This year, the AP class final exams are taking place throughout the first few weeks of May. By getting a certain score on an AP exam, students are often able to gain college credits, increasing the desire to score well for students. Often teachers opt to give their class a mock exam in order to gain an idea of the preparation needs in the coming months. While mock exams are definitely not enjoyable, many students feel that they are one of the best ways to learn your strengths and weaknesses before the exam and gain practical experience.
Most AP mock exams include all sections of what the actual exam would have. Usually, AP exams contain a multiple choice question (MCQ) section, and the free response sections (FRQs). Both of these portions make up a certain percentage of the final score for the exam in May. By taking the sections on mock exams, students get the chance to discover what they should focus on skills wise, prior to the exam. This can ultimately benefit a student’s studying habits and overall productivity by allowing them to allocate appropriate amounts of time to specific subjects in order to reach their maximum potential. The AP Language and Composition mock exam, allowed for students to go through the full exam, just like it will be on the day of. This mock exam was worth numerous grades for the AP Lang students, and that is often the case for most mocks. Teachers want to make sure that their students take the mock exam seriously and approach it as a real exam. All of these components often work together to benefit the student, even though it can be difficult at times. “Prior to the mock exam, I couldn’t decide what to study, and after I have a better grasp of what I should really work on to improve,” said AP Language student, Roddey Bird.
Along with the studying benefits, the mock exam gives students real-life practice. For the AP physics exam, students get 90 minutes for the MCQ section which contains 55 questions. The FRQ section is 90 minutes long. Due to the fact that these final exams have time constraints, it is important for students to get practice with pacing and test-taking strategies. The majority of the skills on the AP exams require a student to practice often to be able to develop the knowledge of the complex questions asked. “Though the mock exam for AP Lang was pretty stressful, it definitely gave me a good idea of how to practice managing my time before the real exam in May,” said AP physics student, Katherine Schulman.
Though students feel that mock exams can be menacing, most understand the importance of how it can truly benefit their productivity and studying habits as well as time management during practice tests. The mock exam may be miserable to some, but it really is meaningful in the strive for a five on an AP exam.
