I'm getting reaally stressed about the AP test coming up... our teacher is having these after school study sessions, which are helping a little bit (or so I thought), but then we take practice tests and I fail them. I'm serious, I haven't gotten the equivalent of a 3 on a single test yet, not even close. My essays never turn out good, so I won't have that helping me.
The worst part for me is that I'm generally a smart kid, thus I have a bunch of smart friends. These friends are the ones that are getting 4s and 5s already on the practice tests. If I fail the test and the rest of them get 5s, it will just be so embarrassing...
Anyone else starting to feel the stress?
Just take a deep breath.
It's normal to start feeling stress, but if you deal with it properly you should see some improvement in your grades. My suggestion to you is to go to the study sessions, but don't study too much. I know that sounds odd, but you need to something to relax, something that has nothing to do with school like play a video game or read a book that you like, even if it's just for a little bit. It will help keep your stress level down. And don't study one thing until you feel like your head will explode. The result is that you will not remember as much as if you studied less and were more relaxed. If you get stressed specifically during tests then take a few minutes before you start to take a deep breath and get your blood pressure down and DO NOT drink caffeine before if you're prone to stress during test time. It will only make the situation worse.
For essays I'll be glad to offer you advice, but I'd have to know what your main problem is. Feel free to e-mail me or post what you think your problem may be or even one of your essays, and I'll try to tell you my suggestions. And feel free to im me at pianogirl2422 on aim. I'm trying to be on as much as I can these few weeks before the test, but I have trouble being on during the day because I need to keep my phone line open. I also suggest asking your teacher for advice to try and figure out how to improve your essay grades.
And the best piece of advice I can give you is to believe in yourself. I know it sounds like those cheesy movies where they go "you can do it", but if you think that you can't do something, well, you'll probably be right. Attitude is probably one of the most important factor. So think to yourself "I know this stuff" until you believe it, because you probably do.
So just relax and be comfortable. And remember to eat well before you take the test and arrive well rested.
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"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," say Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It
I'm stressing just a little. The Princeton Review is my best friend at this time of year. :)
Find a very relaxing place, and make sure it is quiet, or some nice PEACEFULL music you dont know the words to. (I find that if you know the words, you start to sing along) and sit down with the book, and review book if possible. Also, go to the study sessions, even if you dont feel any differant coming out, you will be mentally, I mean it cant hurt.
My teacher gave us a link to the 100 top documents from the national archive. The archive itself put them together, and it spans from colonial times, to 1960's (same as the test) The link is;
www.ourdocuments.gov
It wont hurt to know these, as they come up not only on the test, but are insanely usefull on the DBQ. (remember, you can bring in documents not in the little packet thingy.)
I came to a realization.
Over the weekend, I studied my hide off (anyone else with me here, lol) to try and be in some sort of shape. Took another practice test, and still only did mediocre. Did some looking around on the 'net for additional resources, and found this interesting quote: "The AP US History course is arguably one of the harder AP courses, with some schools making it actually harder than the college course you're replacing" or something along those lines.
This got me to thinking, and I realized that if I don't do spectacular on the test on Friday and don't get the credit, well it's obviously for a reason, I must need the course in college. Sure, it'll suck having to take ANOTHER history class, but it shouldn't be that hard (shouldn't have to learn anything new, my teacher this year drilled us hard).
With that figured out, I'm going in a little more confident and not stressed (still gonna study my arse off tomorrow, half day of school).
Good luck to all!
My real AP test is this Friday and we took the practice test for the first time today and I didn't get anywhere near a 3 and im also gen. a smart person so I feel kinda bumed out that the test is Friday and I don't have enough time to study for it so Im getting all stressed out.
Just breath. You'll be fine. If you want to do better the first step is to relax. If you stay stressed your grade will most definitely stay lower than you want. And have confidence. Don't go into the test thinking "I should have studied more" or "OMG! I'm gonna forget everything I know it!" The trick is to go into the test thinking "I know this. This is gonna be okay. It's just like another test at school." If you don't have enough time, I suggest that you pick out the sections that are giving you the most trouble and study them more. Don't study too much, it'll only make your stress worse. If you feel like it's overwhelming, go take a walk or do something fun that doesn't require much thinking.
Just remember, you'll be fine!:o
Oh, and if you want some help studying I'm usually on aim at night (kinda late though. 10ish...) and I'll be glad to talk with you about APUSH or the AP test in general. My aim is pianogirl2422 and my e-mail is [email protected]" class="bb-email">[email protected] if you want that too.
[=RoyalBlue][=Comic Sans MS]
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," say Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It
ohhhh yeah. i'm really starting to feel the stress. its tuesday and i'm trying to cram everything in my brain that seems to have leaked out over the course of the last year, but something my best friend said really calmed me down. and he's not even in the class. he told me "if you keep freaking out you're just going to wear yourself out then when it does come time for the test, you'll be so tired you cant concentrate. just relax and go take a break then come back to it." and that helped. yeah he doesnt truely understand because he doesnt have to take it, but he still knows how to calm me down. maybe it will work for you.
oh and want to know a funny thing? we havent even taken a practice test yet...only stuff from apex...so you're way ahead of us...
amo te, cordelia
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