11 AP Test Prep Resources for High School Students
If you are taking an AP class this year or self-studying for an exam, you should definitely check out the resources on this list. Advanced Placement (AP) exams, known for their challenging content and college-level rigor, can greatly enhance your applicant profile, demonstrating to admissions officers that you can handle the rigor of a college level coursework and are willing to take initiative and challenge yourself. There are plenty of online resources available to you and these preparation tools, whether it be study guides, online courses, or YouTube channels, are extremely valuable tools that you should take advantage of!
Cost: Starting at $125 an hour
Structure: Online, Live, Synchronous Tutoring Meetings
If you are looking for quality private 1-1 tutoring in a specific AP subject, The Princeton Review offers their AP 5 Tutoring Program. They offer Score Guarantee tutoring that starts at $233 per hour. This option promises a score of 5 on your AP exam or your money back. The terms of this guarantee include a full refund if your official AP score is 3 or less, and a 25% refund for a score of 4, excluding fees for course materials and shipping. On the other hand, their standard AP tutoring options are more budget-friendly, starting at $125 per hour. Both options are designed to help you prepare for your AP exams and these services are mainly offered online. For more information, you can call 1-800-2REVIEW.
The Princeton Review's AP 5 Money Back Score Guarantee Tutoring includes 24 hours of customized tutoring, a match with an expert AP 5 tutor, 160-420 practice questions, 1-5 full-length practice tests, and the top-rated Princeton Review’s AP prep book for your subject. You also get 365 days of access to online practice tools and resources, along with interactive score reports to track your progress. This is a great option for you if you need one-on-one help from a qualified tutor and prefer to meet for synchronous meetings. If you plan on taking advantage of the money-back score guarantee, be sure to read the full terms and conditions available on their website before purchasing!
Cost: Free
Structure: Self-Learning Modules
They offer an extensive range of AP Prep Courses that are both accessible and convenient for high school students preparing for AP exams. Unlike most education services, Khan Academy's AP Prep is entirely free. These on-demand online courses cover a broad spectrum of subjects, including AP Art History, AP Biology, AP Calculus (AB and BC), AP Chemistry, and more, accommodating students with varied academic interests. As an official partner of the AP Program, Khan Academy ensures that its courses are precisely aligned with AP standards, offering a reliable and comprehensive preparation tool. Additionally, the platform includes a help center for student support, making it easy for you to seek guidance and clarification.
Khan Academy's platform's resources are curated to align with reputable curricula, such as the Eureka Math / EngageNY curriculum for math, and they have collaborated with experts at Illustrative Mathematics to ensure the best possible alignment with the new Illustrative Mathematics curriculum. Moreover, all math exercises are mapped to the K–12 Common Core State Standards for mathematics. Within each course, you have access to an array of videos, practice problems, and notes!
Cost: Varies per plan, free trial available
Format: Virtual
Acely offers an AI-powered prep plan with over 4000 prep questions, a feature you can consider while charting out your AP prep schedule. You can practice with Acely's prep questions for as little as 10 minutes a day, or participate in longer, more extensive modules customized to your preferred level of difficulty. If you're unsure about starting your AP prep, you may want to consider Acely's bite-sized prep resources to get starter. It also boasts an unlimited number of prep questions, AI-powered performance analytics, and detailed practice tests. While this is a paid resource, it may be a solid option for those looking to stick to a comprehensive practice resource, instead of referring to multiple sources on the Internet/prep books.
Cost: $79 per subject
Format: Question Bank with Practice Problems and Mock Exams
Albert's AP Practice is a great resource for you to practice the concepts you learn through practice problems and exams. At $79 per subject, Albert contains questions for all AP® subjects. The platform boasts over 40,000 practice questions, ensuring a wide range of topics are covered and allowing you to thoroughly prepare for any questions that you will see on the actual test.
Furthermore, Albert includes full-length practice exams for all subjects, free response prompts with example responses, and detailed, narrative explanations for all questions, enhancing your understanding and retention of the material.Â
A highlight of Albert is that they offer a 30-day free trial to explore its features and determine if it's the right fit for your study needs. Should you need assistance, support is readily available via phone, email, and live chat. Additionally, the help center on Albert's platform is a valuable resource for finding answers to common questions about course content and navigating the site.Â
Cost: Available via custom quote
Format: On-demand lessons with videos, problems, etc
Study.com offers an extensive library of over 4,000 test prep video lessons accessible on demand. It is highly flexible and you can access these lessons via desktop, tablet, or smartphone. They also have their own iOS and Android apps, which makes practice even more convenient. Additionally, the platform provides access to thousands of practice questions and 27 practice exams that replicate the format and difficulty of actual AP exams.Â
Study.com also offers a full money-back guarantee for students who complete the course but do not pass their exams. To get started without any upfront commitment, Study.com offers a free 30-day trial, providing you with the chance to explore its features and evaluate how well it meets your study needs. The platform also boasts an impressive success rate, with 92% of users passing their exam after utilizing Study.com.
Cost: Free
Format: Study Material including cheat sheets, study guides, and practice problems
Fiveable was created by educator, activist, and entrepreneur Amanda DoAmaral in 2018. This platform has quickly garnered traction, currently aiding over 67,000 AP students nationwide in navigating their rigorous exams. With nearly $1M in seed funding, primarily led by Cream City Ventures, Fiveable has demonstrated a remarkable ability to enhance student outcomes, boasting an impressive 92% pass rate on AP exams. The platform offers study guides, practice questions, and live review events.
Fiveable's approach to AP prep emphasizes interactivity and efficiency, offering over 73,000 trivia-style practice questions across 18 AP subjects, including valuable ACT and SAT prep questions. The platform's study guides and cheat sheets are noteworthy for their streamlined content, making them exceptionally accessible and easy to follow. These resources are crafted by students who have achieved the scores others aspire to, ensuring they are both relevant and targeted. Fiveable’s cheat sheets, designed to condense critical information onto a single page, not only simplifies the review process but also helps you realize what the most important topics are.Â
Cost: $49
Format: 4 Live Online Review Sessions
Marco Learning's AP Bootcamps will serve as intensive, review sessions to prepare for their AP exams. These weekly live online review sessions are scheduled for specific subjects like AP® Biology and AP® Physics 1, offering a structured, condensed approach to tackling the vast curriculum of AP courses. For example, the AP® Biology bootcamp is set for Sundays at 3 PM ET throughout April, covering topics from the building blocks of life to genetics, evolution, and ecology, with each session dedicated to both reviewing and applying key concepts. Similarly, the AP® Physics 1 bootcamp takes place on Sundays at 2 PM ET, with a curriculum that includes kinematics, dynamics, circular motion, and more, ensuring students review essential units and engage in last-minute test preparation. Access to recordings of all sessions is provided, allowing students to revisit the material as needed.
In addition to live review sessions, Marco Learning offers customizable one-month study plans tailored to each student's needs and schedule. By dissecting complex topics and offering last-minute test prep and review, Marco Learning's AP Bootcamps will serve as a valuable review of the key concepts you should know for your exams.Â
Cost: Free Videos, $14.99 Noteguides and $24.99 Review Guides
Format: Youtube Videos, Notes, and Study Guides
If you’ve ever taken an AP History course, you’ve probably stumbled across Heimler’s videos at some point. Heimler's History specializes in AP history courses, including AP World History, AP U.S. History (APUSH), AP European History (AP Euro), and AP Government and Politics (AP Gov). With the Heimler Review Guides, students have access to exclusive video content by Heimler, detailed note guides with answer keys, an abundance of practice questions, and full-length AP-style practice exams.
Beyond the review guides, Heimler’s History extends its educational reach through its free YouTube videos, which have attracted a following of 643.8k subscribers. This platform provides accessible, high-quality content across the APUSH, AP World, AP Euro, and AP Gov courses, making Heimler’s instructional videos a go-to resource for students seeking reliable and engaging study aids.Â
Cost: Subscription rates start at $39 for 30 days
Format: Question bank
UWorld College Prep offers hundreds of exam-like questions developed by former AP teachers and experts. UWorld's practice materials are closely aligned with the actual AP courses and exams and the platform takes pride in its detailed explanations for both correct and incorrect answers, which serve as a critical learning tool. A highlight of UWorld is that it facilitates performance tracking, allowing you to monitor your progress and identify areas that require further study. This personalized approach to learning is bolstered by built-in support features such as flashcards, hints, and definitions, along with alternate problem-solving methods.
For those seeking a tailored study plan, UWorld offers customizable practice options that allow you to engage with content that matches your specific study needs, whenever and wherever you choose. For example, the AP Calculus BC package includes over 1,300 exam-like questions that not only reflect the style and difficulty of the AP exam but are also organized to parallel the course itself. These packages include answer explanations designed to teach and clarify concepts, visual representations to enhance understanding, and detailed rationales to address and correct misconceptions. The My Notebook feature and flashcards utilizing spaced repetition techniques also support enhanced retention and comprehension.
Cost: Plans stat at $199 per month
Format: Live, private tutoring and classes
Varsity Tutors offers AP practice tests and review sessions via a month-to-month membership priced at $199 per month. This membership not only grants you 2 hours of expert tutoring per month tailored to your academic needs but also provides unlimited access to live classes across a variety of subjects. Furthermore, the membership benefits extend to on-demand homework help and exclusive access to Codeverse.Â
Varsity Tutors also offers Tutor Chat, allowing you to connect with a tutor anytime you're stuck on a homework problem or need last-minute assistance before a quiz. Additionally, members can benefit from hundreds of on-demand lessons across a wide range of topics, available 24/7, perfect for exploring new subjects or supplementing schoolwork. The adaptive assessments and self-study materials, including practice problems and expert essay review services, will help you ace your exams. With access to the Learning Lab's full library of instructional videos and practice problems, you have the tools to improve your understanding at your own pace.Â
Cost: Starts at $399
Format: Online, Live, Synchronous Tutoring Meetings
Kaplan's AP Tutoring offers plenty of resources and meetings to help you prepare for your exam. The class schedule is designed to cover approximately a month's worth of class content per lesson. If you're unable to attend a live session, kaplan provides a syllabus that includes recordings and summary notes from each session, allowing you to catch up and still have all the necessary materials. The courses, including popular subjects like history, biology, and psychology, are offered online and on-demand, featuring two full-length practice exams to simulate the actual test environment. Additionally, Kaplan offers private tutoring at an extra cost of $799, catering to students seeking a more personalized preparation experience.
Kaplan stands behind the quality and effectiveness of its AP prep courses with a money-back guarantee, promising to refund the tuition for students who complete the courses but do not pass their AP exams. You can receive support via phone, live chat, or social media. Courses like AP Biology use Barron's acclaimed content. This package also includes 8, 2-hour sessions with an expert AP teacher, a premium Barron's book for additional study, teacher-written summary notes, online access to slide decks and questions from each lesson, and recordings of all class sessions.Â
One other option—the Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you’d like to apply to rigorous research program open to high schoolers, you may want to consider the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, a selective online high school program for students founded by researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.
Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!
Jessica attends Harvard University where she studies Neuroscience and Computer Science as a Coca-Cola, Elks, and Albert Shankar Scholar. She is passionate about educational equity and hopes to one day combine this with her academic interests via social entrepreneurship. Outside of academics, she enjoys taking walks, listening to music, and running her jewelry business!Â
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