BRBIMSTUDYIGN

hufflepuff: determined, leather jackets, earphones, works hard and smart, sarcastic smirks, treats people with kindness, blasting music, respects rules, constantly sends memes to their friends, not afraid to stand up for what’s right

ravenclaw: inspired by nature, scrunchies, bullshits an entire essay and still gets a high grade, really messy, oversized hoodies, artistic, goes to coffee shops for the aesthetics, loves reading fantasy books, street smart, random facts

oh boy do ijk it’s been at least 2-3 years since i took ap classes but i sure do have some tips for you!

ap calc tips

it’s not that bad, just find as many old exams as you can and practice, practice, and practice! i know that it’s cliche, but the more you understand the format and the concepts that the ap calc wants, the easier the course will be!

heres an amazing derivative cheat sheet to help you study because derivatives and integrals are gonna be the biggest thing you need, my dude

here’s an amazing ap calculus guide / tutorial post

coping with math (math for people who aren’t good at math)

another cheat list of calculus

beyond that, i don’t really remember much about the ap calc exam, tbh? 

i’d just say make sure you’re solid on terminology and stuff too!

apush tips

i nailed that thing, apush was easy af

know your dates

and for the essays and short answer stuff a lil cheat thing is to know enough information about either women (women’s events like suffrage or smth), a minority group, or something along those lines. 

if you look at old exams, the prompts will always have something about these topics, so if you know enough information about them, just writing all the facts about the topics is enough that your argument doesn’t need much fleshing out bc ur bombarding them with sm information.

idk if that made any sense but it worked for me so idk lmao

apush crunch time masterpost

apush masterpost (her notes are so good, highly recommend)

apush resources

1. Remember why you started – what your reasons were. What was the “spark” that got you going, and inspired you to begin on the journey you are on?

2. List all the reasons why you can persevere, and make it to the end so you reach your goal. Remind yourself you have what you need to succeed.

3. Give yourself permission to give up if you choose. That reminds you that it’s you who is in control. You’re choosing to do this as it’s what you want to do.

4. Think of all the reasons why you should persevere – as that stops you focusing on why you should give up. What are the benefits? What will you gain? How will you feel when you’ve reached your goal?

5. Instead of concentrating on the struggle and the effort, focus all that energy on looking for solutions.

Hiya everyone so AP self studying (i.e., taking an AP test without also taking a class on it) is a great way to earn more AP credit (which colleges love), and can be easier than you think. 

So in case you’re interested, or just curious, here’s a masterpost where I’ve compiled a bunch of self-study resources and tips. I hope you find it helpful !!

ESSENTIALS (all of these are gold)

which AP’s should I even attempt by myself? : vvvvv helpful article. Make sure you have read this before deciding which AP’s to go for; I highly highly recommend it.

choosing the right prep book : best pdf guide (from a guy who aced 22 ap’s!!) make sure the edition you buy is up to date !!

free textbooks masterpost : you need a competent, up-to-date, AP-level textbook for the subject[s] you plan to take. it will be the source all of your material, so you need to interact with it (more on that below). your textbook is like your teacher, only the difference is you get to choose whether it’s a good one or not! 

annotating from textbooks : this is a v helpful youtube video. It is a great way to take your own notes from your textbooks interactively without getting bored.

tutors and study groups : you don’t have to study alone! There is always the option to work with a tutor or study group, which can relieve a lot of your stress.  

plan with excel : time management is the most important part of self studying. No one’s giving you a test, no one’s assigning you homework, and no one is making you show up to class. Sooo it’s up to you to designate some regular time to study. Excel can be an extremely helpful tool for planning (more on how to study below)

chibird : always cheers me up!

masterpost of calming things 

advice on balancing 3+ AP’s

when you want to give up 

HOW TO GO ABOUT IT (in which I actually give advice)

You need to put in time and dedication, because the best way to self-study is to literally set up a mini class for yourself.

No, you do not have to take out 50 minutes of every single day! But you will need to designate regular time to read from a textbook, take notes, and even give yourself tests, if you’re up for that. 

Helpful time ideas: My cousin self-studying for AP Psychology this year and she takes out one hour of every Saturday and Sunday to read from her textbook and review! (the moral of this story is that weekends are v good times to self-study!) Find at least one time every week where you are free for at least one hour and use that hour to study! 

Divide your time into learning and reviewing. I like to use half of my designated study block for learning new material, and half for reviewing old material. 

Every so often, do a cumulative review. My rec = every 3 weeks. Cumulative reviews are extremely important because you don’t want all the information falling out of your head when you are working so hard to learn it !!

Use good review methods that work for you! Check out the Feynman method (I just discovered it, it’s neat). Do whatever you want for your review, just make sure it helps you :D +5 super secret study tips omg

GIVE YOURSELF TESTS!!! This is so important! Studies show that you learn material much better if you write a quiz or test on it. (This is a legit study I swear but I am just too lazy to look it up right now :DD) It’ll be just like real class! And ok if you don’t want to write your own, I would recommend your AP prep book.

Finally: please remember that there is a difference between losing your motivation, and realizing that you are too are too stressed or can’t handle your workload. Your metal health and your sleep are always more important than an extra AP. If self-studying is costing you sleep or happiness, it is not worth it.

Friends: wow dude! You’re gonna have to give a speech!

INTJ: no

Friends: wHy NoT

INTJ: I took fewer AP classes this year so I’m not overloaded and I don’t have to give a speech

Friends: you would give up the rewards of being first or second in your class to not give a speech

History/Social Studies

AP Human Geography (HUG/HUGE)

I need an AP HUG

HUGE pain in my ass

AP US History

APUSH me off a cliff

Andrew Jackson Fan Club

Trail of Tears

AP World History

AP World of Pain

In the YOOphrates river

Change and continuity of my sanity over time

AP Government and Politics

AP partisanship

conCERNED CITIZENS

the birds work for the bourgeoisie

AP Comparative Government and Politics

Why America is better

Why America is trash

AP European History

AP prejudice

AP eurocentrism

Science

AP Biology

AP mitochondria studies

med school prep

AP Chemistry

Organic Chemistry lite

The catalyst of my depression

eNsLaVeD mOiStUrE

AP Environmental Science

Not an AP

AP Computer Science A

Hey do you like java

Our anxiety is a recursive function

AP Ay what’s going on

AP logic

Math

AP Statistics

Not Calculus

AP Graphs, Numbers, and Lines

AP Calculus AB/BC

We’re better than stat

AP Algebra

AP Suicide

1 person knows what we’re doing

AP who did the homework

Foreign Languages

AP French Language and Culture

Je ne comprende pas

Qu’est ce que le français?

Je vous mourir

Le baguette choisit le magicien, monsieur potter

AP Spanish Language and Culture

¿Donde está la biblioteca?

AP German Language and Culture

AP beer

English

AP Language and Composition

AP Letters

This is fine

Discount AP Lit

AP Literature and Composition

We are better than Lang

Lang part 2

AP Anglophilia

AP Seminar/AP Research

overachievers club

we’re in over our heads

Arts

All Studio Art APs

AP procrastination

AP Music Theory

This class is a fermata

I can’t hear for shit

Early American history: fuckin British

Later American history: fuckin industrialization

defense against the dark arts: an ominous skeleton hanging overhead in the classroom, decorating notebooks with DADA stickers, escaped pixies, patronus frustration, old scrolls rolled up with feathered quills in ink

potions: summoning fog from a cauldron, forgetting which vial has which ingredient, forgetting bottles in the common room, dusting off your ancient textbook, stuffy lab stations with bubbling brews

astronomy: enormous planet charts, plotting constellations in a notebook, galaxy paintings, stargazing on a clear night, practicing makeup that looks like glittering stars

herbology: being protective over ancient botanical illustrations, the scent of dried herbs and flowers, finally drawing examined specimens perfectly, doodling on jar labels, collecting herbs in a leather satchel

alchemy: having no space in your bag for supplies, lining up the numerous textbooks on your desk, decluttering the workspace for a project, bleeding colors from a concoction, labeling skulls and bones

ancient runes: admiring the decorated textbook cover, piling up the shining stones, carving ancient symbols into old driftwood, charting codes and lunar cycles, mysterious alphabets, groaning at using so many different dictionaries

divination: a sparkling crystal ball, giggling while reading tarot, struggling to pull off a difficult card trick, studying black crystals, trying to burn herbs with a tiny candle, second-guessing the symbol chart that you’ve made

muggle studies: art history notes, buying a brand new notebook, chipping the edge of your wand, enjoying Muggle music, coffee with the newspaper, the flash of a polaroid camera, gel pens to doodle on pages

care of magical creatures: dragons in the air, visiting Hagrid’s hut, letting it slip that you love bowtruckles, photographing a unicorn for the aesthetic, hiding a niffler in the commonroom, not as easy a class as you thought it’d be

So, as you may have noticed, May is right around the corner and quickly creeping up to us. 

And that means AP Tests. Oh boy.

I’ve got a few messages requesting some classes, so I am going to do a broad generalization for a few courses. 

AP SCIENCES

Whether it be chemistry or bio, remember not to get overwhelmed with the insane amount of info in your textbook. DO NOT REREAD CHAPTERS. Skim, read chapter summaries, look at chapter notes online (coursenotes is a great website for this). Rereading the book will over stress you and discourage you from your objective:

Get the big picture, focus on important details, and move on. We only have a week, so do NOT get caught up on these things. Watch Bozeman videos or Khan Academy. If you find you are spending 6 hours on a topic, thats your sign that you are taking too long. 

Also: get used to the multiple choice format (for bio kids) and learn how to skim/take notes on the test. Its ok to make your paper look crappy with tons of pencil marks. 

AP HISTORY

Again, do not forget the big picture– they like turning points, how events affected civilians and other countries around them, and comparisons. Get a few dates memorized so you can slap them on your test. It looks good on an FRQ. For DBQ’s my best advice is to try to get through the reading fast and jot down notes. These things will slow you down and suck up all your time, so use it wisely. 

AGAIN: Get the big picture, focus on important details, and move on.

AP MATH

Get used to the format. You may know the subject material really well, but that doesn’t mean much when their choice of words is abstract and confusing. Take FRQs. Practice multiple choice. Learn what graphs mean when relating them to other functions (I’m looking at you, derivatives!!). Master the ‘hint’ words like rates, average, accumulation etc that will help guide you on the test. 

AP LIT

LOOK AT THE QUESTIONS FIRST. They will reveal what the passages are about. Read fast, take notes, read it again. Answer some questions. If they take too long? Move on and the next question may help you answer your previous question. For essays, ADDRESS ALL PARTS OF THE PROMPT. That is extremely important. And for at least one passage, they will recommend that you use the given literary terms so USE IT AND EXPAND ON IT. Review some literary terms for some books you read during the year and then relax. You can’t really study for this test, just trust in your abilities and get used to the time limit. 

To all AP students: I wish you luck on your studying! Breathe, drink lots of water, and change environments. Sometimes studying in one place will suck out your soul. Reward yourself. Take small breaks. You can do this and will do this!

Hello, tumblr!

Today, I’m going to talk about AP Calculus! It has a reputation as one of the hardest AP courses, not without desert; it is heavy with concepts and requires a high degree of proficiency in all the math that comes before it. It is also enormously useful for a variety of fields, from architecture to medicine, and can be a lot of fun to do! Some tips:

Prepare

Most AP Calc courses come after a substantial list of prerequisites: Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, and whatever your school calls the mish-mash of topics falling under pre-calculus. It is imperative to be comfortable with these when you start; calculus uses all of them.

Specifically:

Know. The. Trigonometric. Circle. Know it like the back of your hand (if you are someone who studies each detail of your hand carefully like the weirdo who came up with this saying)

Make sure you know the trigonometric identities too, back and forth.

You will need the formulas from Geometry. These aren’t as hairy as the trigonometric ones imo, but still good to know so you don’t have to relearn them later.

Make sure you are comfortable with algebraically changing expressions from one form to another. Factoring and reducing expressions will be super important.

If you have a hard time with any of these, it’s ok; you can review them! If you find that you have forgotten anything you need during your course, see if you can find some excercises in it online or in a book, and do a few so that you are comfortable with it.

Practice

AP Calc involves some proofs, but most of the course is about learning how to do specific types of operations. The best way to prepare is to just do the problems you are assigned for homework, then do more as time passes or if you have a hard time with a particular one.

Memorize formulas as they are introduced. Review them often. Do problems with them.

If you do not understand a concept:

Try to break down why. Do you understand part of it? Write down what you know. See what it is that is stopping you.

Try drawing a picture. Label it. See if you can relate your problem to the visual geometry.

Try working a problem. See where you stop understanding it. Ask yourself why you are doing each step. See if you can explain to yourself.

Look at a worked problem. Explain each step to yourself. See where you stop understanding.

If there a proof involved? Work through the proof, making sure you understand each step. This can give you a solid foundation.

Go to your teacher or a friend with specific questions.

The FRQs and MCQs from previous tests are a goldmine. Do every one you can get your hands on. For FRQs, compare your answers to the model answers given on the College Board website. Mark everything you do wrong. Try to remember it and do it right next time you do a similar problem.

FRQs are great because they tend to incorporate multiple concepts, giving you practice, and they also follow similar patterns. Getting used to those patterns is really helpful.

The Test

Do some full practice tests. Time yourself. Note the concepts you get wrong and review them. Ask someone about things that give you trouble.

Make sure you know all your formulas well.

Make sure you can do everything you will need to with your calculator.

Part of the test is no-calculator. Make sure you can do the sort of problems which appear there without your calculator.

When you take the test:

Sleep.

0/10 do not recommend late night cramming the night or two before the test.

Change your calculator’s batteries. Just so you’re certain it won’t die on you.

Have something to drink on you.

On the MCQs, skip problems you can’t do quickly and come back to them. I recommend:

Doing all the easy problems first. The ones that you get instantly. Just read the rest.

Come back and do the ones you need some time for. Ignore any if you have no idea how start or take a lot of time.

Come back for these on the third pass.

They’re all worth the same amount, so don’t worry about specific ones; just get as many as you can right.

Show. You. Work. On the FRQs. Write down everything you can.

If you don’t know how to do the first part of a problem, but the second part relies on it, just pick a number you think is reasonable for the answer to the first part, and use it. You can still get credit for the second part if you use that number correctly.

Don’t stress out too much. Even if you feel terribly, it is quite possible that you did will.

For illustration, I took BC, and I literally cried after the test, because I thought I did terribly. I got a five. The percentage you need to get right to do well is low, and how you feel does not predict how you do.

Take a bit of time for yourself afterwards. It’s going to be May. The weather will be beautiful. Breathe it in. :)

my posts on:

ap in general

ap english literature