After two weeks of Advanced Placement (AP) testing, Carlmont High School students are reflecting on the stress, pressure, and preparation that came with some of the longest and most demanding exams of the school year.
AP exams, administered by the College Board each May, are cumulative tests that can earn students college credit depending on their scores.
While some students take only one AP class, others take several exams within a short testing window.
Emily van Sebille, an AP Seminar teacher at Carlmont, said AP testing season can be especially intense for underclassmen experiencing the exams for the first time.
“I’ve noticed that students tend to be stressed, so a lot of my focus is encouraging them to be prepared,” van Sebille said.
Since AP Seminar is offered to both sophomores and juniors, van Sebille said many students enter the testing environment without prior AP exam experience.
“AP Seminar is very unique in that half of the AP score is done before students sit down for the exam, so a lot of what I focus on with test preparation is simply calming their nerves because they haven’t been in an environment like that,” van Sebille said.
For Carlmont sophomore Alina Robinson, this year marked her first experience taking AP exams through AP World History and AP Seminar.
“I initially expected AP classes to be extremely hard, as well as the AP exams. I assumed because the exams were going to be three hours long and since I heard they were difficult, that they were going to be some level of impossible,” Robinson said. “Surprisingly, though, my AP exams were far easier than I expected.”
Although Robinson said the material itself was not as overwhelming as she imagined, the testing environment felt very different from her traditional high school exams.
“My AP exams definitely felt different from other tests I’ve taken in high school. The environment of AP exams is definitely more tense than regular tests,” Robinson said.
While some students faced the challenge of taking AP exams for the first time, other students balanced several AP classes and exams at once.
“There is a desire from the student community to start taking AP classes as early as possible,” van Sebille said.
According to van Sebille, AP season can become particularly draining for students taking multiple exams within the two week-testing period.
“At the sophomore level, there are only two offerings, although generally, as students get older, some start taking five-plus APs in a single year,” van Sebille said. “That level of academic stress can have a negative toll, but our community of students is also well prepared to balance these heavy workloads.”
Carlmont junior Chloe Rui took five AP classes this year, including AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, AP Language and Composition, AP Calculus BC, and AP United States History.
“Balancing my coursework during the year and then during the two AP weeks was a lot busier and more stressful than it was last year when I only took one AP,” Rui said.
Rui noted that managing multiple AP classes requires strong time management skills throughout the year, especially when balancing sports, extracurriculars, and other responsibilities.
“Throughout the year it’s been very busy trying to balance all the coursework, but I’ve found that if you break it up and schedule your time properly, it’s definitely manageable even with extracurriculars like sports seasons,” Rui said.
Beyond the workload itself, many students acknowledge the pressure to take more AP classes due to Carlmont’s competitive academic environment.
“There is definitely a lot of pressure to take AP classes at Carlmont because of how competitive it is,” Rui said. “There’s always a lot of discussion about which AP classes you’re taking and how many.”
Even with the stress of multiple AP classes and exams, Rui still believes the experience was overall positive.
“Taking five AP classes is definitely worth it because it adds to your course rigor. In AP classes, learning also happens at a quicker rate, so you feel like you learned more throughout the year,” Rui said.
As students finish AP testing and wait for scores to be released in July, many reflect on the challenges and expectations that come with AP culture at Carlmont, as well as how the intensity of AP season can leave many students mentally exhausted after weeks of preparation and testing.
“The AP season can lead to some level of burnout because after that very intense two-week AP period, a lot of students are cognitively drained,” van Sebille said.
Despite the stress surrounding AP exams and scores, van Sebille encourages students to prioritize balance and perspective throughout the process.
“I would encourage students to prioritize sleep, giving brain breaks, and believing in themselves and their skills, ” van Sebille said. “While a five is ideal, a perfect score isn’t everything.”
