She hasn’t had AP Statistics in the last two months and senior Micaela Acomb has yet to study for her AP exam.
And as of right now, Acomb doesn’t exactly feel the need to start.
“I’m really unmotivated to study for my AP Stats exam even though I could really use the college credit,” said Acomb. “I just have so many things going on third trimester and the fact I don’t have time to study for it during the school day makes it difficult.”
Like many high school AP classes in Birmingham, AP Statistics is only offered for 2 trimesters, not including the trimester during which the exam is administered. Acomb also faces the added challenge of her AP Stats class being at Groves.
My teacher does offer review sessions, but it is difficult go to them because they are at Groves and. I don’t have a car,” said Acomb. “I definitely would do better if it were three trimesters long.”
AP Government, one of the more popular AP classes at Seaholm, is also offered for only two trimesters. Despite the fact that AP Gov teacher Ben Harwood has held nine review sessions since the second trimester ended, so far, students have only showed up to two of them.
“That’s a little disturbing,” said Harwood.
Even with the Government exam less than a week away, senior Zade Alsawah also has yet to study for the test.
“Social studies have always been one of my stronger subjects, so I haven’t even started studied yet,” said Alsawah. “I’m going to a couple of review sessions and I’ll study a lot over the weekend, but as far as long term studying, I just haven’t devoted as much time to it.”
Senior Clay Monahan feels like this is a shared sentiment for most AP Gov students.
“A lot of kids, especially for AP Gov, have not studied at all since 2nd trimester got out and probably will just cram this weekend,” said Monohan.
However, Monohan says he feels more prepared for his AP Environmental Exam because he has the opportunity to study for the exam in class.
“We are going to be preparing for two weeks prior to the exam and then we are going to take a practice test, so we are probably going to be more prepared for [AP Environmental],” said Monohan.
Harwood said that his government students would be more prepared for the exam if the class was extended to three trimesters.
“Those two months before the exam are a killer,” said Harwood. “You have people leave the class with a full head of knowledge of government. The moment they walk out they might have an A and it sets this false sense of security. They say ‘I’ll put all my energy into a different AP because I already know all this stuff’ but then those are the people who were tracking at a five and they walk away from the exam with a four.”
Harwood says factors other the two month gap are to blame for students being poorly prepared for APs.
“You combine good weather, prom, natural senioritis with the fact that they don’t have the class anymore and all of a sudden you get this “uhoh” moment where you realize all this time has flew by and you haven’t started studying yet,” said Harwood.
Senior Shannon Garvaglia is says it is especially difficult to study for her AP Government and AP Psychology exams because she does not have those classes this trimester.
“It’s totally different than my BC Calc class because you have all this extra time in class to review and take practice tests, so I feel like I don’t even need to spend that much time out of class studying for [my other exams],” said Garvaglia. “With Gov I need to spend all this extra time prepping and review all the material I’ve forgotten since 2nd trimester. I feel like I’ve already forgotten half of what we’ve gone over.”
Harwood says for students suffering the two month gap, going to review sessions are definitely beneficial.
“On average, the people who showed up to at least two or more review sessions scored on average a full point higher on the exam than those who didn’t,” said Harwood.
Garvaglia, who has attended review sessions, agrees that these sessions help her prepare.
“It helps to go through the material and talk to the teacher so you can refresh your memory,” said Garvaglia.
Harwood also discourages students from neglecting to study for APs simply because they did well in a particular class.
“Don’t assume that just because you got an A in the class that you are going to get an automatic 5,” said Harwood. “You have to put the work in.”
However, for students who do choose to wait til the last minute to study for exams, Harwood recommends taking a timed practice exam to prepare for the real test.
Despite her hectic schedule and trimester gap, Garvaglia does plan to study for her APs and is optimistic about taking the exam.
“I don’t feel confident yet,” said Garvaglia. “I’m hoping by the time the exams come I’ll feel more prepared."
