AP Testing for Students

By Ava Hourel

AP testing is coming up soon, with the earliest exams beginning in early May. This means students across Hayward High’s campus are doing what they can to prepare for these upcoming exams. AP students are currently feeling a lot of emotions regarding the AP exams approaching, amongst peers, teachers doing more work to prepare for it, and even the parents of the test takers, hoping for the best outcome. Some AP students at Hayward High were interviewed about which part of the exam section they are most confident about, and which one they are least confident about, for AP exams.

One anonymous student from Hayward High, who’s taking multiple APs, said he is most confident about the multiple-choice questions, least confident about free response, and does meditation to relax. “I’m the most confident about the MCQ because I feel like I’ve practiced it the most, at least compared to the other sections,s and I feel like I usually do well on the mock MCQS. And for the real AP exam, I’ve also felt like I did pretty well, so I’m not too worried about it.” This anonymous student explained that he likes the MCQ as well because it has direct answers to choose from. “For the free response, I usually struggle with it more because I always end up running out of time. I have practiced it the least because it takes me a long time, and I know I should practice it more, but I’ll practice it more when it’s closer to the exam, for it to be honest, so yeah.” A lot of AP students feel split about the free response, and this student happens to not favor it as much as the multiple choice questions.

Another student from Hayward High who’s taking AP classes said she is the most confident about the free response. She doesn’t feel as confident in the multiple-choice questions. “I like free response since it allows me to explain my thought process more and still get some sort of partial credit even if the rest of it was wrong.” She said. “With multiple choice, it’s not as easy because it’s either right or wrong, and it’s multiple documents you have to analyze and try to choose a choice for. Sometimes the questions are confusing,g or it feels like there is no right answer, while free response lets you have the opportunity to answer in your own wording, which is what I like about it more.”

Another student from Hayward High who’s taking AP classes said she is the most confident about document-based questions, and she’s least confident in the multiple choice questions. “I don’t know, I just always happen to do better on the DBQ. Multiple-choice questions are confusing to me. I feel like the DBQ is easier since it’s just one long essay,y and it’s mostly just one topic, which is easier to understand and stick to, even if it does seem sort of difficult. The MCQ is harder since it’s more readings, but I know not everybody feels the same way. I like the DBQ because of how flexible it can help you be.”

Overall, students at Hayward High School have different strengths when it comes to the AP exams. All of the students at Hayward High will still do well on their exams since they are all working towards the same goal of doing the best they can on exam day.