With testing coming up in May, the Advanced Placement social studies classes are entering review periods to prepare their students for rigorous testing.

The four Advanced Placement (AP) social studies classes offered at Park, AP European History, AP Psychology, AP U.S. History, and AP World History, all take their tests between May 1st and May 12th.

AP World History teacher Debra Skadden said classes ramp up during the review period due to the large amount of content to cover in a short time.

“I would describe (the review period) as a little bit more intense in class because we’re going to review a lot of the material,” Skadden said. “(The students) are going to do things that will require that they review a lot of the content in addition to practicing skills more for the test.”

Sophomore AP World History student Lexi Lee, said she prefers reviewing test material out of school, with study books like Princeton Review.

“In class (review) is better for learning how to do the stuff on the test like the essays that will be included,” Lee said.

AP European History, Jeff Cohen said he will provide students with review material in addition to hosting review sessions during class and before school in the morning.

“We’re reviewing old material, trying to refresh people’s memories, reviewing some of the skills. It’s kind of a summary of everything we’ve done,” Cohen said.

AP European History student Greta Long said the more she studies, the less worried she becomes about the exam itself.

“I don’t mind (preparing for the exam) […] it’s kind of a pain sometimes, it takes me a while, but I think in the end I feel more prepared and I feel more ready, so I think  it’s worth it.”

According to AP U.S. History teacher Scott Miller, students taking AP U.S. History have a review period and a final test preceding the AP test.

“I think the whole goal with AP is to give the kids those little experiences before they get to college, before they spend a lot of money,” Miller said.

“(AP tests are) a lot like any other standardized tests and  just multiple choice with essays,” student Will Lott said. “Just go over your class notes and get a good breakfast in before the test.”

AP Psychology teacher Sarah Lindenberg also said AP courses give students an idea of what work will be like in post-secondary education.

“(The AP test) prepares students for what they’re gonna be expected to do in college, which is read a chapter without a lot of instruction, and do quizzes, and write papers based on that,” Lindenberg said.

AP Psychology student Mia Spano said her class

“When we (would) have our unit tests (our teacher) would give us Free Response questions from previous tests so we could get used to those and get used to the different formats,” Spano said.“Other than that she’ll go through the material. We’ve also had our final which was really similar to the format except without a free-response question so that’s helped us prepare with the time restraints.”

AP Psychology, AP U.S. History, AP World History and AP European History will be having their exams May 1, May 5, May 11, May 12.