APUSH Exam Reflection Essay Sample
When I walked into the AP Exam, right away I noticed that my confidence level was very low. As I progressed through the multiple choice, free response, and essay questions, I had a good grasp on the material. I knew I was familiar with the topics being discussed. I was actually pleasantly surprised that the AP Exam covered mostly earlier topics, because I felt my understanding was greater in those areas. But I still felt nervous throughout the exam. Looking back on the exam, I probably could have taken some extra time to look over my work, and I will definitely make sure to do so on future exams. But I feel pretty confident that I did the best I could, and I believe my score will reflect that.
In terms of preparing for the test, there was a lot of room for improvement. This year was tough on my mental health, and there were days when I didn’t feel any motivation to work to my full potential. I also feel now that my anxiety is worse than it was at the beginning of the year. At the same time, I took advantage of the feedback I received in class and tried my best to be more confident when participating. If I could go back and change anything, I would take more thorough notes on the assigned readings and utilize more opportunities to ask for help. If I had taken more time outside of class to review materials and better my understanding of topics, my class performance would’ve improved significantly, as would my confidence on the AP Exam.
I definitely benefited from the review sessions outside of class. It was helpful to get a refresher on some of the materials from the beginning of the year that weren’t fresh in my mind. I tried my best to attend as much as I could, and I feel that it paid off on the day of the exam. For tests we did in class, I used flashcards to help review key terms and events that would appear on the tests. It was definitely helpful, but I could’ve reviewed terms more thoroughly and further explored their significance. That definitely could’ve benefitted me on the DBQ. Although I could contextualize many of the documents, I felt I did so vaguely, and more studying might have increased the sophistication of my essay. However, I felt that my LEQ was very well contextualized and I gave sufficient evidence to support my claim.
Overall, I definitely could’ve done better on the AP Exam, but I feel that I put in a lot of hard work and I’m proud of myself for how I did. I challenged myself by taking APUSH on top of three other AP classes, and I learned a lot of valuable lessons about effective study habits, learning from my mistakes, and building my confidence. I’ll definitely utilize what I learned throughout my high school and college career in order to become the best student I can be.
