WOODBURY — Advanced Placement testing season rolls around every year in early May, and each year, a new class of sophomores become familiarized with these intimidating, high-pressure tests.
By late April, students begin to study intensely to freshen their memory on things they have learned from all the way back in the beginning of the year in fear of a low score that may be unsatisfactory to colleges and universities in the future. This year, AP students in the class of 2026 get their first shot at earning college credit.
“This my first AP test,” says sophomore AP Psychology student Aubrey Fengler, “so I’m very nervous.”
“Naturally I am stressed,” AP Seminar student Connor Cabeleira says. “It’s a huge test that I’ve been working for pretty much all year long.”
While some are stressed, other students feel less intensely and less nervous about these long anticipated tests than others.
“I think we just want it out of the way,” AP Psych student Malynda Karam agrees. “Like, I just think we want this to be done.”
“I’m not stressed but more nervous,” says sophomore AP Seminar student Connor Segers, “because I’ve worked hard all year and I want that to be reflected in my test scores.”
Many AP teachers are reviewing material and giving students study material to ease stress surrounding the test and to potentially raise student scores by uncovering missed, forgotten, and confusing information from the past three quarters.
“We’ve done some stuff in AP Psych,” Fengler says. “We’re just finishing up our last unit now, but we’re getting a practice test so we can know what to expect.”
Karam noted that students need to take their own initiative if they want to do well on the tests.
“I think a big part of it is the studying at home,” Karam continues. “You’re kind of teaching yourself. You can’t just do the classwork and then you’re all set; you have to do stuff on your own and review things you are having problems with as an individual. The classwork doesn’t cover all of that.”
Some of the students, however, are already quite confident in their abilities to receive a high score on their first test.
“The teachers have definitely been helping us,” says Cabeleira. “I’m confident I’ll score pretty well because my teachers have prepared me well. They make sure to answer any questions we have and they go over any area that needs extra review.”
“I think with AP Seminar you can’t study much for the test,” Segers says. “I’m as ready as I can be and I think I’ll score pretty well.”
