Since the beginning of the pandemic, students have been lacking motivation in academics. Compared to a normal, in-person school year, fewer resources have been provided for students looking for assistance in standardized testing and Advanced Placement classes. This especially applies to students who have had no prior experience with the College Board or the ACT Education Solutions (AES). Sophomore Fairooz Chowdhury shared her thoughts with the Register Forum, saying, “I don’t feel ready, and the teachers should do more to help prepare us. It shouldn’t be up to the students to help themselves study, and the school should be helping us prepare for the tests as well.” Students feel as though they have no support and are alone in the testing process. Keep in mind that many schools have become test-optional to recognize these challenging times.

Here are some online resources to help students during this time:

Khan Academy provides both video and article resources on a variety of subjects for the AP, PSAT, and SAT exams. For PSAT and SAT exams, you are able to connect your College Board account to the website to get an overview of the topics you may need to work on. Khan Academy personalizes practice tests to ensure that you are able to improve on skills that you may struggle with. All of these resources are free to use.

AP Daily videos are available on the College Board website. When you register for your AP class on this website, you will be able to access your classroom and AP Daily videos covering various topics. These videos will provide you with supplemental information that you might have missed during class. They are usually not more than 10 minutes long, perfect for a quick review.

The Princeton Review offers many free online and printable full length SAT and PSAT practice tests, including answer keys and explanations for each question. They also offer a plethora of paid tutoring and test prep plans for the SAT, ACT, and AP exams.

Fiveable is a website that provides free study guides, video cram sessions, slides, trivia questions, and more. The website provides resources for almost all of the AP classes, and is widely used by students who are self-studying for their AP exams. Fiveable also has online courses, in which students can “enroll for $55 and get 15 weeks of live instruction.” They have a few resources for the SAT and ACT, but the website’s main focus is to help with AP exams.

This student guide provides practice problems for the SAT subject tests. Included are strategies for certain problems, as well as a review of knowledge needed prior to taking a test, helping students feel as prepared as possible for the test they are planning on taking.

SAT Exam Prep & Practice, a free app developed by the company Magoosh, is a great resource for those who need extra assistance with the SATs. On the app, there are over 1500 practice questions, along with text and video explanations. Its rating on the Apple App Store is a 4.6 out of 5. The Magoosh website also provides resources for the ACTs, with similar videos and practice tests.

In the spring of 2020, the College Board started posting live instructions on their Youtube Channel with hundreds of videos for all of the AP classes. These videos are divided into units as well as skills. Each course has two final practice exams consisting of 2 FRQ questions, similar to the 2020 AP exam format. Their channel description states that “[students] can use the free, digital instructional resources in AP Classroom to provide students with daily instruction, practice, and feedback on every course topic and skill that’s tested on an AP Exam.”