Every year, Advanced Placement (AP) students go to a conference room and take three hour exams to evaluate their knowledge gained throughout the year. If you’re in any AP class, and took the exams, you’ll know what it’s like. Here are some Ida B. Wells students’ reflections about a few AP classes offered at our school, as well as what their experience in the class and exam was like. 

AP Statistics – Orion Hess, senior

Did you enjoy/do you recommend the class?

• “100%. AP Stats is cool, because it provides a different outlook on statistics you see online, and a different outlook on different worldviews.”

What was homework/the actual class like?

• “Homework was consistent but easy enough and helped for test taking. The class was straightforward and easy to understand if you’re paying attention, but you could get left behind.”

If you took the exam, what did you think?

• “The exam was pretty easy. The MCQs were pretty straightforward and not trying to trick you. The FRQs were also straightforward as long as you know your stuff. (State Plan Do Conclude.)”

What’s some advice for students of this AP class next year?

• “Do your homework.”

AP Physics 2 – Joshua Cao, sophomore

Did you enjoy/do you recommend the class?

• “Yeah, I did enjoy the class. I recommend it to anyone who is good at or is interested in science, especially physics.”

What was homework/the actual class like?

• “In class is usually hands on stuff, homework is watching video lectures. There can be a lot of homework. I probably spend a little less than an hour 3 days a week, so not too bad. I’ve probably watched at least 75-80% of the video lectures.”

If you took the exam, what did you think?

• “It was pretty hard, but I felt well prepared. Overall, the exam will depend on how much AP Physics 1 stuff is on the exam, because our school doesn’t offer it. The exam I took didn’t feel too overwhelming, but it can vary year to year.”

What’s some advice for students of this AP class next year?

• “Take good notes on paper. There’s no note sheets on tests but I usually review my notes before a test. You really want to make sure you understand the material.”

AP Human Geography – Alexander Lynch, sophomore

Did you enjoy/do you recommend the class?

• “I did not enjoy the class and I do not recommend it, because it felt like the material was very boring. I feel like a lot of people just took the class just for the easy grade and nobody really took it for actually enjoying the subject.”

What was homework/the actual class like?

• “We went through all the units in AP Human Geography. We would go through and read all 10 chapters of each of the units and then we have a test on the unit, and then we start unit two. Each unit would take about three to four-ish weeks depending on how short the unit is and then we would keep going through and keep testing. At the end for AP testing, we just reviewed each unit quickly and did some practice tests and practice FRQs. We did have homework every once in a while; there was only a little bit of work, but it was very minimal and it probably took me less than 10 minutes to do it.”

If you took the exam, what did you think?

• “I really feel like a lot of people, and I was talking with people from my class, felt that we didn’t do super well because we didn’t really feel prepared. They just kind of taught us to get through the units and not really teaching us to understand the subjects. The FRQ part of the test was pretty easy because I did watch a couple of videos on it but the multiple choice portion, I’ve never felt more lost in my life. I felt more lost than my math class, so I definitely did not feel super confident and I know all my peers did not feel confident so it’s going to be a really low scoring average for the class.”

What’s some advice for students of this AP class next year?

• “My advice would be to actually pay attention, and the easy A will come. But, to actually pay attention to learn about the class, and to actually try to find a way to enjoy it, would be my biggest thing. I kind of stopped paying attention a month or two because I realized nobody else was [paying attention] and it didn’t matter if I did. But I feel like if you actually paid attention you would get it and do well in the class. It’s a class that is more just “do well and get the grade, get the GPA boost,” maybe get a college credit. It’s not really about learning which is hard.”

AP Calc AB – Molly Kodesch, sophomore

Did you enjoy/do you recommend the class?

• “I think it was interesting and fun at times. Take AP Calculus AB if you want to take AP Calculus AB. Don’t just take it for a grade, which I know some people might want to do.”

What was homework/the actual class like?

• “We use MathXL for homework, and we get a new assignment like basically anytime we start a new [subunit]. We would get a new assignment and it was due like a week later, and you only need to do 75% of it to get full credit. You take notes in most classes, but we usually just do worksheets, take notes, or review homework all day.”

If you took the exam, what did you think?

• “It was easier than I thought it would be. Mr. E prepared us for a harder exam than we expected. It was really long and slow, and cold, and I think most people thought so too.”

What’s some advice for students of this AP class next year?

• “If you’re going to take AP Calc AB, you want to make sure you’re interested in the subject and not just taking another math class for the sake of taking another math class.”