The time of year AP students have been dreading is finally here. AP Exams begin on May 6th through the 17th beginning with AP Gov! See the table for more information on what day your AP exams will be taking place!

Updates to AP Exams in 2024 and 2025. This year the most significant changes in exams are in the History tests. Certain points on the DBQ have been made easier to obtain. Rather than requiring students to use 6 documents of evidence they are now required to use only 4, analyze 2 sources instead of 3, and get the extra opportunity of receiving the complexity point by using all 7 documents or analyzing 4 sources.

Students taking exams next year can expect 9 exams (5 of which are available at Lincoln) to go fully digital. These 5 

courses include: AP Computer Science Principles, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, AP United States History, and AP World History: Modern. As of now, the only exam updates to expect of next year are in the AP Physics exams. The exams have been revised to have identical formats with: 40 MCQs with 80 minutes, and 4 FRQs with the question types: mathematical routines, translation between representations, experimental design and analysis, and qualitative/quantitative translation.

However, recently students at Lincoln have been informed that the courses AP Calculus BC, AP Physics 2 and C are not going to be offered next year. On April 20th, student Atticus Chan started a petition on change.org announcing the removal of the courses and to ask for the reinstatement of the AP courses. For more information see here for Atticus’ change.org petition. 

For many of you, it’s likely that this is your first or one of your first AP exams, so we got some advice from some of our seniors who have taken multiple exams in the past. 

Matthew Tran’s biggest piece of advice to students is properly utilizing College Board, “There are tons of resources out there to help you study for AP exams, so be sure to use them!” He told me about some of the different resources College Board has available like previous exams that you can take as practice, rubrics to self-score example questions and exams, and AP videos offered in the AP classroom. 

Kaitlyn Yep insisted students come to the exam prepared. Not just studying, but also getting enough sleep, getting there on time, and making sure you have the right resources for your exam. Kaitlyn advises students to, “Go to sleep early the day before your test! You want to be functioning the best you can so you can pass that exam!” She also tells me Lincoln students often find the room cold and tells students to consider bringing a jacket or appropriate blanket with them into the testing room along with your essential resources, blue/black pen, pencils, your ID, and depending on your test a calculator (pens and pencils are also given at the time of the test). During the test, she recommends spending less time on questions you can’t answer and keeping track of the time, noting that (analog) watches are a helpful tool to wear. 

Finally, Angelina Cheng has a few words on what you probably shouldn’t do while preparing/taking your AP exam, “Don’t just drink energy drinks and cram.” The best thing you can do is come to your test well prepared and you are not doing yourself any favors by trying to prepare for it too late. In most cases, it’s the whole year’s worth of a class crammed up into one exam that’s not something you can easily cram, trust us. Like Kaitlyn, Angelina also recommends getting a lot of sleep the night before your exam and not completely relying on things like energy drinks to get you through the exam and even your study sessions. And for those study sessions, she reminds students that you aren’t limited to one study method and finding a different study method for each topic can help. 

It’s a scary time of year but it’s what we’ve been getting ready for this whole year. Just think about the weeks of school you’ll have in those AP classes after you take the exam and how little work you’ll have to worry about for those classes. We’re almost there Trojans, keep pushing and good luck on your AP Exams!