ASHMI GUAR, A 12TH GRADER at Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, is on track to complete 12 Advanced Placement courses by the time she finishes high school.
The point of AP courses is to provide students with skills, confidence, and knowledge that can help them succeed in college and save money if they pass the tests and earn college credit.
But when test time rolls around in May, that month becomes one of the most stressful times of the year for more than a million high school students like Guar who take AP courses.
Some see the testing period as a strained time, but others see it as a chance to prove themselves in topics they love. For others, the night the awaited scores from these exams come out will show if those long sleepless nights of studying were worth it.
“For me, what stressed me out was grades, so around finals season and AP test season, it got bad. How I saw it though, was that I’m such a curious person, so every class I took I genuinely wanted to get a better understanding on,” Guar says.
Although these courses look appealing on college applications, the pressure caused by the amount of work and stress given by these classes might be something to take into consideration.
A test taken by millions
In 2025, over 1.3 million students took the AP exams along with their AP classes, around 37% of U.S. public high school graduates.
The AP program is run by the College Board, which was founded in 1900 and is associated with over 6,000 universities to standardize college admissions. They are best known for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Advanced Placement classes.
A study done by the National Bureau of Economic Research says that during high-stake exam weeks, students’ stress levels usually rise dramatically. There is usually about a 15% cortisol level increase in the week that the tests are administered.
Guar goes on to say how, although the jump from having zero to five in one year did take a toll on her, it forced her to develop study habits she knows she’ll use in college.
Gaur said one of her favorite reasons for taking AP classes is because the environment is different. In these classes, you can feel the passion that the teachers have for the topic they are teaching, and that’s the case for AP World at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek.
Capping the stress
Brian Corbett has been teaching the AP World History: Modern course for 11 years.
He believes the class is one of the most beneficial to take.
“Usually a student who comes in overwhelmed and nervous means they care and have cared all along,” Corbett says. “They have always done the basic things they need to be the most successful.”
Although Advanced Placement classes have many benefits for students, schools recognize the stress that inevitably comes with them.
“Practice a little every day. During the test, focus on the content of the material and be confident in your work. You’ve been preparing for this all year.”
Brian Corbett, Northgate High AP World History teacher
Schools like Northgate, Dublin High School in Dublin, and Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco put a cap on the number of AP classes students can take.
Despite the stress AP exams stir up, the end of the AP exam acts as a finish line for an exhausting year. Many times, students are no longer required to take finals for their AP tests after the cumulative exam, and that helps space out the studying for other classes.
“Practice a little every day,” Corbett tells his students. “During the test, focus on the content of the material and be confident in your work. You’ve been preparing for this all year.”
Jennifer Alas is a 10th grader at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek and a CCYJ reporter. This story originally appeared in CCSpin.