The Octagon will be running Q&A’s with students taking AP exams over the course of the next two weeks, May 4-15. AP exams, which are more than three hours long, are graded on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest.) Exams include a multiple-choice section and a free-response section. Senior Clare Fina took the AP Microeconomics test on Friday, May 15.
Q: How did the test go?
A: It was all right. The multiple choice was what I expected. It was just like the practice tests I had taken. I didn’t really study the free response enough, so that was a little rough. Overall, it wasn’t too bad.
Q: How did you feel going into the exam?
A: I was confident going in. (Teacher Chris) Millsback prepared us well. But there’s still a lot of material, so it’s hard to be really confident.
Q: Did you study in a group or individually?
A: Mostly in a group.
Q: What surprised you most?
How quickly everyone finished! Most people finished with 30 minutes left. For the multiple choice you had an hour and 10 minutes to do 60 questions; when the proctor called a break halfway through the test, there were already people done. I finished with 20 minutes left, if not more.
Q: How long did you study?
A: A couple hours in total.
Q: What advice do you have for future takers of this test?
A: Get the AP study guide. That’s helpful. And actually study for the in-class practice test. That will prepare you a lot. The AP test we took was a lot like the practice tests.