How To Study For AP Exams

It’s almost AP Exam season. Get that college credit by studying hard! Here are some things that will help you succeed in the next few weeks as you start reviewing for the exams.

**Find Out What You Need to Review or Learn → Damian:**

It’s once again the end of April and the AP exams are less than a month away. Juniors this year are facing two enormous obstacles: the uncertainties of the finals and the, you guessed it, new formats of AP exams. While trying to handle the pressure from upcoming tests and soon-to-be-opened college applications, the Princeton Review suggests that it’s easier for students to prep for the AP exams when they’re mentally ready one to three months prior to the exam. This means by this time, you probably should be sitting in front of your desk doing the reviews from TPR instead of playing Genshin Impact (or practically any other games). TPR suggests the 5-step method to prep for exams:

1. Start with old material: every time you’re reviewing, make sure you set aside 15 mins to review your old material. The more you refresh your memory, the more likely they’re gonna come in handy during the exams.
2. Approach new material with AP exams in mind: you should always take notes on what future topics that you might find hard to understand, so you can tackle it later when you’re fully prepared.
3. Don’t overly rely on your teachers: your teacher’s job is to make sure they taught everything to you, not necessarily prep the exam for you.
4. Invest in an AP prep book: a good book can always help.
5. Get expert AP help: TPR suggests getting extra expert AP help from AP authors, but personally, I think the Khan Academy is also a great review material as well.

**Design a Study Plan → Angie:**

You are the only one who knows your study habits the best. Therefore, you are the only one who can decide on how you are going to approach your study plans. You should make study plans based on how much time you are giving yourself to prepare. If you are a full-year prep student who likes to study very far in advance, you should study the chapters you learned in school each unit. You should be well prepared by April where you can spend your time doing practice exams till May. However, like most procrastinators who have a few weeks left before the test, you should focus on evaluating your strengths and weaknesses.

To start off, you should begin with a diagnostic exam to see where you’re at. You can find online practice AP exams or use practice books. From there, based on the amount of time you’re going to allocate to studying, you should focus mostly on chapters you had trouble with. Note: it's important to know which chapters CollegeBoard is testing you on. You don’t want to waste your time studying for the wrong chapters! You can check out the college board website to see what you need to know for the test.

In general, you are expected to study for several hours a week from 2-3 sessions. After creating your schedule, make sure to stick with it. And most importantly, review review review. Reviewing information for the rest more than once is essential. You must engage with the material in order to retain it whether that is making flashcards, writing notes, or doing practice problems.

All in all, best of luck to all ap testers. You can do this! Stick with your study plans!

**Use Resources →  Nicolette:**

Finding resources to study for an AP exam can be difficult if guidance as to which sites are trustworthy or accurate is not given. That’s where we come in! We recommend Fiveable, a resource that provides countless subject tests in 3 different categories: humanities and social sciences, math and science, and languages and art. Not only does Fiveable provide written resources, but they also offer information in the form of videos. These videos are hosted by experienced AP teachers who will answer your pressing questions about the worksheets or any other questions. In addition to the live streams, some passes (such as the cram pass) allow you to chat on Discord servers with fellow students to gain their input. The cram passes are especially useful but there are also feedback passes, which allows for the student’s work to be checked by a professional, the cram sessions, which include one live event in the subject/concept you need, and the five-hour cram finale, which you can attend with many other students who choose this event. The events and sessions do cost money though, but it is a small price to pay for the immense amount of information in each pass. The sessions are 5 dollars each and a cram pass, which has everything you need about the subject costs 25 dollars. However, if the price point is too high, AP Classroom videos are also incredibly useful. The videos are organized by unit, so the site is easy to navigate. Another completely free resource is Khan Academy. The website has a wide variety of AP subjects from AP Art History to AP Microeconomics and everything in between. It provides articles, free-response questions, and videos, but some subjects may have limited resources, so watch out for that. So, hopefully you use these resources well and feel completely confident to take your exams! Good luck!

**Practice Makes Perfect!  → Sejal:**

Practicing for AP Exams is incredibly important to your success. But what’s the use of practicing if you don’t do it right? I’ll share some tips and strategies that I currently use to study for AP exams:

* Online practice tests or practice prep books
  * Of course, doing practice AP exams is one of the best ways to practice for the real thing. On the College Board website, there are many practice tests, even real exams administered in the past! Doing these once a week leading up to the date of the test is a great way to practice. You can also buy prep books such as Barron’s, Princeton Review, etc. to get an overview of all the information covered in the course + many practice tests.
* Quizlets
  * Quizlets are AMAZING to study with, especially for content-heavy subjects such as history, science, etc. These are great for actually learning and memorizing the material, as well as testing yourself to see if you have a good grasp on the material. Creating the Quizlet sets themselves are a form of practice (though you can also use pre-made sets), and there are many other modes to practice such as Flashcards, Learn, Write, Spell, and Test and games such as Match and Gravity.
* Going over missed questions and redoing them to understand better
  * After practicing with the practice tests and Quizlets, it is important to review questions that you are getting wrong or questions that you are consistently getting wrong. Figure out what you are doing wrong, and then try to fix it by going back to previous lessons to find missed information, watching Youtube videos, or asking friends and teachers for help. You should also try redoing these problems frequently to make sure you completely understand and you will not forget.

**Be Consistent! → Sharana:**

Stick to your study plan, and try your best to study every day! I understand it’s difficult and easy to get distracted, so try rewarding yourself once in a while for your hard work, with your favorite meal or an episode of a TV series you enjoy watching. That will help you enjoy the process! Don’t worry you’ve GOT THIS!!


Is online school or in-person school better?

Here.

For most of my life, I would say this one-worded phrase on special occasions: the first day of school, and the days we had a substitute teacher waltzing into the classroom because our teacher was at jury duty. Now, I find myself saying it seven times a day, every day. Why?

The answer is pretty simple. I do online school. Actually, most students in California are doing online school. With 850,000 COVID-19 cases and rising, it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to have school in person for a while. Tech-savvy students and traditional pen-and-paper teachers are now working together on a daily basis to maintain the quality of our learning. While there are pros and cons, many people are yet to adjust. Students and parents protest the district to open schools so we can go back to “normal”, while others are doing perfectly fine, and even have higher grades. So, that leaves an important question: is online or in-person school better?

It depends. Like I mentioned before, there are pros and cons. Let’s start with the pros. First, I don’t have to drive 40 minutes (plus traffic) to get to school everyday and an hour to get back. I also have a much more flexible schedule that gives me hours of free time. As a Junior in high school, all of this “extra time” is quite useful to finish homework, take naps, and participate in my extracurriculars (online, of course). Junior year is supposedly the most difficult, so I value my time and do my best to use it wisely.

Now for cons. My personal biggest issue is the lack of motivation. When I chose my classes in February, I said, “I can do 6 weighted courses. My friends will be there right next to me to help me along the way.” Boy, was I wrong. When the only emotional support I receive is in the form of FaceTime calls and text messages, I start to lose my mind. I miss the feeling of my friends’ warm arms hugging me right before my English presentation, and the nervous hand-holding we do while the teacher is handing back our tests. This is what I miss most about in-person school. Unfortunately, even if my school district allows a hybrid program or a non-remote learning experience, we would never be able to do this, anyway; it’d be too dangerous.

So far, I’ve been speaking from a personal point of view. But, what about a technological point of view? There are both pros and cons within this topic as well! Like before, I’ll start with the pros. With online school, I don’t have to walk from class to class anymore; I type in a 12-digit code and my whole classroom pops up in front of me. It’s incredibly convenient to have something so instant, right? Wrong. This is in no way an instant process. Internet speed isn’t always great on my, nor my teachers’, end. This means it takes at least a few minutes just to join a Zoom call. In addition, not all of my teachers are as technologically gifted as others. Even halfway through the semester, it still takes some of them a while to find the “Share Screen” button. No matter how much the students try to explain, the process usually takes a while, which easily frustrates many students and teachers. I’m sure we’ve all had those teachers that accidentally leave us in the breakout room for an extra 20 minutes. It’s awkward.

Overall, it’s hard to tell whether or not I like online or in-person school more. If I was selfish, I would be manifesting to open schools so I could have some basic human interaction. Online school is difficult, and until we have improvements in technology, it could never be a replacement for in-person school. However, I know we’re still in the middle of a pandemic (that doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon). All it takes is one irresponsible person to shut down schools for another year. While I am disappointed that I probably won’t have a Junior Prom, I’d rather skip it if I knew I would be saving lives.


Social Media Algorithms

Technology has not always been an integral part of humanity’s lifestyle, but the last 20 years have seen substantial advancements in technology, and in more recent years, social media and its algorithms. They have not only evolved through the work of engineers and creators, but also by outside factors such as social movements, like the BLM protests. These protests, which seek to peacefully fight the racial injustices against African Americans, have recently been prevalent in social media and national news. People have chosen to express their opinion in different ways such as posting black screens, which is representative of support for the BLM movement. Another way is to post videos of the protests which raises awareness and encourages movements. During quarantine, online presence is important to spark change. And Social media are accustoming and changing much more than it has in the past years.

Social media feeds, Youtube recommendations, and other types of media both indirectly and directly expose the user to new information everyday. Facebook, like many other social media companies, capitalizes on specially crafted advertisements that target people based on their search history, while also introducing the user to similar people and contacts. However, it seems that Facebook’s engagement has been extremely low during quarantine, partly because the information is so crafted, it is difficult for people to see the truth. According to Rival IQ, It has dropped almost 14% and is consistently dropping by 2 times every week. On the other hand, Twitter is experiencing more success in engagement, as their rates have only dropped in March 7% and their posts have increased significantly in May. They are seeing this success because they are the most reliable social media source to be informed on the latest coronavirus news and BLM protests. The engagement rates will likely fluctuate, in this platform in the next months during the quarantine, though. However, in any social media platform the numbers are bound to change, and the companies must adjust accordingly.

In order to increase engagement, the social media algorithm must appeal to the individual viewer. So many companies use search history to generate recommendations and connect individuals with others with the same views. For example, if a user suddenly showed a particular interest in a vlogger that consistently attended BLM protests, the user would experience an influx of information about BLM through advertisements, videos, and even photographs. This process works for any interest, whether it be comedic content or political views. However, during quarantine, these engagement rates are not very high and it may be because the feeds do not pique enough interest. People may see the situations going on in the world but refuse to interact and conform to the predictions that social media makes about them. They can still find information and be passionate about a topic, but they do so in a different way than social media expects them to do, pushing the limits of the algorithm.

The algorithm may be crafted by people but to some extent, it may have a mind of its own. An engineer cannot possibly create a custom code for every user, but they can create a code that sets parameters and provides general instructions so that the computer itself can individualize the experience. The interests, searches, followers, and friends of the user are all factors that go into deciding the content introduced. Whether it is malicious or playful, the computer cannot decipher the difference and recommends it to the viewer. It is important to note that the program does not have a conscience and because of that may present information that is false or hurtful. The company has most of the control, however. They are being paid for the advertisements, even the ones that may cause harm to the people viewing their site. Facebook has recently been accused of spreading untrue information about the election through these advertisements. As a result, they have altered their algorithm and reporting function in order to increase their engagement and be looked upon more kindly.

Social media and its algorithms are a daily part of our lives now, whether you use it or not. As a diverse worldwide community, we must realize the issues occurring and how social media both supports and fights them. The algorithms may control the content we see, but the users are who really spread information. Be it false or true, people will always communicate their beliefs. As for now, it’s not face to face - it’s through a screen.


The Impact of Cybersecurity

As our society becomes increasingly reliant on technological advancements, cybersecurity becomes as important as ever. Cybersecurity is the act of securing networks, systems, and information from malicious computerized attacks. The government and many businesses face threats from hackers who intentionally try to steal information. Therefore, they put great investments into a strong cybersecurity system in order to ensure the safety of their business and their client’s data. Individuals have also faced issues such as identity theft, where hackers rob their data and use it for financial gain. These conflicts have only been rising as our world foresees into a digital future filled with growing technology. Cybercriminals are getting more industrialized at what they target and how they apply certain strategies for assault on various security frameworks. This is why our online world is becoming increasingly dependent on security groups to protect against cybercrimes. Without it, our society would collapse.

Many individuals' well-being is put at risk because of blackmail, identity theft, ransom money, and many other major privacy concerns. Malware is one of the most common issues today. Malware exploits any programs through harmful software to steal data from victims. Some common ones are click-on emails or suspicious links that lead you to potential threats, like viruses and ransomware. Studies show that “[hackers attack a computer in the US every 39 seconds](https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/87787-hackers-attack-every-39-seconds).” This number can be scary, as hackers become more evolved. However, these dangers are minimized through cybersecurity. Passwords are the first layer of defense. Because many users fail to create a strong passcode for the information that they stored online, other layers of security come into play. By encompassing securities for data, identity, cloud, infrastructure, and many more layers of programs, cybersecurity achieves to provide better defense against malicious online acts and criminals. The strong adaptability of cybersecurity teams and their creation of fireballs also ensures protections for users. They identify breaches and provide quick solutions to cyber-attacks. As technology advances by the minute, artificial intelligence begins to be utilized in network safety by fighting against a wide assortment of pernicious cybercrimes. Security organizations are preparing AI to anticipate data breaches and alert danger. With proper securing assets, cybersecurity can help limit the threats imposed on the virtual world that makes up our society.

Today, cybersecurity specialists strive to analyze and prevent data breaches and system attacks. To ensure safety and minimize the rise of cybercrimes, cybersecurity is used to secure against attacks. Its positive impact on the technology-reliant society has helped protect the data and systems of the IT world.

Work Cited

“Why Cybersecurity Is Important Now More Than Ever.” _Intellectual Point_, 31 Jan. 2020, www.intellectualpoint.com/5-reasons-why-cybersecurity-is-important-now-more-than-ever/.


How To Study For AP Exams

May 27 2021

Is online school or in-person school better?

Jan 05 2021

Social Media Algorithms

Jan 05 2021

The Impact of Cybersecurity

Jan 05 2021