Tips to Help You Combat the Stress of AP Classes
If you’re experiencing AP stress already, know that you’re not the only one. For Honors and AP students, especially, the first couple of tests can be a significant wake-up call and a reminder that AP/Honors coursework and expectations are no joke! Still, you don’t have to be stressed by AP classes– at least not yet.
While a rough first quarter can feel defeating, there’s plenty of time to turn things around in a tough class. This blog is all about three important steps you can take to improve your grade in a challenging AP course. If by the end you feel ready to take your study game to the next level, Marks Education’s team of expert tutors will be there to help! Check out our AP resources or contact us for a FREE consultation.
Read Ahead Before Class
Now I know your initial reaction may be, “Yeah right – if I had time to read ahead and do more homework, then I’d already be doing well in the class! Not to mention, I’m already so stressed by AP classes to bother!” but hear me out. It took me a long time to learn this lesson, but when I finally did. It not only helped me succeed in class, but it also proved to be a huge time-saver in the end.
For any class, whether it’s History, Science, or Math, reading the chapters ahead of their classroom discussion gives you a huge advantage. While the material may be unfamiliar at first read, you’ll come to class having a sense of the basics of what will be discussed that day. You’ll be ready to ask the right questions about the content that was hard to understand on first read.
This method saved me during 11th-grade PreCalc. Instead of coming to class, completely lost and confused during the lecture, I started reading the section ahead of time, and was completely lost and confused at home. Then, the next day, when the teacher explained the concepts in class and demonstrated sample problems. I could usually grasp what I couldn’t before, largely because I had some familiarity with the material due to reading it ahead of time.
We concede that implementing this strategy will take an upfront investment of your time. However, we wouldn’t ask you to do it if we didn’t definitely think it was worth it. Spend some time this weekend catching up and getting ahead on your reading. You’ll be glad that you did!
Talk to The Teacher
Believe it or not, even the most difficult teachers want you to succeed. In fact, it’s often the teachers who push their classes the hardest who care the most about the long-term success of their students. It may not seem like it, but almost every teacher wants you to succeed in their class.
So, if you find yourself falling behind, struggling on tests and quizzes, or generally grasping the material for a class, talk to your teacher! Teachers love it when students show initiative and come to see them. Often, teachers will make time during lunch, study hall, free periods, or after school to meet with you to review class material, study for upcoming assessments, and generally ensure that you’re caught up in the class. And for those students who really show that they are motivated to improve and are putting in the time and effort, teachers will often dispense some VERY helpful advice on exactly what to study for upcoming quizzes and tests – advice you might not get without making the time to see them.
At the very least, asking your teachers for help will show them that you care and are invested in succeeding in their class. Building that relationship will almost certainly make for a better year! It may also end up dramatically improving your grade in the class.
Use Available AP Resources
Lastly, a common complaint we hear is that even though a student has studied all the notes, homework problems, and review material for a particular unit, they do poorly on the unit test because the questions are more difficult than those in the study materials. This is objectively the worst feeling. You’ve put in all that time and effort to prepare, but you feel that the assessment was unfairly testing more difficult material or using different question types with which you are unfamiliar.
For AP classes, it’s worth getting familiar with the AP practice and review materials that are available on AP Classroom. There are multiple-choice and free-response questions for each chapter/unit. These will generally be challenging, cross-concept questions. The types that often catch students by surprise on their first tests of the year. Using the AP materials to practice for unit tests is a great way to push yourself to be ready for those challenging questions and to avoid any nasty surprises.
Note: You may need to ask your teacher to unlock the review materials on AP Classroom. Additionally, you can find many previous years’ AP exams by either Googling a particular course exam (for example, “2018 AP Chemistry Free Response Questions”) or by going to the College Board’s website. Some links to get started are below.
AP Calc AB Past Exam Questions
Work with a tutor
If you’re thinking about working with a tutor to improve your AP grades, we tell families, the sooner the better! Starting tutoring early in the year means building a strong foundation early and making sure you’re not facing bigger issues later on. A tutor can work with you on the specific concepts and skills you didn’t understand in class or want more practice with. They can review how you solve differential equations, help you annotate and write a US History DBQ, for example, point you to available resources, and distill the most important concepts from your reading. Your Marks Education tutor will be there for you in the ways that best suit your academic needs.
Marks Education tutors have worked with hundreds of students across most AP subjects. If you need extra support to pull up your grade and get ahead, please contact us. We can match you with an experienced tutor to help you get caught up and excel in your class. You don’t need to be stressed by AP classes this year!
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