AP Statistics by Airess
Airess's entry into Varsity Tutor's December 2024 scholarship contest
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AP Statistics by Airess - December 2024 Scholarship Essay
Have you ever had a class where the teacher was so unprepared and started teaching something completely different than stated in the curriculum? Well, that’s what happened in my sophomore year of high school.
My freshman year math teacher was a breath of fresh air. Some teachers are too involved in their students’ lives, not involved enough, or simply don’t care about their students. He was the exact opposite. He would walk around the classroom, not in a “stifling, authoritarian way”, but in a “I'm here if you need me” way. Now, when I was informed this same teacher taught Math Application and Interpretations HL (Math A&A HL) for IB diploma candidates, I eagerly signed up for his class but was told that taking AP statistics was a prerequisite.
This is where things started going downhill. I was not given a teacher that specialized in teaching the AP tests, or even statistics. My fellow classmates and I were very unprepared and barely learned any viable material relevant to the AP exam. So, we got a new teacher.
4 / 8
Formally a college professor, this new teacher gave us hope for an informed learning experience (this sentiment did not last long). But, of course, this new teacher did not prepare us correctly for the AP exam, and I genuinely didn’t retain anything from that class other than p-values and the excel app (which came in handy on the exam, thankfully). Even though I knew I was unequipped, I was determined not to score less than a 3 on the AP exam, so I studied for a whole month. I read the AP Statistics textbook from front to back, looked up review questions online, and consulted past AP Statistics students to aid me in my studying journey.
Anticipating my failure, even with a month of preparation, I didn’t look at my results for weeks after they initially came out. Eventually, I checked the College Board and saw my 3/5. Though it was not as high as my other tests, I was proud that I worked to overcome my educational barrier, passing the AP exam.
