HOW TO MASTER AP EXAMS (I self-studied for 8 and you can too!)

So yeah, I self-studied for 8 AP exams the night before. And you can too! But probably don't wait till the actual night before, because that was pretty stressful.
The score calculator website is called AP Pass: appass.com/calculators/
To sum up my advice since I tend to ramble:
1) Cramming is actually important. It's much more time-intensive to memorize facts that you WILL eventually forget over the long term, so you might as well just learn them before the exam.
2) Review books are an excellent resource for cramming because they condense big-picture information and highlight facts.
3) Practice exams are essential so that you prepare for taking the exam itself, not necessarily for know the material, because test-taking strategy is a huge part of success on AP Exams.
4) Confidence is vitally important. Actively practice being confident about your answers and do everything you can to maintain your emotional and mental stamina during the exam.
Remember, intelligence helps people understand concepts more quickly and develop test-taking strategy more quickly than the average person, because the concept of intelligence has to do with problem-solving. However, even if you don't think you are "smart," investing your time into developing test-taking skills rather than raw memorization or mastery of concepts will help you succeed on test with much less understanding and effort.
Tl;dr: That annoying person next to you that never studies and always does well on tests is not necessarily understanding the material better than you, they are using a better strategy to prepare for the exam.
If you were curious, the exams I took with classes were: World History (4), Environmental Science (5), Calculus BC (5, 5), US History (5), English Language (5), and Statistics (5)
Then I self-studied for: Psychology (5), US Government and Politics (5), Comparative Government (4), Macroeconomics (4), Human Geography (5)
And I self-studied but had some course experience in: Microeconomics (5), Biology (5), Spanish Language (4)
Five of them were in senior year, so they weren't a component of my college applications (though I did mention it in my interviews).
If you want admissions counseling or essay editing, I offer these services through my website: danielledupreez.com/
Contact: [e-mail]
Instagram: @xxdupreez
Camera: iPhone 7
Sound: iPhone 7
Lighting: Natural
Editing: iMovie
Have a great day, friends! :)
PS: ~ go vegan ~

[@danielledupreez]

Hey guys! Shameless self promotion, but if you're interested in having me edit your college essays at an affordable price ($20 for a standard Common App essay), then please check out my website: danielledupreez.com/

[@jackyzhang4915]

ur advice is so helpful! I will keep this in mind when i take ap gov, macroecon, and in addition to that i'm going to take ap euro as well.

[@hiyashah2335]

HMU in a year haha

[@Faizan_Khan40]

Hi I am a senior about to graduate and have no Ap classes what do you say is my best chance are in Ap exams

[@Nina-co4jd]

Will this also be offered next year? Hopefully for ED oe EA too please, thank you!

[@andrewna14]

UGH this video breaks all my confidence lol. The fact that she can just read a whole book the night before and get a 5 make me feel sooo stupid

[@danielledupreez]

+AndrewNAG Having less of a test-taking intuition doesn't mean you're stupid :) Find what works for you and you WILL feel smart because you ARE smart!

[@meanttobe3872]

the difference between your iq and hers does.you're smart just own it. people can't do what you did.

[@siddhantwatwani5510]

Next Video: I became a doctor after just 1 year of college and you can too!

[@justanotherweirdo11]

Lmao

[@joshmakesdrinksandjokes]

omg you should change your name to procrastination queen lol

[@jennatran9082]

If anything, you’re living proof of the fact that cramming for AP exams works. I have 7 coming up bc I signed up for 4 impulsively lol so wish me luck.

[@corn8591]

please come back and update on how it went

[@tseptengurung1179]

HOWD IT GO

[@Nina-co4jd]

How did they go?

[@hailp9058]

After 7 minutes of watching this girl I feel like I've known her for years.

[@UnknownCartoonEditor]

I’m reflecting on this... and I don’t think it’s very sound advice. Cramming a bunch of information is going to hurt you, especially if you don’t know how to easily express it. So advice to current AP students - do NOT procrastinate until the day before to study. Some people can wing these tests from procrastinating because they have decent test taking strategies, but I don’t think most of them do. Probably 5% of procrastinators actually pass these exams, and maybe 3% get high scores. Of course what might work for me might not work for you. But it’s better to actively listen in your class

[@danielledupreez]

Oh yeah, I am not recommending to do what I did. My point is kind of like you should study, but you should ALSO cram. Like cramming will 100% elevate your score above just your standard studying throughout the year, even though people often say the “ideal” is not having to study at all right before the exam. I think it’s extremely rare to be totally prepared without having ANY need to cram in the days leading up to the exam. Intensive pre-exam studying accompanied with some positive stress can turn a 4 student who worked hard during the year into a 5 student during the exam.

[@anjalihooda2342]

Police speak cook more.

[@jesuschrist6579]

You: I️ waited till the night before the exam to study Me: I️ waited till the morning of the exam

[@danielledupreez]

i feel ya

[@manuelm2307]

You had 6 sophomore year.. I only had the option to take 2... I'm a junior now soon to be taking only 1 AP class because administrators messed up my schedule. Hoping to self study for AP World, AP Psychology, and AP Spanish.

[@danielledupreez]

Making the most of what you got!

[@maddog2439]

my school only offers 1 ap course, and next year they're getting rid of it.

[@cl4redon]

very cool!! personally super busy and constantly fretting about wanting to take more APs (because the transfer credit is more reliable than dual enrollment as you said). I had always known this was a Thing but thought it seemed outlandish & superhuman. But, I will definitely consider it now, particularly the APs that aline with courses i've already taken- thanks 4 tha info

[@anikatho6935]

THIS VIDEO WAS SO GOOD!! Thanks for the advice

[@lilykwiatkowski6289]

Thank you for all of your tips! I will definitely keep them in mind! You are awesome!

[@NJ18_]

I’m self studying for ap Spanish this year- thanks for this!

[@sarahbautista7893]

i was only able to take 1 exam freshman year: ap world. the whole year i'd get Cs and looow Bs on my exams. i barely scraped to keep my grade at a B, but only because i never tried. i studied for the 3 days before the exam. when i got to the exam, i was already in a state of defeat. i felt like i was going to get a 2, but i knew i still had to at least try. the mcq was a hit or miss. i knew that i either aced or completely flopped it. i answered 6 out of the 12 saq questions, and i knew at least half of them were wrong. i didn't even write anything for the leq. for the dbq, though, i tried as hard as i could. it was the section i was the most confident for, and i knew i got all 7 points. when i used a vpn that summer to nervously check my score, i saw i got a 5 and froze in shock. i believe that waiting to study a couple days before really helps. without that, i wouldn't have scored so high when i barely knew anything before. now i have 4 exams this year: macro, us gov, lang, and euro. lang is really freaking me out because i obviously have time issues when writing, but hopefully i get 5s on the rest! and i haven't started studying yet 🙃

[@justanotherweirdo11]

What'd you get?

[@fluffypocky]

Omg. Thank you for this. I took AP Human Geography last year and did not take that class seriously but got a 5 on it. I probably don't know many vocabulary terms or much about the different models and such lol, so I do attribute a lot of that success to my test taking skills. I want to be a US National AP Scholar and maybe State AP Scholar. It would be pretty cool to get these recognitions by my sophomore year, so I would have to self-study for three exams since I'm taking four AP classes (To be a National scholar, you need 4+ on at least eight exams). I didn't think about having to pay full price for exams for which you didn't take a class, so I will now have to take that into consideration after speaking with my counselor. If money is not an issue, then I will have so much motivation and confidence to score well on AP exams because of this video. Thank you for the useful tips!

[@danielledupreez]

Aww good to hear!

[@thatweirdscienceguy9880]

Can you please make a how to get a 5 on AP Environmental Science.

[@Perfectionsify]

Yesssss I love your videos soo much

[@palmtree6794]

What type of study/prep books did you use for the exams?

[@annaevans3346]

My school openly offers 1 AP a year. Not even brought up till Junior year... totally feel overwhelmed

[@christinanguyen8676]

When you take AP world history for two years and get a three...

[@emanahmad4014]

rippp i was going to self study for that

[@jeremyb807]

omg it's a 2 year class at your school 2 i thought i was the only school i don't think that's good because i'm in between the first and second year rn and i already forgot everything from the first year

[@danielledupreez]

AP World was my first AP exam and I was so cocky, I thought I didn't have to try. I got a 4 and momentarily considered contacting CollegeBoard to confirm it was not an error. LOL. I was literally crushed though. But in the future I started taking them seriously! Don't worry, I will always have a special hatred for AP World too.

[@MedicineMomvlog]

Wow that is amazing!

[@Perfectionsify]

I took the AP Bio exam for 2015-2016 and studied the Princeton book for like a few days. Then I got to the test and didn't know anything, not even one question, so I just guessed. Then I got a 3 lol our teacher didn't care at all about the ap test lol everyone besides my friend and me failed.

[@aunicorn3812]

3 is a failing score tho...

[@Perfectionsify]

A Unicorn nah it passing google it

[@molinaproductions123]

iv tbh I hated the Princeton review book for Biology it was super brief

[@timqiao8293]

lol Princeton book for bio is not that good if you used Barron's you probably would have aced it!lol

[@johnbrown9654]

A Unicorn no it’s a passing score only 2 and a 1 is a failing score !

[@arjunmehta3786]

Omg how did you read an entire prep book the night before and remember stuff! Please explain!!!

[@danielledupreez]

ADHD + intense pressure = laser focus

[@danielledupreez]

But really though, you kind of have to play it up for yourself. I tell myself, it's now or never and I just have to do it. I have to focus like its the most interesting thing I ever read. I reread bullet or bold terms lots of times and until I can say them all back before I move on, and I do the practice questions, so that when I get an answer wrong I can rehearse it. I never waste time thinking about questions or terms I got right the first time, because there's a high probability that I will be able to get them right again if they're presented on a test.

[@carlosortega1384]

Maybe ADHD medication had some role?

[@jakewenczkowski1056]

Carlos Ortega this girl is a psycho

[@jackyzhang4915]

im deciding on between ap euro or human geo for my senior year next year. i'm leaning towards ap euro even though i heard it's harder, more dense, and conceptualized. I personally have held a deep interest in european culture, and history.

[@UnknownCartoonEditor]

Probably unrelated, but: How did you study for your AP Calculus BC exam?

[@enriqueflores9792]

Great VIdeo!

[@paolaorozco7531]

At my school we aren't able to take AP calculus sophomore year we have to take it only senior year and we don't even have BC offered

[@ILikeFeelingElectric]

Imma self study for the Calc AP exams and try to ace them to show the teachers at my school that I intentionally declined taking AP classes cause they're a scam.

[@annliyageorge328]

Please help me out!!!!!! Is it enough to just rely on the prep books or should I even study from the text books. I am an Indian student and my school does not offer AP so all this is new to me but I want to take the AP exams so I hope you will reply.

[@harmanjotsingh4230]

Is 10 too many? I am asking during summer since I already got 3 for my junior year coming up. I am going to self study 7 that I wasn't able to, and they are all related to my major and career. Please give me feedback before end of August, someone.

[@madisonpage5661]

81$? Mine are 175/180$ each, and I'm taking four in 9th grade (I live in Canada, and I don't have grade 12, so I have to take a lot each year).

[@manarz702]

Can you go into further detail about your scoring method with the dashes and squiggles? I’m really interested in knowing how you do it!

[@danielledupreez]

So, I put a long dash when I felt like it was a wild guess, and I really don’t know. I put a squiggle when I was between two answer choices, or I’m pretty unsure in general but feel like my answer is correct. Then, I calculate how much I miss, but give myself 1/4 points back (or however many answer choices) for long dashes and 1/2 point for squiggles. The lowest possible score I could get is the one calculated from the total count of squiggles and dashes, the likely score is the one where I give myself points back, and the optimistic score is the one where I give myself no points for long dashes but full points for squiggles. Lol. Hope that makes sense.

[@manarz702]

AP Queen Thank you so much for sharing this technique! I loved the video and am very grateful that you commented back so quickly! I subscribed!

[@patrickmcnally949]

what do you put if you are confident in the answer that you put and do you factor that in to your system? lol im just trying to figure it out haha! loved the vid!!

[@philojoonie]

Patrick McNally I was thinking that as well 😀

[@Jjj-yc8sh]

What books can i use for Ap biology? And any tips for Ap human geography and Ap biology

[@cam.zx6r]

Barron's is a good one

[@JaydaB.]

Y’all don't realize she has a photographic memory

[@bobbill3093]

that fidget spinner

[@arpitagaggar6091]

Our AP tests are $100 or $140 each even if you took the class 😑

[@MrTheManav]

Sameee

[@davrosgnot1723]

Arpita Gaggar my schools poor so it’s $5 lol

[@justanotherweirdo11]

$25 if you take the class and you are not poor. Free for low income students. And if my school website is correct it's free if you don't take the class.

[@catarinafecury1131]

What book guides did you use?

[@huntermartin8572]

What AP Biology book did you use?

[@danielledupreez]

+Hunter Martin Barons

[@umbrella3028]

So when you self studied what did you use the internet, books or both. I wanna self study for AP chemistry and AP physiology but I really have no idea where to start, what study tools should I use???🤔🤔

[@danielledupreez]

Just the study books. Not textbooks, literal review books. I found that they were concise enough to get straight to the point with things, and not give a lot of extra info, which is exactly what I needed.

[@umbrella3028]

AP Queen Ok thank, if you don't mind me asking what company did you use because I'm going to order Princeton edition of the AP classes I want to self study and I wanna make sure it doesn't overflow me with information

[@marcusmiguel1850]

From reading around and researching, some recommend Barron's for certain AP classes, PR for others, and 5 steps to a 5 for some other books. Barron is good for Chemistry and Psychology which is what I'm doing, and PR is good for Physics C both Mechanics and E&M.

[@dr.football5449]

Do colleges like it if you self study AP Classes? Or do they prefer it you take the class? I was hoping to self study AP Chem even though are school offers it.

[@taylorgracexx]

Dr. Football colleges don’t really care if you self study or take the class. They just care about the score

[@sulagnapalit4951]

Tysm for making this video! Also, how did you study for AP Human Geography??

[@danielledupreez]

I just read the Princeton Review book cover to cover! haha

[@danielledupreez]

Correction: I used Barron’s

[@additerajvaidya5671]

Any advice for self studying AP Lang?

[@moss528]

How did you take the tests? The only way I know of is to go to a school that has that class and take the test when they take it. I am interested in taking AP World History, but it is not at any schools in my area.

[@danielledupreez]

+Laila Bozorth You have to ask the school administration to administer the test for you if it's not offered as a course at your school.

[@techfornoobs4241]

ur so smart literally what the heck

[@shaniarivera9015]

I’m planning on self studying for 7 this year which me luck 💀

[@luminewi]

Shania Rivera how did it go???

[@justanotherweirdo11]

How's it going?

[@uchinani8482]

i’m in AP human and i’m a freshmen... should i be scared!

[@lindapang4314]

One of my senior finished 17 AP exams in his junior year and senior year and got 5 in 15 of them and 4 in 2 of them. He won an international AP scholar award in China ( I don't know exactly what the name is but it's kind of like that). He ended up in Yale with a full scholarship. I just finished 10. So sad.

[@lindapang4314]

Sorry, it's " I only finished 10". And our school offered us 5 AP courses.

[@animato6441]

@@keremisk4298 key word: China. those ppl can handle stress really well. go search up chinese classroom. they have like a truck load of books on their tasks constantly studying. it's possible.

[@mayatrujillo7783]

What book did you use for AP biology for self studying?

[@bpxl53yewz29]

There are a few bks out there. They all seem the same to me.

[@yejinsuh7666]

How did you self study for AP BIO because I am thinking of self studying for AP BIO. Please let me know!

[@danielledupreez]

I read the about half of the PR study book up to Plant Biology/Ecology because I felt I had a decent grasp of that from previous science classes

[@Bradlee297]

Can I get 5s self studying Chemistry, biology and Environmental science in 4 months? Is it possible and how

[@abhishekagrahara8248]

Bradlee297 chem I’ve heard isnt a good one to self study due to its immense content and depth. You can definitely get a 5 on environmental science, one of the easiest exams(as far as I’ve heard, I haven’t taken it). Bio is possible, I’d say. Just put in a good amount of effort. I’m using the AP courses on khan academy and going through it in order, doing every practice, quiz and test. After completing the course, do a practice test, review ur mistakes, and then do a second. This should be enough to get 5s.

[@keyserthegeyser4031]

more videos please!!!!!

[@danielledupreez]

Coming soon! Any specific requests?

[@keyserthegeyser4031]

AP Queen possibly one about scholarships

[@aunicorn3812]

okAY BUT WhAT TEST PREP BOOKS DID YOU USE!?!?!????

[@danielledupreez]

+A Unicorn I didn't pay much attention honestly. A mix of Barons and PR

[@drongo6367]

How are you supposed to do this with AP Physics 1? Seems really hard.

[@danielledupreez]

I would not apply this to math/physics/compsci and probably chemistry. It’s different when you’re required to solve problems on an exam vs when you’re just answering questions like the exams I did this for. Also obviously does not work for a language you’ve never studied.

[@leoliu7492]

Wait I never knew you one use a vpn to get scores earlier

[@injhs]

Then it doesn’t affect my gpa? Is it like irrelevant(?) with my current class?

[@taylorgracexx]

I already ate your bread No the AP exam does not affect your grade in class

[@maddieramos5005]

wait lol I have to pay for the exam regardless of whether I'm in the class or not - joy

[@kingsenorali8139]

I go to early college in nc too!!! Which one did I go to?

[@danielledupreez]

+LaVar Ball The Early College at Guilford College!

[@daniella3591]

Any advice for world history? My first ap

[@danielledupreez]

Practice the essays and read sample essays to see what they look for in a good and bad scoring essay, the structure your essay like the good ones and not like the bad ones.

[@kam4631]

Any advice on self studying human geography:)?

[@danielledupreez]

Read a study book and do the practice problems! That's pretty much it

[@manognittttttttttttt]

I spy a fidget spinner ( The video was wonderful btw )

[@danielledupreez]

+booksandeverythinginbetween Aww thank you! And you found the easter egg lol ;)

[@rishabm502]

lol i took 2 this year as a soph and now imma take 5 as a junior

[@danielledupreez]

good luck fam

[@davrosgnot1723]

Rishab M how did u do

[@jacksonmadison9994]

She’s quite good-looking

[@thegoatchemistmel]

I can barely manage 4 😅

[@stonejohnson4980]

My AP Environmental Science exam is in less than a month. I didn't take the class and I haven't studied yet. Any tips?

[@danielledupreez]

start studying

[@leviwatkins6459]

meeeee

[@cuteki1269]

Okay so I’m thinking of giving AP calculus ab AP calculus bc AP physics 1 AP physics 2 AP physics c What do you guys think about it? ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ

[@jenniferjaskolka6491]

Bot

[@cuteki1269]

@Jennifer Jaskolka I don't think I need to prove to anyone that I'm a human. And Jennifer, why are you so rude? The least people can do is be nice to each other. At least someone who has never said anything bad to you. You do not receive a great reputation for acting that way. You're only hurting people. And it comes back. Hope you get the power to spread love.^_−☆

[@gingerluigiwithnomoustache7411]

Cute Ki I think she might have been saying that’d be so much you’d have to be a bot to take them all yknow? Maybe?

[@cuteki1269]

Ginger Luigi With No Moustache you're optimistic, I like you ☺️

[@gingerluigiwithnomoustache7411]

Cute Ki gracias!

[@grindingh2667]

How did you remember all the concepts of psychology? What did you do that night? Your memory is insane lol!

[@tonelico_thesavior]

Ikr, I literally have the exam in 5 days and I'm forgeting some stuff

[@grindingh2667]

@@tonelico_thesavior me too lol

[@irismyat7971]

We're not allowed to take any aps freshmen year and only one ( AP human geo is the only choice fuck this) sophomore year I'm so fucking upset reading the comments

[@pattiya9425]

I can't Think of a username me too it's BS!!! Junior year and senior year is when it's ap workload heavy

[@aawells100]

Nice nails

[@mariahxjimin141]

The animals are already dead. 😴

[@danielledupreez]

Um...except when they're alive?

[@brahminiravi4717]

Self studying APES ☹️☺️

[@Aaadudi]

why do i feel like shes bs'ing this whole thing

[@danielledupreez]

I'm not, I was just crazy

[@hellothere9739]

To much talking just get to the tips

[@bpxl53yewz29]

Seriously. It's titled "How to Master AP Exams" but I have no idea when she starts with that even though I've watched 3/4 of the video. Ugh