Some AP students struggle to keep an A in their AP classes, while other AP students maintain an A while also doing extracurricular activities.

To get a good grade in the AP classes, “There are some sacrifices to be made when it comes to juggling everything, and some of those sacrifices take in the form of sleep hours.” Senior, Angela Tran said.

A way to try to maintain a decent sleeping schedule is by setting a goal for when you want to finish your homework. For example, “I try to have my homework done by 11.”  Senior, Deana Ayers said.

Another way is to set a goal for what time you think you should sleep. For instance, “I set my goal to sleep by 12.” Junior, Stephanie Tran said.

While being in extracurricular activities can make it hard to be productive and can take away time from doing homework, you just have to find time to actually do it, Angela said. “I’m in GSA, film club, and cards club.” As for Deana, “I’m in marching band, FCCLA, and I’m a tutor at the library.” Since they are both seniors, they manage to be productive during their off period by doing their homework and studying.

Studying can be boring or hard at times, especially for history, but Stephanie tells how she studies for each class and hopefully this could help others too.. “For certain classes, such as U.S History or Biology, it’s all about memorization,” Stephanie said. Looking over my notes or study material two to three times a day really helps me remember the information. I read over material briefly at lunch, after school, and in the evening. I find this method much more efficient than cramming the night before. If you can teach someone the information you’ve learned, then you have the concept down. For other classes more based on math and sometimes English, practicing is key. Practice some math problems. Lookup examples. Ask for more problems to do. For English, reading books leisurely and taking practice tests will help you develop the skills needed for your exams. Strengthening your reading comprehension skills and critical thinking skills will help you improve. I know it may be difficult to incorporate time into your schedule to read, but it truly helps.”

All in all, AP classes are quite difficult and take up majority of your time. However, if you know how to manage your time and use your time wisely, you can get a pretty good grade in your classes.