As May 4-15 approaches, eyebags grow deeper and darker, coffee and energy drink sightings increase, and overall student morale drops. This isn’t post-spring break depression, but instead a countdown to the dreadful AP exams. Most students are more than prepared, but they can’t help but feel anxious as the calendar slowly inches closer and closer to exam day. As students review for such important exams, constant studying, pressure, uncertainty, and exhaustion all accumulate over time, forcing students into a messy, unhealthy bubble of stress. What many students don’t realize is that this time of studying and stress is much worse than the exam itself. 

So why is the time before AP Exams more stressful than the test itself? There are various reasons for this, but the three notable factors of this dilemma are the heavy content, mental pressure, and continuation of school. In agreement with this statement, Jasmine Magdy (10) says, “When you see the countdown and how close it is, you worry if you’re prepared enough.” Reviewing a year’s worth of material, facing score expectations, and still balancing other classes make this time feel like a mental prison. 

1. The Material 

The material of an AP Exam is taught in the span of roughly nine months, and in the span of one, students are expected to review every definition, every model, every treaty, and every formula and to ensure they have it all down for the day of the test. As you can see, more often than not, there is an overwhelming amount of content to study, so much so that many students get lost in the review and don’t truly learn what they are studying. Not just class materials, but also in past exams and experiences, as “hearing things about previous exams only scares you more,” according to Jasmine. In the sea of material, it can be hard to know where to even begin. This leads to anxiety over forgetting important concepts and a general fear of taking the test and failing. 

2. Pressure and Expectations

Nothing is scarier than preparing for 10 months, losing countless hours of sleep, turning your 16-year-old heart into that of an 80-year-old, all to fail the exam with a whopping 2. That fear of failing drives students to push themselves harder, to the point where they eat, sleep, and breathe course material. While students struggle to review for their AP Exams, they likely have their parents’, teachers’, or peers’ expectations to meet, making it all worse. 

3. Life

Life doesn’t stop for AP Exams, so while students have to prepare for their exams, they still have other responsibilities. For starters, students still must maintain their grades for other classes. This means they still have regular homework, projects, and tests to complete. Various students stack AP classes, which means competing deadlines, because while a student taking one AP class is studying one ton of material, a student taking three AP classes has to study three tons of material.

Outside of school, students still have a life. Renata Padilla (9) is a prime example, as she says, “Making time to study for AP Exams is necessary but not easy to do considering all the extracurriculars I have to balance. It is hard to make time for everything. Whether it be chores, a job, or a religious commitment, students have personal events that can’t always come to a halt when it comes time to study for AP Exams. 

This sounds horrible, and although it often can feel that way, students should remember that at the end of the day, it really is just a test; failing or not getting a perfect score won’t be the end of a life, and it certainly doesn’t define a person. So yes, the weeks before AP Exams are far worse than the actual exam, but students should do their best to look out for themselves and ensure they are prioritizing their physical and mental health while dealing with all the workloads.