How do you actually get a 4-5 on the ap exam. i do great in the class in school, but whenever i try practice problems and previous mcq's, it is SO much more conceptual. and sometimes i get lost. the exam is this friday and i wanna know whats the most efficient. should i just keep grinidng previous mcqs and similar questions?
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AP Physics 1
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I took it in 2016 right after the class was introduced and it was very, very difficult. I was lucky to get a 5, but I would say that grinding out as many FRQs from past years as you can will help you. There are only so many concepts they can manage to test, and seeing them at least once should help you when you are actually taking the exam. Also, I would advise you to be familiar with the reference sheet even if you're given it, since you don't want to spend extra time looking over it wondering which equation might be good for a specific MCQ or FRQ. Review books might help, especially with practice MCQs (I recall always using Barron's for AP review).
Good luck. It's not an easy exam by any means, but I think you should be satisfied with your score as long as you know you made a good effort in studying and weren't slacking off during study time.
Idk what your teacher is teaching in class, but you really need to have a strong conceptual understanding. If you struggle with conceptual questions you need to go back to the basics and figure out exactly the concepts you struggle with.
Once you are confident you have a good grasp of the laws of mechanics and how they apply to different situations, just do a bunch of FRQs. The variety of problems is honestly not that high. Pulley problems will work the same. Inclined plane problems all work the same. Roller coaster loop problems all work the same. If you see enough of certain problem types, you will be able to follow the same though process patterns to solve exam problems easily.
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