How do kids take so many APs?

DaedricSaiyan
Wed, 15 Jul 2015 23:56:42 +0000

I wasn’t one of those students who was a freshman/sophomore and took 5 AP classes and joined copious amounts of extracurriculars alongside volunteering at two separate places (^_^). But, I did have to take 4 AP tests my senior year and the most APs I had taken were 2 sophomore year and 2 junior year. So my senior year I had to take Calc BC, English Lit, Psychology, and AP Physics.

How I handled each one:

1. Calc: I took Calc AB junior year so BC was just an extension and it wasn't really time consuming. Also most of my classes didn't have homework and were more classwork oriented. Got a 5

2. English Lit: After taking the SAT, I just applied the test taking strategies I learned to AP Lang and Lit and got 5s in both.

3. Psychology: The class wasn't AP persay (it was a college course tho), but the material we learned in class was essentially the same as AP. I also attended afterschool reviews with about 2 more kids who were taking the AP test. We all got 5s.

4. AP Physics: I'm gonna say right off the bat, I got a 2. And I'm not a bad student at science lol. I got a 5 in AP Chem Sophomore year and this is my only score less than 4 out of 8 APs (6 5s and 1 4 in World History). The teacher was SO BAD. And I mean so bad she told us she doesn't have any physics knowledge but rather engineering knowledge, that we shouldn't ask questions because she won't understand them, and that other students should teach the class. So I guess the teacher has a really big impact on how students do on APs; yes it's up to students to study, but let me tell you I studied for all my APs and this one was a lost cause.