You’re not the first student who has been here – panic mode, one month before the AP® English Language and Composition Exam. Whether you’re a straight-A student or the kid who sits in the back of class and hasn’t figured out what “composition” means yet, you need a PLAN. You need to know what to study, when and how to study it, and how the AP® English Language exam is structured.

Structure of the AP® English Language Exam

You will have 3 hours and 15 minutes allotted to complete the test – 1 hour for multiple choice questions, 15 minutes to read the sources for your synthesis essay and to plan how you are going to write that essay, and 2 hours to complete all three essays: the synthesis, the argument, and the rhetorical analysis. The multiple choice questions count for 45% of the final score, and the three essays count for the other 55%.

All these numbers make the test seem scarier than it really is, so before you dive into studying, take a deep breath and try to calm your nerves. Many students make unnecessary errors due to nervousness or failure to understand test instructions, even when they know the information well.

Every student will need to develop an individualized calming technique, but everyone reading this can begin by thinking about how well he or she will know the structure of the exam and how to study for AP® English Language. The following articles will serve as a sort of map of the test, so that you can’t get lost in the AP® English Language Exam, no matter how impossible it may seem.

How to Study For AP® English Language

There are four main things you need to study and practice for – the multiple choice section, the synthesis essay, the argument essay, and the rhetorical analysis essay. Since there are about four weeks in a month, you can use one week to work on each section by doing sample questions, talking to your teacher or study group, etc. You can also check out our article “5 Must Reads for Getting a 5 on AP® English Language” and try to read or at least learn about one or two of the books listed there each week.

This plan is flexible, so to make the best of your time, be self-aware! Know your own strengths and weaknesses so that you can work harder on trouble areas and not waste too much time on what you already know – although you shouldn’t ever entirely skip studying for any area of the AP® English Language Exam.

General Tips for Taking the AP® English Language Exam

Keep these 7 tips in mind as you study and as you take the test:

1. In your essays, be as specific as you can. Reference the names and definitions of rhetorical techniques whenever possible, as well as specific sections in your passages.
2. Don’t write down anything you can’t back up logically, especially any kind of broad generalizations – the AP® English Language examiners hate those.
3. Think critically and eliminate easy-to-fix problems. Cross out any answers that you know are wrong for a multiple choice question. Don’t spend too much time “fluffing up” your essay – stick to what’s relevant.
4. Use all the resources you have at hand – the articles available on this site, other Internet guides on how best to study, and books such as Fast Track to a 5. Best of all, free sample questions (taken from previous years’ tests) are available for all sections of the AP® English Language and Composition Exam at AP® Central and Albert.io.
5. Don’t stick too hard to formulas you learned in middle school or earlier high-school classes on essay questions – although there are conventions you can follow, the AP® readers will respect creativity as long as it is focused.
6. Read passages twice if possible – the first reading being a skim for the main ideas and the second a full reading.
7. Don’t let your nerves beat you. Practice staying calm during the test itself; the more you prepare the easier it will be. The test, although it is important, is not the end-all-be-all of your life, and should never be treated as such. Go in ready to take it seriously, but also with confidence in yourself. You know how to study for study for AP® English Language – you know how to succeed on the exam too.

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