Intro
AP Classes
Extracurriculars
SAT
Writing
Tools
College Choosing
Common App
Choosing College
End
YOU- yes you- are invited to read this guide in the hopes that the knowledge I've gained throughout my 4 years of highschool hell, will help you far more than they ever helped me.
As the first pancake I have mostly had to find and compile my own resources for success. Any help I had wasn't usually firsthand, with the rare exception of uperclassmen friends I had, but you—still you—will have the wonderful assistance of my infinite and yet awfully limeted wisdom to help guide you in the best way I can.
SO READ ON AND WEEP— and know that I'll be here to help you in the best way I can ;) that is, with sarcasm, infinite failure, and somewhat decent writing. Enjoy, and may the collegeboard be ever in your favor!
DON'T BE THE CLOWN— STUDY
AP Exams are difficult; more than anyone, you would—most likely— know this as you've watched me go through all five stages of grief while studying and learning the material required to pass the exams.
I've cried, I've whined, I've made a hundred different excuses over the course of each year, but at the end of the day, I've done what I had to do. (Yes, sometimes that means dropping the exam and moving on.)
Now, unlike me, you are likely not going to be made to take AP Calculus or AP Micro as your first exam. If you are, I would strongly recommend fighting against that decision, as these two classes are difficult as hell.
(Micro less so, but I would still save that for later.)
I would personally recommend setting yourself up with an easy class or, at the very least, something you are likely to understand quickly.
I did well on APUSH, so I always recommend that, but you may want to go with AP Psych, AP Environmental, or something more subjective like AP English Language instead. (Any other 'easy' AP classes are outside my wheelhouse.)
Start easy, be smart, and no matter how hard someone pressures you, take a class you know you will be able to handle. The reason AP classes are useful is becasue they
Prove competence and intelligence
Prevent you from taking the class in college
If you are 99% sure you won't do well in the class, don't take it. You want to take APs because you don't want to have to take the class in college, but if you aren't going to get a 3 or above, it's functionally useless to you aside from preparing you for college and making you cry.
I would know.
So remember, you can't go back once you've taken the class. You can't decide to do something easier next year unless it's another AP. There are no basics to finance after you've taken AP Calculus. (Unless it's an elective.)
You are smart, you know this, which is why you probably won't try to take on AP calc your sophomore year.
Don't let anyone pressure you; make your own choices. If that choice is to start with AP calc, then do it, but make sure to at least take Pre-calc first.
And if your tutor makes you feel like a moron? Drop them and move on.
WARNING- None of this is applicable if you are in an IRL school and your school actually offers the AP classes you want and need. Talk to your counselor or AP coordinator in that case. This is only for homeschool/online AP classes.
Typically, when signing up for an exam, one would call the school of the district you are in and ask if they have spots open for AP exams. The district we are currently in is COX High, and the current AP coordinator is listed below.
To take the exam, you should contact her. State your name, the AP classes you wish to take the exam for, the school you currently go to, and your address (maybe not the address unless they ask).
Normally, I would go through the registration on the link below; however, as you are new, I would instead contact her first, and she should inform you of any changes or steps you need to take. If this doesn't work, you may have to call.
If they deny you the right to take the exam at this school, contact Virginia Beach's education office (phone number not listed); you must be on the phone, not Mom or Dad. Explain the situation and wait for the next steps.
It might help if you explain that this is your first AP and you were recommended to take this step. However, Ms. Shine is nice, and she will help, so this will likely not be applicable.
Her information:
Tasha M. Shine: (757) 648-5273 Tasha.Shine@vbschools.com
The website I use to apply for exams: (Check with the coordinator first)
Frank W Cox High School - AP Exam Registration
High5Wizard(in case you like app's vs computer)
Most times AP practice materials can be found anywhere. For one thing, collegeboard does have past exams on their website for students to review and usually teachers are smart enough to actually give you acess to a collegeboard classroom and assign practice.
If thats not the case, then you always can find things online, it may be difficult at times, and annoying, and stressful—(paywalls are the bane of my existance)— however typically you can find something, typically you will find something if you look hard enough.
That being said, you have to be careful, the scam artists exist everywhere which is why it's really important to double check reviews before proceeding. Also, no matter wehat anyone says, don't trust anything that preaches about the usage of generatitve ai. It's usually a scam. Think Knowit. You don't want to use knowit. (not just becasue of the inaccuracy, but usually becasue the questions get dumbed down).
Difficulty: 3/5
My score: 2/5
Back when I was doing Econ stuff, mainly Micro, my tutor gave me these resources for help: Unit 2 Practice MCQs & Unit 3: Product Cost and Perfect Competition(22 - 25% of AP Exam) & lastly, his compiled AP exam resources. These are extremely useful, extremely important, and all my personal copies. Just in case they get deleted on his end. You can't find this stuff online most times, so take advantage and use it wisely. (CollegeBoard deleted most of the past exams, so some may be out of date, but still good to know)
Review Econ - really useful website with all the information and fun games to learn it. I used to review graph types mainly, but other information is top-notch as well.
Lastly, Heimler's History of ECON, Jacob Clifford. Does most of the stuff Heimler does, and is most known for his Ultimate review packet and pre-Exam predictions. Check his YouTube and check his websites. If necessary, ask Mom to buy the review packet (or ASK ME, I will buy it for you). Do what you can to succeed; he's the AP Econ teacher's crutch most times. (Some teachers actually buy his review packet to give to students, and some schools do this as well. Double check you don't already have it for use.)
Difficulty: 5/5
My score(AB): 1/5
My score(BC): N/A
Full course review with videos and practice - recommended by a tutor who made me cry. Smart guy, not great with kids. The resource is really good for learning the material; however, mainly useful when you actually know Algebra. Their main website is HERE. Would recommend for review too.
Haven't used this one, but other students swear by its helpfulness, so I'll list it just in case: Turksvids and his website for notes.
Difficulty: 2/5
My score: 4/5
Heimler's History- Everyone's GOAT. His videos are part of the reason I was able to actually remember the information. Every year, right before the AP exam, he does a livestream on YouTube and gives a generalized explanation of the timeline, information, and expectations for what will be in the exam. This is important, it is useful, take advantage, but don't necessarily rely on his predictions. ALSO- he does World, Euro, Geo, and Gov if you need some help with those as well. I can't say for sure how accurate those are, but his US is top-notch. His website is HERE if you want to look at his credentials and courses.
Study method: Remember the timeline of events and basic order they go in. So long as you can do that you can easily figure out the dates for the rest of the events.
Exam methods: Once the exam starts the first thing you should do is write down whatever part of the timeline/dates you remember. Write everything down, that way you have everything you need to refrence during the rest of the exam.
Difficulty: 5/5
My score: N/A
Flipping physics; done by the same people who did AP CALC. Also known for their very own 'ultimate review packet'. Didn't use it personally, as I mainly stuck to office hours and side tutoring, but their math portion is more than decent, so physics can be recommended as well. (mainly by other students who swore by these guys, but oh well.)
Difficulty: 4/5
My score: 2/5
A lot is just knowing the correct calculator functions tbh. I personally had difficulties with it becasue, A; I didn't understand a lot of the 1+1=2 type things becasue I was missing some of the steps, B; I didn't put a lot of effort into it until it was faaaarrr too late.
Don't be like me.
ALSO- remember to charge your calculator if you use a physical one.
Difficulty: 2/5
My score(Lang): 3/5
My score(Lit): 4/5
ALRIGHT!
For Lang; the main thing you need to know is grammer and essay functions. With that you can figure out basically anything. However, to truly ace the exam you really, really, need to practice questions. It's—unfortunately— the only way to win. For the essay's just YAP. But be smart in doing so. Remeber evidence has to have meaning!!!!
For Lit; the best advice I can offer you, is be good at grammer/spelling, and THINK, what, where, why, when and how? Read Read Read the paragraphs and try and actually UNDERSTAND what is going on. Poetry sucks but so long as you can try and understand what is NOT going on (for the MCQs) and make up what is (for the FRQs) you are set. I mean, take me for example, I got a 4 and I wrote about DEATH NOTE on the free book writing question. The thing they're looking for isn't just essay perfection, but rather something interesting. In a sea of Great Gatsby's and Wuthering heights make sure to be the death note. Write something you care about, I assure you it will be recieved far better than something you don't. Also- actually read the prompt, they take off a lot of points if it's not actually answering what the prompt asks so read it carefully.
Difficulty: 2/5
My score: 4/5
FOR AP psych ngl I just listened to the book my tutor read, practiced a bit (a lot I practiced a lot), then on the day of the exam printed all the definitions to review. Obviously this strategy doesn't work for everyone, and others may need to do things differently, but so long as you remember enough for pattern recognition to kick in on the mcq's and for recall to work for the written protion you're good.
The main difficulty of this exam was admittedly the written portion, and not mixing up the definitions with each other due to similar outcomes and such.
The texbook is the goat, so read it.
Difficulty: 3/5
My score: 4/5
Practice. That is literally all you can do. same as psych pretty much except I was just winging it. (Aka, no definition print on exam day.)
My tutor however had all the past exam questions so with him I just spent the whole time practacing and reviewing.
Let me be honest…. We all know I never did summer AP prep. Not just because I was lazy, but also becasue I was never assigned any so I never thought to do any. Now that i've graduated, and freed myself from this highschool plane, I know better than to think I couldn't have done any.
But it rerally does depend.
For English lit and psych for example, I could have done prep by reading the textbook/books in advance. This would have assisted me a lot in keeping up with the coursework.
But like I said, it depends on you. I would reccommend checking the class you will take in adavance to see if you could even do any work or prep in advance. (Who am I kidding, you probably could just from the class name alone, but I think we all know you just might not want too.)
The first rule of extracurriculars you should know is that everything can be an extracurricular.
So all you really need to know is how to frame the activity as something important to what colleges want from you.
That being said, it's also good to have a few options in the back of your mind so you don't have to worry about some of the extra framing. So i'll split this section into a few smaller sections for ease.
Framing and how to do it
Clubs
Personal Projects
Summer Stuff
Do not fret, each will be explained to the best of my ability and understanding.
Have you ever bullshitted something to your parents before?
"Yeah mom, bro and I are going to do homework on this ultra 5000 gaming computer. I need the large screen ya get me?"
I assume you have.
So taking that assumption, I assume you can do it again for college.
You run a gaming club? Well it's important to practice leadership skills.
You participate in a sport? Well it's good to be healthy.
You joined an art club? Colleges like someone well rounded!
Let's be honest, let's be clear, colleges want you to look like a normal human. They want you to act like a normal human, and they want to know that the only thing in your life isn't just academics, because lets face it, you guys are smarter than me, but even with all A's there is still going to be someone the colleges will think is smarter, so show them you have a personality besides school.
Join that sport, run that club, drive that car, and make those friends but make it look like it counts.
ITS ALL MARKETING- so martket yourself, because you're awesome and cool and colleegs WILL get to know that too (and you can always call me for help :) )
There are four types of clubs you want have one your resume;
Fun club—this is the club you join just to join, it can be the writing club, the art club, the gaming club, whatever you want really. It's essentially the club you join because you like the club.
Mirror club— the club you join to look good. AKA the debate club, the science club, the study club or student council, whatever you think would align with your college related study intrests.
King club— (cringe name I know) This is the club you create, essentially the club you put together with the hope that it looks good as something you are interested in and has a leadership role for you built into it.
All rounder— this club is a roundup of points 1-3 and the one colleges most look for.
NOW REMEMBER— I said Want, not Need. Reading comprehension check; what does that mean???
It means you don't need to have every single one of these clubs on your resume. You would probably want to have at least #4 but if you don't that's okay too! just make sure to have a fun club, something you could tak about, something you could say you enjoyed. If you have a mirror club, or a king club then that's even better.
"What is a personal project?"
Something you yapp about. Soemthing that looks good, soemthing that is full of effort and can be cleary traced back to you.
A personal project could be a book, a charity, a website, a research paper- anything so long as it's made by you.
an example would be; Polygence: A project making program that pairs you up with a mentor (week-long program) + college credit applicable version
Another example is my art website(currently as writing down for matinence lol), it's mine and it's foir me so colleges like that because it shows initiative even if nothing really came from it.
Like in the name, it's a personal project, so make it personal!
SUMMER— a time off from school but not college prep. You've probably heard the lecture before, summer stuff is important, colleges shouldn't see you lacking, the opps can't jump you if you're staying active and ect. BUT WHAT YOU PROBABLY HAVEN"T HEARD IS; Commit to it.
"Commit you say?"'
Yes commit.
You want a job? here-
Work program for summer: Visit VirginiaBeach.gov/SYEP to access the application on January 15. Update all areas to reflect any new work or volunteer experience from your resume. Here is the SYEP Recommendation form so you can get in more easily. Would personally recommend the aquarium for the job (or somewhere inside, like a library). Can earn up to 3k for 1 summer.
Take the job! But don't except to do anything else that summer becasue alongside the whole COMMIT thing, you need to plan.
You want to go to a NDU camp? A tennis camp? a summer job?
Commit to what you can plan for.
NDU camp in June week 1, Tennis camp in June week 4. A job? oop looks like its all summer so you have to strike camp 1 out of there in order to make room for the J-O-B.
Plan, plan around family, plan around buget, and plan around what you think benifits you most.
Think sunk cost fallacy, you can spend time scrolling and being a chud all sumemr or you can spend time working, or you can spend time on the beach or at a camp but you can't do all at once.
You aren't Naruto. You can't clone yourself.
There is no SAT optional. Anyone who says that either doesn't know better or wants you to fail. Just taking the SAT and getting a 100 (out of 1600) is far better than not taking the SAT and getting nothing.
That being said, you do have the option to take the ACT, which may be applicable if you are a more science-based person and are good at graph and chart reading. I, personally, have only once considered this option, so I have no valuable insight into ACT vs SAT. Should you believe this is an option for you, I would make sure to double-check that the schools you may be interested in actually take the ACT. Some only take the SAT, and some only take the ACT.
AND REMEMBER(again)- It's not the end of the world if you don't do well. It is, at the end of the day, just a test. So do your best, and try, try again.
You've got this!
There will be people in your life who tell you that using Desmos is the only way to pass the SAT. Those people are dirty liars.
While Desmos is certainly an important tool to use for the SAT, and definitely one to take advantage of, it's not a crutch to rely on. Don't let them delude you into believing the tool is more important than your brain. It's not.
SAT question bank on the Collegeboard
You have options. This is the first and most important thing you should know and remember.
No matter what any parents, any counselors, or any teachers tell you, you have and will always have options.
If you saw the title and double checked out of confusion, fear not, it's here for a reason.
You are reading this as one of two options;
You have already finished applications and are looking to rank
You are checking ahead to make things easier for yourself
Either way, you are here for advice to see what the next steps are and to find which college is for you. Which is good, becasue it gets difficult.
First, I want you to ask yourself what is most important to you: is it education, is it community, is it location, or is it size?
These should all be important, but the amount of importance you place on each should differ. I valued education the most, so that was my #1 when it came to my school choice. The only reason there would be an exception was if the campus or community was so unappealing to me that it changed things. (We all know which college I am referring to here).
So before you do anything—before you finish applying, hopefully, but whenever works best (as long as it's not after enrolling)—ensure you have an idea of what is most important to you when it comes to a school.
And then remember to check the location. (Always visit a school to ensure you know what and where you are going/getting into. Online can only show so much.)
How to check and rank what I have decided to call CLOVES:
Community:
Location: (Tied with education for most important)
Opportunities:
Vibes:
Education: MOST IMPORTANT (for me at least)
Size:
What to do once you have decided for sure?
Talk is the first next step, and enrollment is the last.
Talk to your family, to your counselor, hammer out any concerns, any issues, and any fears you have of the future. Visit again to confirm if you are still worried; if not, tell everyone important you've made your final decision.
Once that is done, check the college websites to see if there is an option to withdraw the application. It should be under enrollment decision. Make sure it doesn't say confirmation. That implies a yes. Then, if the college doesn't—or you don't want to burn bridges—Make a list of colleges you will need to email to withdraw your application. None that rejected you apply to this step. Email them, thank them for their time, say you've decided to 'pursue other avenues', and reply to any questions.
After that, you can enroll in the college of your choice! Submit your deposit and check for any onboarding steps you need to do.