Don’t Waste Your Time: How to Effectively Study for AP Exams and Subject Tests

Change is Coming

It seems like the entire educational online community is a buzz with insight, forecast, and idea about proposed SAT redesign might look like. Over the past few days, I’ve read numerous articles from teachers, administrators, counselors, and tutors alike detailing what the possible changes and potential impact might mean for our students in the future.

Of course, I agree with a lot of what has been said. Change, especially in a world that boasts standardization, will undoubtedly instigate a domino-effect of change in countless other closely associated worlds.

But, It’s Time to Focus

Although it is important to be prepared for what may come to one of the most important exams in a pre-college student’s career, at the present it is important not to lose sight of what most students will face in the upcoming few months:

The SAT Subject Tests and AP Examinations.

The tricky part about this time of year, particularly in respect to the May SAT test date, is that AP exams tend to tightly coincide with the May SAT test date weekend. This means that students are likely to find themselves prepping for AP exams AND SAT Subject Tests all at once. As daunting as this may seem, I have two tips to make this timetable work in a student’s favor.

1. Prep Early:

My favorite bit of advice for students is to begin AP prep early. Many of our clients have already started to review for their AP tests, which means that come May, they will have built stamina, memory, content knowledge, and approach for each AP subject as if it were second nature.

2. Match up Your APs and SAT Subject Tests:

Since students will already have prepared much of the content, I always recommend taking the SAT Subject Tests that correlate with the AP tests they’re already taking. This way, after a few hours of specific SAT Subject Test review, students can use what they’ve just studied for the AP test and put it to good use on the SAT Subject Test.

The take-away is that time is precious, especially in the life of a busy high school student. There is no point in wasting time thinking about hypotheticals – so, after being mindful and ready for what change will likely bring, it’s important that students go focus on what they do know, and use their precious and limited energy in ways that will yield guaranteed results.