Score improvement depends on your starting point and commitment level. Students who work with tutors typically see gains of 1-3 points on the AP scale, with the largest improvements coming from targeted practice on weak areas and developing stronger analytical writing skills. Consistent practice with released exam questions and personalized feedback on your reasoning are key drivers of improvement.

Students often struggle with analyzing Supreme Court cases and connecting them to constitutional principles, as well as interpreting political data and graphs under time pressure. The free-response questions require you to synthesize multiple concepts and support arguments with specific examples—a skill that takes practice to master. Many students also find it challenging to distinguish between similar political concepts or remember the nuances of different governmental structures.

Success on exam day requires managing your time wisely—the multiple-choice section gives you about 45 seconds per question, so practice pacing is critical. For free-response questions, start by identifying what the prompt is asking and outline your answer before writing. Reading the questions carefully to catch qualifiers like "most likely" or "primarily" can help you avoid common traps, and using specific examples from the course content strengthens your responses significantly.

Practice tests are essential—they help you identify weak content areas, build test-day stamina, and get comfortable with the exam format and timing. Taking full-length practice tests under timed conditions several times before exam day allows you to refine your strategy and build confidence. Reviewing your mistakes carefully, especially on free-response questions, is where real learning happens and where tutors can provide targeted feedback.

Ideally, students benefit from starting tutoring in the fall or early winter to build a strong foundation and have time to practice with released exams. However, even a few months of focused tutoring can help if you start in the spring—the key is consistent practice and targeted work on your specific weak areas. Starting earlier gives you more flexibility to explore different concepts and develop deeper understanding.

Varsity Tutors connects you with tutors who have deep expertise in AP US Government and understand the specific demands of the exam. Tutors work with you to assess your strengths and weaknesses, create a personalized study plan, and provide targeted feedback on practice questions and essays. You'll get matched with someone who fits your learning style and schedule, whether you need help with content review, test strategy, or essay writing.

Your first session is about understanding where you are and where you need to go. Your tutor will likely assess your current knowledge of key concepts, discuss your goals for the exam, and identify which topics or question types give you the most trouble. From there, you'll develop a personalized study plan that focuses on your priorities, whether that's building content knowledge, improving your essay writing, or mastering test-taking strategies.