15 Signs You Were An AP Student Who Barely Made It Out Alive

Advanced placement: you remember it well, that old frienemy from high school. It broke you, knocked you out of the illusion that you’re a stellar student, but you’ve come out stronger because of it. Here are 15 signs you were an AP student and barely made it out alive!

1. You think the College Board is like a deity

Seriously, those guys are scary. From structuring your curriculum to dictating essay structure to preferring black pens over blue, the College Board reigned over you throughout high school; you did whatever you could to meet their high expectations.

2. You barely recognize the non-AP kids at your school

You were surprised to see unfamiliar faces in the crowd. Who are they? They’re an allusive breed, only seen in hallways and at sports practice. They usually aren’t in student council, marching band or drama club like you and all your friends. No wonder you never ran into them.

3. A 60% is a good test score

If it’s enough to grant you a 4 on the calculus or chemistry exam, it’s good enough for any test… right?

4. You know taking a multiple choice test is not necessarily easy

Before AP classes, you cheered when your teacher announced that the test would be multiple choice, but after one too many occasions of guessing on almost every question because you studied all the wrong material, you will never again underestimate their disaster potential.

5. You’re genuinely surprised to finish a test on time

What do you mean, not all time limits are painfully restrictive? Yes. In the beautiful world of every other test, time limits are not that big of a deal. Some are even flexible with certain teachers. You’ll always appreciate the rush of having time to spare.

6. You were sick of your classmates’ bragging about how many APs they took

Yes, Becky, we know that you’re in 7 AP classes. We’re so very amazed how you’re torturing yourself. Seriously, Becky. Stop bragging and get back to all that homework you have to do.

7. You know studying does not equal success

Only a couple students got A’s, and only half of them so much as opened the textbook all year. We’ve all had that one friend who studies all the time and barely scrapes by with a D. Whoever said that life is fair?

8. Your shoulders hurt from carrying so many books

Why must APUSH, AP English lit, and calculus all have bajillion page textbooks? Oh, wait. That’s just an AP student thing. You’re expected to bring them to every class, and it’s your shoulders that pay the price for your obedience.

9. You have cried/held back tears in class

Maybe it was in your first AP class, or that one that was way harder than you thought it would be, but the stress got to you at one point or another. Just pray that no one saw your splotchy eyes when reading a test.

10. Spanish was your easy class

No matter how difficult other students made it out to seem, the pace of high school language classes is nothing compared to what you’ve been through (Who thought it was a good idea to cram the entirety of world history into one class, anyway?)

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11. Painful memories of piles of homework… but not many memories of actually doing it

Maybe the perpetual “I’m so done with this” attitude, your busy extracurricular schedule, or your Netflix subscription and poor self-discipline was the problem, but you rarely touched your schoolwork.

12. ACT/SAT scores were a sign of status

If one more person asks you what score you got, you might explode. A student who did well were envied. Students who scored poorly suffered the embarrassment of admitting academic struggle.

13. Non-AP classes = low expectations

As a senior, I had a question on a test that asked how many stars were on the American flag. Units are painfully long, and there is plenty of time during class to have full conversations with your friends.

14. Lack of sleep was a common topic of conversation among peers

One kid claimed he hadn’t slept in a week, and most touted four or five hours a night. They claimed that they survived purely off of coffee and naps. As much as you’d like to be the healthy AP student who gets a solid 8 hours of shut-eye every night, you’d be lying to claim that you survived without naps.

15. It was an informal competition to get the best grades with the least effort

It wasn’t enough to get an A; you had to look like you didn’t even care. Students scoffed at those who did their homework and envied those who didn’t have to.