TA Advisors Tell All: What Your Kids Need to Know as they prepare for APs
Welcome to AP season! We’ve rounded up some subject-specific advice from our team of advisors,* to help your child prepare as effectively as possible and ace these exams!
TA is lucky enough to have *22 advisors, each of whom was selected for their devotion to learning, their peers and their community, as well as for their excellence in one-on-one education.
“The most important thing to know about APs is that there are 5-7 central concepts for each test and seeing how concepts connect is key. Free response questions will ask students to synthesize several of these core concepts in one place, so being able to see the connections between them is crucial when preparing for any AP exam. Once you’ve mastered the basics, practice as many old free response sections as you can! After doing 2-3, start to notice which concepts get repeated; challenge yourself to understand these underlying concepts, and then work to apply those concepts when similar problems arise!"
— Dan V.
Click your preferred subjects to read helpful tips:
HUMANITIES FREE RESPONSE
“The points matter! Students are often good at scoring points on the rubric for context, evidence, and thesis arguments, but fail to analyze their evidence deeply enough to gain analysis points. These points can make a sizable difference in total possible points for free response questions, so they are essential for scoring highly on the AP exams in general.Analytical writing is difficult to master, especially in a timed exam format, but it should be given as much weight as studying and memorizing content for an AP test.Analytical writing is also an essential skill for high school, college and beyond, so the short term gains are still more valuable in the big picture!"
— Meagan H.
AP LITERATURE
“To be or not to..become a poet? One of the best ways to learn all of the poetic devices is by becoming a poet and trying them out! You'll never forget the difference between a Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnet after you've taken the time to come up with appropriate rhymes for each format!"
— Meagan H.
AP US HISTORY
“Get to know the presidents (personally)! Nickname the presidents and major figures, rank them like favorite heroes (or villains!), and put them on different "teams" to rank their successes or failures. The more you let yourself begin to form your own opinions about the people who shaped the country you live in today, the more nuanced and memorable your understanding will become!"
— Meagan H.
AP WORLD HISTORY
“Quiz yourself by putting events on flashcards with the event on one side, and year on the other, and then try putting them in chronological order by event."
— Amy GvW.
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY
“Create a timeline! Break up time periods thematically. Always be thinking about the cultural, political, and economic implications of a time period."
— Ryan W.
AP LANGUAGE & COMPOSITION
“Come to terms with the terms! Terms like counterclaims, logical fallacies, deductive reasoning, etc. can be confusing. Make sure to come up with examples of each type of rhetorical strategy to combat any confusion. You will not only use them in homework assignments, but the AP exam awards points for logical reasoning, expecting the student to recognize the author's rhetorical strategy and employ rhetorical flourishes in her or her own writing."
— Ryan W.
“To refresh your memory on books you've read in earlier years you may like to reference on the test, consider listening to audiobook versions or watching adaptations on BBC or Masterpiece Theatre."
—Amy GvW.
AP ECONOMICS
“Do I buy or sell? On the AP test, you will frequently be asked about the economic effects of our government buying bonds and selling bonds. When the Federal Reserve sells bonds, our interest rates increase, but when the Fed buys bonds, our interest rates decrease. These changing interest rates go on to affect inflation, price levels, and unemployment."
— Victor D.
AP CALCULUS
“Derivatives and integrals are the name of the game! Learn to use the derivative and integral functions on your calculator, so you don't waste time trying to evaluate them by hand. When working with graphs, always determine if the graph you are given is the original function, first derivative, or second derivative in the context of the problem."
— Allison LV.
AP STATISTICS
“Tap into your inner scientist! A lot of the questions in this subject concern experimental design. Having students design their own small experiments is a great way to get them to learn about sampling, control groups, variables, and other factors of research."
— Sean N.
AP CHEMISTRY
“Study those bonds! Take the time to memorize polyatomic ions and solubility rules early on; you will always need them. Get comfortable with dimensional analysis; it will never disappoint you and you won't lose points for not writing down a mole ratio."
— Allison LV.
AP BIOLOGY
“Take advantage of outside resources! YouTube is my go-to resource for learning about cell anatomy and behavior, specifically mitosis and meiosis."
— Ben J.
AP COMPUTER SCIENCE
“Mind your syntax! Make sure you know how and where square brackets, curly brackets, parentheses, and semicolons. Correct usage is an easy way to score points— and mistakes here are so preventable."
— Katie F.
AP SPANISH
“Been anywhere hispanohablante? If so, refresh your memory by talking through photos with a travel companion so you're primed for the Cultural Comparison FRQ! Also, practice applying Spanish language filler words (like 'o sea' instead of 'I mean') to convincingly segue during the spoken portion!"
— Will R.
AP FRENCH
“Make listening to French radio a habit -- throw TV5Monde on once a day to improve listening and comprehension."
— Hallie H.
AP LATIN
“Look at the bigger picture! AP Latin students should periodically take some time to pull back from the nitty gritty details of grammar and look at the bigger picture of the story they are translating. Understanding the plot of the Aeneid or De Bello Gallico is crucial on the AP exam and it makes the work more enjoyable too!"
