What do you look for in test prep material?

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
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<p>Back when I was High School I was like everyone here: Taking AP exams. During that time I had a lot of peeves that got on my nerves when preparing for these exams. Let me review some of them with you:</p>

<p>1) Book formats. Every book was essentially the same: 1,000 page encyclopedia like monsters. When preparing for multiple tests it really gets tiring to have to sit day in and day out reading these things. After awhile, you just want a different format. We live in a day and age where media comes in lots of different formats: audio, video, text so on so forth. However, these books are still stuck in the dark ages with text only versions of their books!</p>

<p>2) Expensive textbooks: Honestly, does it really need to cost 100-150$ for the textbook? I don’t think so.</p>

<p>3) No in-dept review tools: You see, after reading the 1,000 page monster I might have forgotten some of the material from the beginning. What I needed was some sort of tool (ie. a test) to see what I knew and what I had forgotten, so I could review that material if need be. Of course, all the available resources were sub par to I was looking for.</p>

<p>4) Lots of irrelevant information along the way: Many of the textbooks used to prepare for the exams aren’t exactly trailered to take the exam. So what ends up happening is that you tend to read a lot of information that will never be tested on the exam! Now I am all for a quality education but when you have 4-5 exams to prepare for you need a quick cut and dry approach to it.</p>

<p>5) study guides: Okay, some of these study guides were decent. A brief summary of the topics covered then maybe 2-3 multiple choice exams. However, for the 20-30$, they were not worth it. Oh yea did I mention, flashcards for 10$, 20$ for previous exams etc. etc. you name it.</p>

<p>Now I am out of high school and done with AP tests. I have quite a bit of time on my hands so I have been developing a business idea to help solve some of these problems. For the past couple months I’ve been writing a new book about US history which hopefully will be a new way of covering US History. Instead of just laying out all the facts like a normal textbook I am instead focusing on what is covered on the AP exams and write it more of a,“big picture” approach. On the collegeboard site, they give a list of topics that need to be covered. Using that as well as previous released exams you can get a good picture of what is tested and how that material is tested. I am using that information to write the book. I’ve also been producing a mini lecture video series and audio version of all the material. That way if the student doesn’t feel like reading the actual ebook, they can just listen instead (or if they are trying to cram a week before the exam, haha I know alot of you do this!).</p>

<p>I have a couple other ideas planned as well. Mainly chapter quizzes and mock examinations that give in-dept analysis of what you know and what you need to study. That way you know exactly what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are. Oh yea, did I mention the site is not going to be expensive only 10$ so everyone can afford.</p>

<p>So I ask everyone, as test takers, what type of resources are you looking for when preparing for the exam? I’ve spent hundreds of hours working on this project so I want it to be a very solid product.</p>

<p>Thanks for your input :)</p>

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<p>My ideal resource for an AP Exam is a study guide that has all the essential info and very little of the extra. It should also have a couple realistic practice AP tests. It should also be useful for those taking a year-long course.</p>

<p>Nice project btw. Any idea when it will be completed?</p>

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<p>hey, thanks for the input. So basically what you are looking for is a clear cut guide that prepares you for the exam. I know most students are taking the class at a high school so I am trying to make it so it supports that learning style.</p>

<p>I am aiming for an x-mas release date, 2010 around that time.</p>

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<p>Humor definitely. I’m in APUSH right now and everyone agrees that if the book were more fun, we’d remember so much more. The American Pageant at least has some awkward, strange metaphors so we can remember things easier, so something unique always helps with memory retention</p>

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<p>1) Lots of little sections, with quizzes in each section. That way we can immediately check what we didn’t know. Also, little sections minimize the “monster” effect.
2) Like pinksoysauce said, humor. Funny, stupid things that lightly make fun of a situation or help us remember it.
3) Related: some random facts. SOME is the key word. Like in the PR AP euro bk, about why the current left vs. right political system is like that. I’ll remember that, connect it back to the french rev, and which group believed what.</p>

<p>The Princeton Review is a great series to base your book off.</p>

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<p>Random humorous facts are always welcomed. For instance, World War I started with Gavrilo Princip’s murdering of Archbishop Franz Ferdinand. Did you know that Princip was buying a submarine sandwich when he saw Ferdinand’s car in a mirror in the store? John Wilkes Booth was murdered by Boston Corbett. Did you know that Corbett castrated himself?</p>

<p>Little things like this make history that much more enjoyable.</p>