A guide to survive AP classes

Let’s talk about important factors that will get you to an elite college? Recommendation papers? Extracurricular activities? Essays? But wait, before we can even mention these things, there is a threshold that can determine whether you can enter these colleges or not, and that is the rigor of our course work! Typically, colleges would love to see you trying hard at your school, and that doesn’t only mean that you must maintain a high GPA, but also that you are challenging yourself with difficult courses! And typically, when we think about difficult courses, the first thing that will probably pop into your mind is the AP courses! So, for those of y’all who haven’t been very familiar with the term, AP provides a lot of college-level courses covering different subjects (like Calculus, Human Geography, Physics 1, and so on), and they are actually being provided in a lot of high schools not only in the United States, but all over the world - including my school in Vietnam. Naturally, as a competitive student, you may want to enroll in these courses either at school or through self-study - but of course, since they are pretty rigorous, they can get especially challenging, which is exacerbated by the fact that students may want to cram several AP classes into a school year. Because of this, I believe that it is very important that you are able to manage these classes and navigate your way to succeed in these subjects! And that’s why today, I would like to share with you some tips (which work for me) that you can use in order to survive these AP classes. I can’t say that I am the student who has taken the most AP classes (since this is the first year that my school offers this course - my school is on the path to get the AP Capstone diploma, which is different from typical courses because we are going to have to study for AP Seminar as well as AP Research), but in 10th grade alone, I have taken a total of 6 AP courses (it is mandatory for students to take 3 AP classes at school (or 4 if you are counting pre-AP), and I am also self-studying 3 other AP subjects), and in my experience, I have been able to manage all these things fine (I still have plenty of time for this blog, another website, and several clubs). Because it is very fortunate for me to be able to manage these well, I would love you to know about them too, so that hopefully you will be able not only to survive, but also succeed in these courses!

The first thing is actually very obvious, but I would like to heavily emphasize this tip, and that is to focus in class and ask questions. I know that AP classes can be very long (a typical class at my school lasts for nearly an hour and a half), but since these classes are covering content that you probably have never heard of before, you need to pay attention in your class! And do not only sit in your class and listen to your teacher - take notes please (the content is obviously going to be very heavy!). I do understand that you should not just copy everything from the board into your notebook, but again, you can easily forget what you are learning, so find the best note-taking way that works for you, so that you don’t have to write much while still being able to memorize what is being taught at school. Additionally, ask questions - don’t let your social anxiety kick in! Whenever you have any questions regarding what is being taught, don’t be hesitant to ask for clarification - remember, at the end of the day this is going to benefit YOU! And additionally, please go over the content again when you get home! I know that the school day can be extremely tiring already, but if you are not practicing and trying to memorize these things, then nothing is going to be stuck in your head! Practice, with a friend, through flashcards, I don’t care, as long as you’re trying to understand and memorize what you have been taught at school!

Next is to schedule your day effectively! I highly recommend you to create a daily schedule of things you want to do, and this is because as there are a lot of things that you must do in a day, a schedule will definitely make your life more organized, where you can spend time on your AP classes while not leaving out other things like practicing sports or doing extracurricular activities. And if that means that you have to cut off on entertainment, that’s completely fine! Remember what is more important for you, and work to achieve that goal! Put trust in yourself, and always remember that determination is the solution to every challenge that you have!