Tomorrow is the first day of a week and a half of AP tests. There are multiple tests a day all of this week and next week. Tomorrow, there are the United States Government and Politics, Comparative Government and Politics, and French Language tests.

The AP US History test is Friday morning. I’m nervous and excited.

Who is taking an AP test within the next few days? How have you been studying?

Here has been my thought process everytime I look at my planner for the past 6 days: “Oh gosh, I still haven’t done that practice test. Jeez, only twenty-something days. How many days is it again? Oh, yeah, 23.”

That somewhat nonsensical string of thoughts is, I’m afraid, what will be my life for the next 23 (23!) days. Because in about 23 days, more specifically 22 days, 13 hours, and 43 minutes, I am going to be taking my AP US History test. I’m not freaking out, because I know I’m going to be prepared, if I ever crack down and do a couple practice tests. However, I know some of my classmates are already talking about getting 3 hours of sleep in the nights preceding the test. I’d rather be awake then know every candidate from every election since 1780.

In the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be spotlighting a few of the parts of the test, and prep in general. The first is going to be the essays. For AP US, at least, there is 2 FRQs and a DBQ. For those of you who aren’t intimately familiar with the inner workings of AP classes, an FRQ is a free response question. It is an essay that you are expected to write in 35 minutes. It doesn’t have any supporting information, just a prompt. A DBQ is another essay, with a writing time of 45 minutes . However, this one has 6-8 documents included that you should use to strengthen your paper. Here are some sample prompts.

Anybody good at writing quick essays? If you’ve taken an AP class, were you good at the essays? Any other comments?

No, not a cool art exhibit or awesome concert. Coming up are… the AP exams. I have heard May referred to as the “hell month” and “month of horror.” I have also heard my AP US History teacher grumble since January about the snow days. The AP classes at CV got to come in early last week to cover material while the majority of the students at the school, at least those not taking the WASL, got to sleep in. It was helpful, though.

The College Board AP site is here, and not surprisingly “hell month” is not mentioned.

Are you in AP classes? Do you enjoy them? What are you doing, or will you be doing, to prepare for the exams? Have you taken any AP exams before?