At Campolindo, May signals a lot of things. Spring sports ending, school wrapping up, the first tastes of summer: but for a lot of students, it also signals the home stretch of AP classes. As AP exams get closer, students find themselves balancing academics, extracurriculars, with a mountain of stress.
Senior Henry Goodman, who took AP Human Geography and AP Psychology, says he took those classes for his own interests. “I took AP Human Geography because I was genuinely interested in what the course had to offer and the material it was going over, which ended up being a really good decision, because I really enjoyed the class,” he says. “AP Psychology [was] because I’d heard great things about the class, and I had taken an Intro to Psych course my sophomore year that made me interested in the idea of taking AP Psych.” He considers the AP Psych exam to be the toughest one yet, because of the amount of terms needed to be memorized.
Junior Kiona McCasland had an exceptionally demanding schedule this year, taking AP Language, Psychology, US History, and Pre-Calculus. McCasland says she took AP Lang because “I wanted to get better at writing, and so I think it’s helped me with essay writing,” and that she took APUSH because “it would look good for colleges because it’s a really rigorous class.” Despite the heavy academic workload, she also does varsity track and cross country, making AP season exceptionally hard. “It’s really difficult, actually, because I don’t have as much time for homework as other people,” she remarks. “I just have to kind of set aside my entire evening when I get back from practice for doing homework, and it’s hard to manage.”
For a lot of people, AP classes represent more than just college applications. “When I first started taking APs, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do for college,” Goodman explains, when asked if his APs have any relation to what he will be doing in college. “But I think, especially with human geography, it’s just a good thing to [know] a bunch of different stuff, like a bunch of different diverse information, how much things have to do with modern day economics and politics. It’s a good thing no matter what major you go into.”
In his previous years of high school, Goodman took AP European History, Language, and Computer Science Principles. “I think AP classes are what you make out of them,” he says. “Unlike core classes, they give you a bit more leniency to go out and learn more of the subjects outside of a classroom, on your own. And I think it's a test to see if you’re gonna be on top of your work, especially for a class like Psych or Human Geo, where it’s a lot of textbook vocab. Developing those skills of being able to work outside of the process is super helpful. I would recommend taking APs, because again, they do a better job of diving in depth on whatever it is you're thinking about. “
Goodman says that the best thing for lowerclassmen to do regarding APs is to figure out the AP system as a whole. “It took me a little bit to figure out what material to study and how to study it, but if you get those skills down early, then you’re gonna be on a really good track,” he says.
McCasland, on the other hand, tells lowerclassmen to be wary about the toll APs can take on students’ well being: “My advice is to think if your schedule can accommodate a large amount of work, and that it’s gonna take a toll on your stress levels, and you might feel tired all the time,” she supplies. “You also have to be okay with it consuming your whole year.”
Academic stress has also caught up to many students. “Recently, I’ve been feeling the effects of having a year of so much stress. I’m definitely really tired and I’m just excited for the year ending,” McCasland says when asked about her final thoughts on APs.
Always remember to prioritize your wellbeing above all else. An A+ might seem like the only thing worthwhile in this world, but down the line, you’ll realize that there’s so much more to life than just academics. At the end of the day, being successful in high school doesn’t depend on whether you got a 5 in AP Bio or not, but if you used your time to the best of your ability.
