The Student news source for West Shore Junior/Senior High School

The Roar

The Student news source for West Shore Junior/Senior High School

The Roar

The Student news source for West Shore Junior/Senior High School

The Roar

Sophomores anticipate APUSH exam

The Advanced Placement U.S. History exam Friday has many 10th graders scrambling to study.

“I’m studying two to three hours a day,” sophomore Ryan Wheat, who is taking his first AP exam, said. “If I get lucky, I’ll get a 3, but many [other APUSH students] feel they are not prepared for the exam.”

APUSH teacher Jim Pustay said his students need to study.

“The APUSH exam is the hardest of all the AP tests. In all the other [AP tests], you come in with a foundation. [In APUSH], students need to learn a lot on their own,” he said. “They are actually tested as expert historians.”

Sophomore Hailey Macrander said she’s not as stressed as some other students.

“I think many kids are just working themselves up about [the exam] because it’s worth a college credit,” she said. “[Mr. Pustay] has been giving us a bunch of practice exams and going over them with us.”

Sophomore Jennifer Stone said there are many reasons why the APUSH exam causes stress.

“It’s a really hard exam, and for a lot of people it’s their first AP exam ever,” she said. “I expect to get maybe a 4.”

Pustay said students need to work on their own initiative.

“The APUSH textbook only covers 40 percent of the material, 30 percent comes from me, and the rest must be their own research,” he said. “If they’re not able to read the textbook well, it’s a challenge. It can be overwhelming, and [the students] must be self-disciplined.”

Pustay gave some statistics for the exam.

“The national pass rate is 50 percent,” he said. “Last year’s [APUSH class] was about 90 percent. We have an elite group right here.”

by Andrew Lim

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