As of Friday, May 17, the 16 various Advanced Placement classes offered at Hollis Brookline High School finally wrapped up their course material with the highly anticipated AP Exams. After months of test preparation and learning/teaching mandatory course material, teachers and students of AP classes can finally take a deep breath as the largest summative test of the year is finally over.

For many students at HB, taking more than one AP course per year is not unusual. “In the past two years, I have taken Physics, Psychology, AP Lang and AP Government and Policy,” said Kyra Belden ‘19. “I felt pretty stressed. Some teachers spend a lot of time preparing for the test, while others less so,” she said.

In general, the AP sciences spent a lot of time preparing their students for taking the AP Exams. Camille Carson, the AP Environmental Science teacher at HBHS, is one of these teachers that incorporates test preparation into her curriculum. “[Test preparation in class] can sometimes take away from project time or lab experience because we’re focusing on content and test questions. But on the positive side, we practice writing which is an important skill in any discipline,” said Carson.

Throughout the first week of May, students in their AP classes could be found independently studying. “ [Wilcox] gave us time in class, in US History we had a review of all the material, and in AP Lang we’ve been preparing all year for it,” said Elliana Jordan ‘20.

Although the AP Exams are certainly a stressful process for students, they give students the opportunity to earn college credit for their hard work, as well as gain exposure to similar rigor to that of college. “I think it’s important for college-bound students to experience some of the rigor of college courses, but still have the safety net in a high school environment. It’s a good stepping stone,” said Carson.

As for the end of the year, the layout of many AP classes will change, as teachers are no longer bound to the material on the AP Exams. “I am relieved [that the AP Exams are over]. It was definitely a big weight off shoulders. I’d say before the test, preparing is the biggest priority. But after, you can kind of relax and dive into other topics,” said Jordan.

For students in AP classes, the stressful prospect of AP Exams has finally come to an end. However, students must now wait until July for College Board to release AP Exam scores.