Join a study group. Many AP English teachers offer study groups throughout the week either before or after school or during free periods that students can attend. If the school offers one of these, be sure to attend it as often as you can. If there are not any groups, request that your school or teacher starts one, or start your own where you and other AP students can get together and review once a week or every other week.
Get a study book. Many textbook resources are available that assist with the AP English exam preparation. Within these books you will find strategies on how to score well on the multiple choice section, essay guidelines, practice tests and even calendar-based study guides. These calendar guides help students map out a studying approach months or weeks in advance.
Study online. The Internet is a useful resource for those looking to improve their English skills prior to taking the AP English exam. Routinely spend time visiting a free study site, such as apstudynotes.org or collegeboard.com, where you can study rhetorical terms, review sample essays, review the basic course information and go over some additional information that might be helpful for the exam. This information includes titles of literary works that might be referred to in the exam.
Review literary works. Become familiar with works from different periods and genres, such as Shakespearean tragedies, 20th century plays and 19th and 20th century novels. Review these on a site such as cliffnotes.com or sparknotes.com, where you can get a free overview of the book or play so that you can refresh your memory regarding the story's plot, main characters and major themes.
Take practice exams. Whether these exams are handed out to you in class, you find them online or within a study book, take as many practice exams as you can. This will get you familiar with the way questions are asked, the type of questions that are asked and the time constraints of the exam.