Stress, anxiety, and a lack of sleep are filling the school during these last few weeks. Some may blame homework, but to many students, studying, especially for Advanced Placement (AP) tests, is the nightmare that keeps them up at night. Often, AP teachers will give the course right before the AP test, which seems like extra stress, but it is actually the most helpful studying tool.

Finals are generally given at the end of a trimester for a class. But, for many AP students, it leads them into the actual AP exam, and can be used more as a study guide for them. I think that the final for AP classes, being a practice exam taken before the AP test, is extremely beneficial for students and should continue to be included in those classes.

A lot of content goes on throughout the couple of trimesters in an AP class, and the number of topics makes it hard to remember every topic, and some could potentially not even be on the AP exam. A practice test helps students cut out topics not covered and focus on those that repeatedly showed up throughout the practice test.

Practice exams can also highlight units that the students originally felt confident in, but in reality, they show them that they need to spend more time studying those units. 

In so many tests, I’ve felt like I could nail a specific section, and it even felt easy doing them, but when grades came back, I realized I wasn’t even close to getting the right formula or answer. I’ve felt like having a test before my final to bring out these issues really helped me improve and get better scores on the final and the AP exam.

The practice tests also reveal topics not covered. I always find a couple of questions that either feel like we haven’t learned or that we actually haven’t learned, and a practice test can bring them out, allowing students to research them on their own.

Needs a concluding sentence that highlights your opinion as opposed to others’

I think that finals before an AP test can be very stressful for students and can definitely be tough, but in the end, it is far more beneficial for their scores.