According to jccc.edu, the Advanced Placement (AP) program has been helping students develop their brains for 40 years. Juniors and seniors working to earn themselves college credit, have the opportunity to take the exams in May.

This year, only eight students are taking them in the community. Those students include juniors Cordelia Isbell, Rebekah Porter and seniors Eric and Erin Adams. This is Isbell’s first year, but the Adam’s took AP tests last year.

“Last year I took one,” Eric said. “This year I’m taking four, and I’m not entirely sure how that transition is going to go. I am taking the AP Literature test, AP Composition, AP Government and AP Psychology.”

The AP Literature and Composition exam consists of two sections: multiple choice and free response. According to apcentral.collegeboard.org, the free response portion counts for 55 percent of the overall exam score. This will be taken on Wednesday, May 9.

The AP Gov. exam will be taken one day later on Thursday, May 10. According to apcentral.collegeboard.org, this exam also has two portions formatted in the same two ways. However, for the free response, students are asked to define concepts, explain and interpret content of all course topics and to analyze and evaluate political relationships.

The AP Psychology exam is scheduled for Monday, May 7. It measures the knowledge of a student over the 14 key topics and fields of study in psychology, according to apcentral.collegeboard.org.

To prepare for the tests, online tools are available such as sample responses from years before.

Erin is taking the same exams as her brother.

“My parents really wanted me to take a few of them,” Erin said. “I figured it would be a good way to end my senior year. Plus, psychology is interesting, government just as well.”

Both Adam’s are preparing by using Quizlets, which Erin made. Erin is also reading and taking notes.

“I made like a million Quizlets because, oh Gosh, I really need to study,” Erin said. “I’m aiming for a three or better.”

Exams are scored one to five, five being extremely well qualified and one being no recommendation. A three is considered to be passing, but depending on the college, a four or five may be necessary to earn the course credit.

For Isbell, she will need the four or five in order to make it into one of her dream schools: Stanford, University of Chicago and the Ivy League schools.

“I’m taking the AP U.S. History (APUSH) exam,” Isbell said. “That’s the only reason I’m taking the class. I’m not taking it for concurrent credit because the colleges I want to attend or apply for don’t take concurrent credit.”

Isbell is the only junior out of the APUSH class who chose to take the test.

The test is scheduled for Friday, May 11 and will consist of two sections separated into two parts for a total of four different formats including multiple choice, short answer, document based and a long essay.

“I think I’ll do okay,” Isbell said. “I’m going to use our 1,070-page APUSH book and use my main idea logs that we’ve been taking in class, and hopefully skim information that way. There are also online tools for me, so I’ll see what I can figure out. It’s the only reason I’m taking the class otherwise I wouldn’t put myself through all this.”

19ibraun@usd489.com