TRIPLE CHALLENGE

AP and SAT tests compete with prom for one very May weekend

REESE GARDNER Student Life Editor

This year’s prom at the Saratoga Mountain View Winery lands on May 6, between two AP testing weeks and on an SAT date, and students who are already nervous about their exams find themselves having to balance their academic responsibilities with the dance.

ASB leaders who are planning prom acknowledge the conflicting dates, but said that it was chosen because it offered the lowest ticket prices for students.

Senior class president Yuva Krishnapillai said on behave of the prom planning committee, “We as planners had to examine our priorities in terms of venue quality and date flexibility while keeping ticket prices affordable for our students, so we hope that the financial trade-off of cheaper ticket prices and a higher quality event will compensate for all attendees.”

They also hope that people can look to prom as a sort of reward for AP students and students taking the SAT that weekend. They know it can be an inconvenience for those students effected academically but hope it the weeks leading up to it wont be as stressful if students choice to prioritize their academics correctly.

“It was to our belief that it would offer respite to those who diligently studied and worked towards performing their best, sort of a reward for taking all those hard tests over the previous week” said Krishnapillai.

Some AP teachers know how important prom is for people and have agreed that students should look at the event more as a celebration of their hard work, rather then an inconvenience.

“Prom is something that’s really fun,” said AP Language teacher Chelsea Follett, “People put a lot of energy into going into prom, and it makes me a little bit nervous that it’s situated right in between some of the most serious tests that students are going to take in all of high school.”

For many AP students and teachers, this year’s prom date has become less and less ideal. Follett expresses how in a perfect world prom would be weeks before or after AP tests and not on an SAT date.

She noted how if the possibility arises, looking to move the date of prom would be very beneficial to students, but she understands that sometimes it’s difficult to do that because of the venue itself.

“There’s not too much that we can change because we can’t change the date of the AP exam” Follett said, “so we just have to kind of carry on like we usually would.”

Many are planning to hold study sessions or mock exams to help students prepare for their tests. The AP Language teachers have held mini mock exams where students have to write two

Prom and Testing survey

A survey administered in February and again in March showed mixed feelings among students about that date of prom.

43% of the 180 students surveyed say that they have AP test either the week before or after prom.

8% say they have both an AP test and the SAT that weekend, and the weeks before and/or after prom.

70% say that they will still attend prom along with their AP tests and/or SAT exams..

Source: Branham survey of 270 readers essays back-to-back.

Closer to the test date, they are going to hold two- to- three full options mock exams after school.

“A lot of the AP teachers use their entire tutorial to talk with AP students about what they can do to be successful moving forward,” Follett said. “I think what all AP teachers right now are trying to navigate is being in the middle of all of these really important events.”

Many students are also trying to find ways to navigate the busy weekends. Junior Alina Gudeli is nervous about having to get through the two weeks.

Gudeli is taking two AP classes: AP U.S. History and AP Language and Composition. With the tests being on opposite weeks she is more nervous for the AP Language exam more than the AP U.S. History not only because it is after prom, but because it is the more rigorous course.

“It definitely does make me feel a little guilty,” Gudeli said about going to prom and not staying home studying for her AP tests. “I feel like I really should be focusing on my academics so close to the end of the year.”

Even with his busy schedule, senior Jeremy Potts says that prom is a high school milestone. In additional to being in ASB, Potts is in three AP classes this year, statistics, biology and U.S. government.

“Frankly, at that point, if it’s three days before the test, I’m so sorry to tell you, but there’s nothing you can do to make it better at that point,” Potts said. “You have to be able to plan ahead cause not a lot can happen in the three days before.”

Planning ahead

Gudeli and others hope that more teachers