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“How To Make This April Count, For All AP Students”
Introduction
Just look at that. Not too long ago, it was just October. People were celebrating Halloween, preparing for Thanksgiving, and awaiting the joyous season of Christmas. And to open your eyes, those holidays were 4, 5, and 6 months ago. Yeah, I know, time flies.
It still feels as if New Years Eve was just last week. That it was just 2023. But no, we’re one entire third into 2024. That’s how far we’ve come.
Yet, it doesn’t feel that way.
Point is, AP season is right around the corner, and in just about a month (or less), you’ll be sitting in front of that test that you’ve been dreading for months. But, guess what? You still have time. There are going to be a lot of people online that’ll tell you to study at least 3 or so months in advance.
But, in my opinion, unless you are absolutely garbage at studying and retaining information, you should not be following this advice. It’s completely unnecessary. Soon enough, you’ll realize that you could’ve spent more of your time enjoying more valuable activities. It’s important to prioritize your schooling and learning, but don’t overdo it to the point where you start to lose aspects of your social and mental life and sanity. That’s too much.
Of course, studying this far in advance -consistently- will lead to you getting a better score than a majority of your peers. There’s no doubt about that. However, it would’ve ultimately been for nothing; considering the thousands of other better, faster, and smarter methods that you could’ve approached your studying.
The Classic Approach
The traditional approach to AP classes and studying for them is to:
- Study months in advance
- Study for “just” 1-2 hours every day, consistently
And yet, there are still people calling this “easy”. Seriously?
As we covered in a previous post, when it comes to studying, your problem has nothing to do with the time you have at your disposal, is has to deal with your approach to studying. We have an entire post explaining this, so feel free to check it out if you’ve like.
Time Isn’t In Your Favor
I know that I stated early on that time was abundant, and that you still had enough of a chance to slay that exam in May. However, that doesn’t entirely mean that time is in our favor. For that reason, I am not suggesting (and am even advising against) the traditional method of studying for the long-term. Why?
Firstly, because time isn’t in our favor compared to someone that’s still in January; with several months until the exam arrives.
Secondly, because efficiency isn’t very high in this method. If we really want to make the most of the time we spend studying, we need to be aware of how we are spending that time. Every minute counts.
The Smarter Approach
I won’t go in-depth on the precise steps you need to take to succeed academically using this method I’m about to provide; however, I probably will soon.
Either way, the notes I’ll provide below should be sufficient in regards to preparing you mentally and giving you a picture or roadmap as to the steps you’ll need to take to reach the end goal: a good score on the exam.
Step 1: Ground Zero
Imagine that you’re a student that knows absolutely nothing about anything in the curriculum. What would be the best move for them to take first? Should they start by doing some research? Or should they watch videos or lectures online? Maybe they need to take some beginner notes on what they know so far?
Brainstorm an answer to this question. Where should and would they start?
My Answer: Start by reviewing the course overview, curriculum, and exam structure. That’s the very and most important step. You need to know what you’re reviewing, what topics you’re going to cover, which ones are more important than others, how the exam is formatted, what you’ll have time for (and what you won’t), and what you skills you need to prioritize over others.
Step 2: Learn
By this point, you know what you need to cover, and thus, you must start participating in an activity I call binge learning. It’s -without a doubt at all- the best way of learning. With it, you can cover more material than you could even imagine, and still retain all of it.
To do this, you need to find a way to make learning interesting or “fun” in some way. If the content material you’re covering is already interesting to you, but you just hate doing homework (or classwork in general), then this should be easy. However, if you’re someone that completely despises the content you’re learning, then you need to find a more creative way of approaching your learning.
Ideas:
- Watch documentaries, movies, series, or any other piece of film to educate yourself, immerse yourself into the real-world environment that you’re learning, and still satisfy your dopamine centers in the meantime (meaning that you won’t get bored, and you’ll actually enjoy learning).
- Play digitalized games of the topic your learning. For example, for APUSH, there are plenty of freely accessible games on the Internet that you can play to not only educate yourself on the topics you need to master, but also immerse yourself in an environment of fun and enjoyment.
- A very popular game (that I absolutely loved) is Read Dead Redemption 2, which takes place in the United States in 1899.
- Watch podcasts and videos regarding the topic your learning. For some reason, whenever influencers gather together to talk about concepts that others might tend to consider ‘boring’, they can seemingly make it interesting like nothing. The reason has to do with the way they speak, the manner in which they converse, and their ability to turn a conversation around and make anything interesting. Think about it, if watching these got you to talk about it, ask questions, and really wonder about what you’re learning, you’d be significantly more inclined to learn more. And there we have it. Binge learning!
- Another way to take this idea is to have conversations with others. Of course, don’t take this tip with anybody. But, you can with peers learning about the same thing. Study groups are a gem that will grant you a super high ROI if you can find/form one.
- Apply the concepts to real-life. For example, if you’re learning about hydrogen atoms (chemistry), and their use in fusion energy; then use that as an opportunity to connect nuclear fusion to Iron Man’s arc reactor in the fictional Marvel movies.
This Works
Some of the ideas above might’ve surprised you, but they do work. School won’t always tell you what’s best for you. They’ll hide some of the smarter strategies to approaching high-quality learning, even if it doesn’t seem very high-quality. That part requires experience and knowledge – something very prized in today’s world.
Step 3: There’s So Much You Don’t Know
Learning is apart of studying. For that reason, you should keep on learning until there literally is nothing more for you to learn (or so you might think). The world shows us that there are an infinite number of things that we don’t know, and that you need to keep on learning and mastering our learning capabilities if you ever want to top your knowledge.
The big idea of this step is to test yourself, find what you’re weak at, and then repeat. Tackle your learning again. Proceed until there’s nothing for you to learn.
“Cheetah” Images – Unsplash.com
Conclusion
Tackle your learning directly, and find a way to make it enjoyable. Make learning fun. Make learning something that your brain craves. I learned how to do this, and let’s just say, I was able to get the best grades I’ve ever been able to get in my entire life – while barely studying.
Learning overpowers studying in every aspect. Once you know that, and know what to do with that information, you’ve won. Now what’s left is for you to act.
