With April coming to an end and May nearing, AP testing is just around the corner. For the students in AP classes, this is one of the most stressful times of the year. Between May 4^th and May 14^th there are eleven AP tests on subjects varying from calculus to art. Students spend the entire year preparing for these tests. They strive to get a passing score of a three, four, or five and hopefully earn college credit.

“You have to get a four to get college credit and that makes it even more stressful,” senior Heather Pankratz said.  Scores below a three are not considered passing and many colleges do not accept threes for college credit. Most AP classes spend several weeks before the test reviewing and doing practice tests for both the multiple choice and free response sections.

“My teachers hand out practices test and usually you think oh my god I am going to fail but you usually know more than you think you do by the time the AP test comes around,” Junior Laurie Ojala said. While daunting at first the reviews are not always as challenging as students initially think they will be. Many teachers make their in class tests more difficult in order to prepare their students for the AP test. The idea being that if they can pass the class with such challenging material then the AP test should be easy.

“The tests are really stressful and scary. For my Lit test I feel really prepared. I am super confident and am shooting for a four or five but for Calculus I am really nervous. It is such a hard class and I am not sure how I will do” Pankratz said. For most AP courses the idea is that the class prepares you for the test. Some classes this proves true and for others it does not.

“For me the value in AP tests is understanding what it really is and realizing it is not the end of the world.” senior Justin Johnson said, “It is important to maintain a sense of calmness throughout the entirety of the test and understanding that this doesn’t reflect your intelligence and after you graduate no one really cares how many fives you got or how many AP classes you took.” The importance of AP tests can be intimidating but it is imperative for students to realize their significance only goes so far.

As May 4^th gets closer AP students are cracking down in order to do their best on their AP tests. While the stress can often be overwhelming the key to success is staying calm under pressure, and remembering what you learned throughout the year.