If one has not noticed the lower-than-normal attendance in classes, the higher-than-normal stress levels from students, or the lack of sleep exhibited by classmates, one might not know what time of year it is. Beginning each year in early May,  it is none other than the Advanced Placement exams season. 

In this ten-day schedule of exams for over 30 different courses, students enrolled in AP-level courses from around the world have the opportunity to measure their understanding and mastery of a subject through a two- to three-hour test that can ultimately lead to college credits before enrolling in a college or university.

This year at NA, over 216 students took one exam, 156 took two, and nearly 100 students took three.  It was not uncommon, however, for some students to sit for four, five, or even six exams over the two-week exam administration.  According to data provided by the NASH School Counseling Department, six students sat for seven exams and one student for a whopping eight.

Many studious and dedicated NASH students prepared for these exams for months in hopes of receiving a score that represents their hard work and subject proficiency.

NASH student and Senior Class President Coleman Walsh went above and beyond this year, enrolling in an impressive seven AP tests, including Psychology, English Literature and Composition, Computer Science A, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Statistics, and Music Theory. 

“The AP teachers at North Allegheny have a pretty good handle on what is included on the exams, so the review we did in each of my AP classes was very helpful and I think I will see good results come July,” Walsh stated. “I definitely recommend picking up credit in AP or CHS classes when possible, because my college accepts basically all of my credit, so I will be entering as a sophomore if I play my cards right.”

Although NASH senior Drew Lopuszynski believes that he could have studied for his three AP examinations more, he is hoping for scores that will allow him to bypass the subjects of psychology, calculus, and biology in his college years. 

“I probably did not prepare for as long as I should have, but I studied by watching YouTube videos, doing the in-class reviews, and googling cram sheets and those helped a lot,” Lopuszynski explained. “So far I have only taken the AP Psychology and AP Calculus AB tests and I think I did pretty well with Psychology, but I cannot say the same for Calculus as it was really tough.”

NASH senior Dilara Marasli originally enrolled in two AP tests – Psychology and Statistics – but ultimately decided to cancel her Statistics exam.

“I did not feel prepared for the AP Statistics test and after I committed to my university, I saw that they would not accept that statistics credit because it is a core class for my major, so I just canceled it,” Marasli said. “I believe my psychology test went fairly well because I used the review that we did in class and used resources that Mrs. Failla gave out to her students.”

Like Marasli, NASH senior Nina Miller also took the AP Psychology test and believes she performed as well as she could have during the two-and-a-half-hour exam. 

“Even though I did not prepare for the test as much as I should have, I think it went alright,” Miller explained. “For me, the free-response questions were a lot easier than the multiple-choice ones, so I’m hoping for a decent score in July.”

Even though NASH senior Siena Gallo finds that math typically comes more easily to her, she thought that the AP Calculus AB exam was quite difficult. 

“The month-long review that we did in my AP Calculus class certainly helped me freshen up for what was to come on the AP test,” Gallo stated. “Even though I perform well in my day-to-day calculus class, I thought the test was pretty hard, but hopefully I did better than I think.”

NASH senior Gabe Mudd bravely signed up for six AP tests this year and even recognizes what might possibly be a huge factor in performing well on these tests. 

“I feel like a big part of getting the score one desires is having the endurance to push through and finish each question under a time clock while staying focused on the material,” Mudd advised. “I feel like doing that is almost more important than knowing the subject material itself.”

NASH senior Lindey Glinoga decided to take three AP tests this year, but all she can say about them is how she felt when she turned them in. 

“My favorite part of the whole experience was putting the sticker seals on the Scantron that officially locked in my answers and showed that I was finally done,” Glinoga said. “I felt extremely relieved and finally at peace.”

With only three days left on the Advanced Placement exam calendar, AP students have their eyes on finishing out the rest of the week and the remainder of the school year strong while finally feeling a sense of relief and accomplishment. Hopefully, as the week comes to an end, more and more students will develop this calmness and start to direct their thoughts towards summer.