Back-to-school season means that some students may be taking their first-ever AP class or classes. While this can be an exciting challenge, being in an AP class for the first time also comes with questions about the workload and the culminating end-of-the-year exam.

Three years ago, I was in the same boat, wondering what exactly to expect in my AP classes. Now, 10 APs later, I have created a comprehensive guide to all things AP to help you navigate your first course. Let's get started!

College Coursework

All AP classes are designed to cover the same content that an introductory college course would.

Since the rigor level is higher, more time will be required to understand the topics presented and prepare for the assessments. Also, depending on your teacher, the class may be faster paced since there are many mandatory units and topics to cover in-depth before May. For science APs, this also includes required lab work.

Questions on the tests will be more complex, going beyond the who, what, and when to primarily focus on the how and why. For example, in an AP history class, the vast majority of the questions will not ask what the major art movement of an era was, but rather how specific artistic details within a particular image represent the popular culture of that day. In an AP science course, the questions will ask about applying content knowledge to explain a phenomenon or draw the most plausible conclusion based on a data set, instead of just listing out the steps of a process.

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Therefore, while studying for these quizzes and tests, go beyond memorizing the facts. Use practice problems from released College Board materials, draw connections between concepts, and apply learned material to different scenarios than the ones presented in your textbooks. Also, be sure to review content throughout the year to keep the information learned at the start of the class fresh. Many courses have units that build off of knowledge gained at the beginning of the year, so it's important to remember the first few units as well as the current unit.

For study resources, consult your teachers and the College Board's website for online and paper-and-pencil tools. There are also many social media pages run by current or former AP teachers (on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok) that focus on providing students with free review resources.

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AP Exams

For every AP subject available, there is a corresponding, optional exam at the end of the school year that tests your knowledge of the required content. Taking place during the first two full weeks of May, each AP exam is about 3 hours long and will include a multiple-choice and free-response question sections with a 10 minute break around the halfway point.

Depending on the subject matter, the test either will be completely digital on Bluebook or partially online and partially paper-and-pencil. Currently, many of the math and science exams have fully online MCQ sections and hybrid FRQs where the questions are digital, but you write down the answers on a provided testing booklet.

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After submitting your test, about two months later (in early July), the results will be available on the College Board's website. All exams are graded on a scale from 1 to 5, where 5 is the highest score and a score of 3 or higher is considered passing.

However, like with all assessments, AP exams are just one metric of testing course understanding. Regardless of your score, you should feel proud of yourself for working hard, even when the content was difficult and when you were balancing multiple responsibilities on your plate. Remember that one test does not define you.

Score Reports

Every year, students can have their AP scores sent for free to 1 university or organization. The deadline for choosing which program receives your complete score report (with scores from both the current and previous years) is normally in mid June, with scores arriving to your indicated choice in late June or early July.

If you need to send multiple colleges or scholarship programs your AP scores, then there's a $15 fee (for each additional score sent), and the score report will digitally arrive at your recipient of choice in 3 to 5 business days.

Also listed in your score reports will be any AP Awards & Recognitions earned. These awards will be posted to your College Board account after AP exam scores are released for that year. Currently, students can win the AP Capstone Diploma, the AP Seminar and Research Certificate, the AP Scholar Awards, the AP with WE Service Recognition, and the AP International Diploma. For more details on how to win the above awards, please see the College Board's website under the Step-by-Step header.

Benefits of AP Classes

Taking one or more Advanced Placement classes and exams while in high school can have many benefits, including:

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• College Credit: Many universities award college credit to students who have passed their AP exams. Depending on the school and your score, this could mean skipping an introductory class, fulfilling general education requirements, or receiving elective credit towards graduation. To see specific policies, check out the College Board's AP Credit Policy Search tool. Through this resource, you can search by AP course or university to see what the minimum score needed for credit is, as well as links to more detailed explanations of course exemptions based on AP scores.
• Tuition Savings and Graduating Early: Since many colleges offer course credit for AP exams, taking these tests can help reduce the cost of tuition since you'll be taking fewer classes/units. This can also mean that you can graduate earlier due to potentially having credit for first quarter or semester classes before even starting college. In addition, if you wanted to double major or have a minor, it might be easier to do so since AP classes could exempt you from taking certain classes, leaving more room in your class schedule for electives and other coursework.
• College Application Boost: In the academic history and standardized test score sections, students can indicate any AP classes and exams they took. Therefore, taking AP classes can help show course rigor, interest in a subject, and preparation for university coursework. However, most universities do not require applicants to submit all available AP scores; therefore, you can decide not to self-report any AP score/s of your choosing.
• Exploring Academic Interests: AP classes can help you determine what subjects you are interested in pursuing as a major or minor in college. Through learning about a topic in more detail, you can see if that subject matter is something that you would like to continue to learn about in future higher education coursework.

Conclusion

For any students starting their first AP class, know that it's totally normal to have trepidation about taking your first in-class test or the end of the year AP exam. Being in the equivalent of a first-term college class while in high school can be difficult, but know that you can do it! AP classes, especially ones geared towards underclassmen, have many free resources available to assist you in learning and practicing course content.

I hope that the above guide helped you understand the basics of AP classes so that you can feel more prepared for what is to come. Remember that you got this!