Dear AP Student,

Congratulations! You have just signed up to take a class that allows you a chance to earn college credit. This includes a year’s supply of tears, inside jokes and late night studying.

Do not fear, though. This class will change your life. It is rigorous, but you can make it through. As long as you prove to not only your teacher, but also yourself that you can make that qualifying score, taking this class will very much be worth it.

The Saturday study sessions are not fun. They will make you fall asleep, drift off into another world and wish that you were home schooled. However, you need to attend them. Drag yourself out of bed on that Saturday morning and make yourself go. Even though spending a Saturday with your AP classmates discussing how to write a perfect essay or how to correctly perform a hypothesis test does not sound like the best way to spend your weekend, the sessions will help you. You will receive numerous packets that you probably will not pick up again until a few weeks before the big AP exam, but you will find that the practice problems and notes really do stick with you.

Batteries! If you have decided to take an AP Math course, like AP Statistics, remember extra batteries. They will save your precious calculator so you can continue your exam with ease, and keep you from having a meltdown in front of your classmates. Trust me, they do not want to see that, especially since it is a distraction from their own exam.

If you signed up for an AP English course, remember this: literary and rhetorical devices are your friend. Do not forget about them. Always analyze! Your audience knows what the passage means on the surface, but it is your job to show them what it means beyond that. This is something I cannot stress enough: there are no, I repeat, no wrong answers. If you can back it up, you are correct.

Do not be scared to ask questions. Your teacher is there to help you, and loves to answer questions. They know almost all of the answers, and if they cannot answer it right away, they will once they find the answer. You will not look stupid. Chances are, your classmates may not have even thought to ask that question, and they are just as confused as you are. Ask every and any question that you have, because that one question will get you closer to your qualifying score.

Always work and connect with your classmates. No matter how much you dislike group work, it is important that you learn to work with them. You have them in your class all year, so get to know them. They can help you just like you can help them.

I promise that whatever score you make on your AP exam does not define how intelligent you really are. It is the hard work and dedication that you put forth towards your AP class that truly matters. What you get out of the class depends on what put in. All of the skills and knowledge that you take with you at the end of the year will be there to benefit you in college.

You have already proven that you can take on the challenge, now all you have to do is conquer it. I know you can do it.

Sincerely,

A Former AP Student That Was Just Like You