on test day. 

Sophomore Vinny Sun is taking AP European History, AP Calculus AB, AP Chemistry and AP Physics 1. Sun says that he is preparing for his tests by completing practice tests from the College Board website and from AP prep books. 

“I feel like the learning [of the content] is pretty much over,” Sun said. “So now it’s just getting used to the format, the questions and the pacing.”

Sun says that he is avoiding procrastination by getting a head start on studying. According to Sun, an effective study tip is to simulate your test day experience in your practice. 

“Make sure to time yourself, and actually be serious in your practice,” Sun said. 

Senior Madison Kuntz is currently taking AP Government and AP Spanish Language. Kuntz has AP testing experience from previous years of high school, when she took AP Physics, AP European History and AP Calculus AB. 

Kuntz recommends using the AP Classroom feature on the College Board website to prepare for various aspects of the exams. 

“AP Spanish has a lot of elements to it, like listening, writing and audio conversation,” Kuntz said. “For AP Gov, it’s just lots of writing and analyzing documents.” 

Kuntz encourages students to take note of their teachers’ recommendations and resources. 

“I would say the biggest tip would be to take advantage of the teachers, because they want to help you,” Kuntz said. 

Junior Rachel Corn is enrolled in AP US History, AP Biology, AP French, and AP Language and Composition this year.
Corn recommends repetitive practice, particularly on the writing components of the exams. 

“As we get closer to the tests, I’m probably going to review a lot of my practice essays and see if there were any common mistakes,” Corn said. “And I will figure out a way to streamline the process so I can get [the test] done on time.”

Corn also suggests exploring online resources, such as Heimler’s History YouTube channel, to refresh students on the courses’ content. 

Overall, Corn says that her AP experience has proven to be beneficial. 

“AP classes are just good classes for challenging you, and making you think about things in different ways,” Corn said.