The past two years, my junior and senior years, prom has been in between the two weeks of AP testing. Due to this poor planning, us upperclassmen are trying to get ready to enjoy a great night, yet we are plagued by thoughts of our upcoming AP tests.

Even though my tests will be over by prom and I don’t have to study the day after prom, I’ll still have trouble getting excited for prom during the week. It was more of a struggle last year, and it’s still a struggle for others this year.

Prom should be a weekend for the upperclassmen to relax and enjoy a great time to hang out with friends, one of the last times to hang out with friends for seniors. Yet, when Sunday comes around, they can’t continue to relax because they have to study.

It’s typically only juniors and seniors who can go to prom, just as it’s typically only juniors and seniors who take AP tests, so shouldn’t the schedule of these things correspond better? I know AP tests are a nationwide thing, so they have to remain on those specific days, but there are plenty of weekends in April that would be perfectly suitable for prom.

Studying for AP tests is a major task, and even after devoting weeks of class time to it, many students need more time to study and get that 3, 4, or 5 that they might need. AP tests aren’t the type of thing to blow off until the night before or an hour before, but after waking up after parties and sleepovers from the night before, no student really feels like devoting their day to studying.

The school is causing their student’s AP scores to be lower by putting prom in between the tests because students get so focused on prom and fun that it has a negative effect on their studying habits. The week before they won’t want to study because they’re getting excited and have preparations to make. The day after they won’t want to study because they’ll be tired. The week after they won’t want to study because it will feel like school is coming to an end they’ll just get lazy.

So, I guess the question is, when do students study for AP tests? The answer is never, or just not that much.

Many students think just winging it or cramming right before the test will get them a “good enough” score, but the reality is that these tests help determine futures and they affect the cost of college, and they need to try to get the best score they can. Parents won’t like it when they find out how much money they have paid, all for their kid to just “wing it.”

If students are only getting scores that are “good enough” while others are getting great scores, our schools ranking of teachers and schools and compared to others teachers and schools won’t be as high. The scores reflect the teaching ability of a school, and I know our school would like to have a good ranking, which won’t happen if students aren’t studying for their tests.

If the school wants a good ranking and parents want their expenses being worth it, every opportunity for studying time needs to be presented to students without distractions, like prom, in the way. Students need time to get in the mindset to take numerous four hour tests multiple days in a row. The tests really do take a toll on students, take it from someone who knows, and doing well on them requires their full attention.