Last Minute AP Exam Tips — Presidio Education®

*College Board Advanced Placement (AP) logo. Source: College Board, 2023.*

The May 2023 Advanced Placement (AP) exams are finally here! Although students may have trained hard, reviewed the subject material over and over again, and completed plenty of diagnostic tests (DTs), we encourage students to remember the following AP exam tips. Students train hard all academic year, but only take these AP exams once per year. Make these AP exams count!

Bubble in All MCQs Right Away

Most of the Advanced Placement (AP) exams have Section 1 multiple-choice questions (MCQs). Students will use a number 2 pencil, but not a mechanical pencil, to bubble in the separate answer sheet. We are often surprised when some students tell us other companies have trained them to not bubble in their individual answers on the answer sheet until they have first circled all answers on the actual test. But this is truly a dangerous way to record MCQ answers. For example, if there are 50 MCQs, these misguided students will first circle their answers for all 50 MCQs on the test sheet. After they’ve circled all 50 MCQs, they’ll then bubble in all 50 MCQs on the actual answer sheet. This eats up too much time and puts unnecessary pressure on students!

Instead, students should read an MCQ, record their answer on the answer sheet right away, then move onto the next MCQ. This is the safest and most efficient way to answer all MCQs. Remember, College Board will only accept and grade the actual separate answer sheet. College Board won’t even look at the test sheets with the questions even if students have circled their answers on them.

Pay Attention to Supplementary Material

Too often we review homework and diagnostic tests (DTs) with very simple, but costly, mistakes. College Board often provides supplementary material, such as graphs, maps, tables, diagrams, or data, for both the Section 1 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and especially for the Section 2 free-response questions (FRQs). Students must pay close attention to the supplementary material details. These details include dates, names, locations, or other relevant information that is required in the answers. These small details can be all the difference between full points and no points.

Avoid Contradicting Responses

Contradictions in written responses are the costliest mistakes. Students must avoid contradictions at all costs or they’ll surrender all points. All Section 2 free-response questions (FRQs) must be coherent, meaning they must always be consistently logical. While individual paragraphs must be consistent with logic and reason, students must also review previous responses and anticipate future responses. For example, many FRQ prompts provide certain scenarios or topics. These prompts will be followed by groups of sub-questions that are all related to the given prompts. Sometimes students just focus on answering the individual questions, but then they forget that all sub-questions are related to the prompt. If any of the answers contradict any previous or future answers, then students will risk surrendering all points to any questions being contradicted!

Triple-Check All FRQ Numbers

As teachers, this one always astounds us. Although students don’t earn points for correctly numbering the Section 2 free-response question (FRQ) written answers, students will forfeit all points on any individual FRQ that is incorrectly numbered. College Board Advanced Placement (AP) graders will not try to untangle incorrect FRQ numbers. AP graders will simply not waste time trying to mix-and-match FRQ numbers. They will simply just mark those FRQs as incorrect.

Students must check that all FRQs are correctly numbered. For students that rush, forget to proofread, or take simple numbering for granted, they must not underestimate the importance of numbering each FRQ. We strongly recommend students check an FRQ number after finishing writing a response, drawing a diagram or graph, and calculating an equation. Then, students should check all FRQ numbers after finishing all sub-questions corresponding to a given prompt. At the end of the exam, students should go back and check that all FRQs are correctly numbered.

Again, there are no extra points for correctly numbering FRQs. But FRQs that are incorrectly numbered will not qualify for points. Confirm all FRQ numbers!

Write, Draw and Calculate Legibly

Regardless if students are smart, they won’t score Section 2 free-response question (FRQ) points if their handwriting, drawings, or calculations are illegible. Students often forget that College Board Advanced Placement (AP) graders are not their high school teachers that are used to their handwriting. AP graders will neither tolerate sloppy nor rushed handwriting. This is why students must write very deliberately in all print or in all cursive. Students must avoid rushing with some hybrid cursive-print handwriting. We strongly encourage students to think from third party perspectives. Too often students say they think their handwriting is fine. But they fail to consider how others may perceive their handwriting. Students shouldn’t write for themselves. They should write for the AP graders. Losing points because of illegible handwriting is just as terrible as incorrectly numbering FRQs!

Avoid Tunnel Vision

Yes, there is going to be a lot of pressure. Students only get to take the Advanced Placement (AP) exams once a year. They may take these AP exams in unfamiliar settings. They may just be nervous. Or, they may be worried about competing with other students applying to elite undergraduate schools in the United States. But this doesn’t mean students should let the pressure overwhelm them.

Students must avoid tunnel vision at all costs. Tunnel vision is when students get so anxious that they just focus on something on a test without thinking about the big picture. For example, students may have a question that instructs them to discuss a tropical rainforest in South America during the winter months. But instead of evaluating all components in the given prompt, students might only write about tropical rainforests in general. They might forget to include explanations relating to South America or the winter months. Unfortunately, these students get sucked into tunnel vision that they can’t evaluate everything that is required. They can only focus on one (1) component, which will render their responses as incomplete or off-topic.

Watch the Clock

There are very few students that have outstanding time management skills. Too many students forget to manage their time when reading prompts, planning outlines, analyzing, writing, drawing, or calculating. Unfortunately, students either run out of time or spend disproportionate amounts of time on questions. A common occurrence is when students spend a majority of their time on earlier questions that they have to rush the later questions. This is a very poor way to complete the Advanced Placement (AP) exams. All students should remember exactly how many questions they will be tested on before each AP exam. Students should also remember exactly how much time each test section will allot. College Board publicizes this key information nearly a year before each May AP exam.

Students must be mindful of how much time they’re spending during the AP exams. Without feeling overwhelmed with pressure, students should calmly and confidently check their watches at least after a few questions. This technique will keep students sharp so they can stay on track with the test. This will also allow students to have sufficient time to check all answers at the end of the AP exam.

Last-Minute Questions

If you have last-minute questions about your May 2023 Advanced Placement (AP) exam(s), please reach out to us as soon as possible. We’ll try our best to help you out. Best of luck students on the AP exams!

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Author: RYAN YOUNG

Ryan is the Head English Teacher at Presidio Education® and specializes in English language, literature, especially poetry, and writing. While Ryan is also trained with humanities, government and sustainability subject matter, he really enjoys training students for mock trials and debate. For U.S. Test Prep, such as the SSAT, PSAT, SAT, ACT, Advanced Placement (AP) tests and GRE, Ryan focuses on the applicable English and social science sections. As a former high school English teacher in California, United States, he now primarily teaches high school, undergraduate and graduate students. Ryan completed his undergraduate work in English with a minor in history, and completed his graduate work both in English and sustainability.