Every year hundreds of students enroll in AP classes, also known as advanced placement classes. These classes are specifically known to cause stress in students’ everyday lives. The tests are even harder, including the mock exams leading up to the actual tests.

Delta High School offers multiple AP classes to students, some being advanced elective classes or advanced main core classes such as AP Language and Composition, AP Literature, AP Statistics, AP Calculus, and AP U.S history. Students take these AP classes in preparation for college in order to get used to the workload and flow of the teaching style. 

These classes may prepare students for college life, but they can also cause more harm than good. Studies at the University of Wisconsin have shown that students taking AP science classes have increased stress levels and lower grades due to the pressure of the classes. They have also done research that has proven students’ confidence level in their ability to pass a STEM college class has decreased.

The AP tests took place over the dates May 2-6 and May 9-13 and multiple teachers of these classes held mock exams to prepare their students for the real thing. Nylene Gutierrez, a student that took 4 AP classes, said “As much as I prepared for the AP tests I still didn’t feel ready when it came to the real thing, they were honestly like as if I was taking a test on entirely new subjects.”

Another key factor about AP classes and the stress they cause is because of the amount of work assigned to students. ”Majority of the time it doesn’t affect my everyday life besides having a lot of homework for calculus. Calculus and AP U.S. history are usually the only ones I stress about because [they’re] usually the subjects I most struggle with,” Nylene also said.

In order to deal with the stress that accompanies these tests in the future, study, eat a nutritional meal before the test, and rest.