This year, all sophomores in the state of Georgia are required to take the Georgia Milestones American Literature and Composition End-Of-Course exam (EOC). AP Seminar students, despite not taking 10th grade Literature & Composition, are still required to take the EOC.
Sophomore Abby Krey-Patel, a Midtown student taking AP Seminar, said that she feels that the EOC adds unnecessary stress during AP exam season.
“I am taking five AP’s this year, so I have a lot of studying to do for the exams,” Krey-Patel said. “The EOC adds a lot of extra stress, especially now, because we didn’t take 10th grade Literature & Composition and have AP exams to study for. ”
The loss of instructional time is also a concern for many students. Krey-Patel adds that the testing days take up valuable time that could be used for studying for AP exams. She explains that the AP exam preparation time is already limited, and the EOC and preparation further shorten it.
“With only two weeks left to study for AP exams, the two days of EOC testing take away a lot of studying time,” Krey-Patel said. “It will also cut into regular class time that would otherwise be spent preparing for AP exams.”
In past years, the literature EOCs were primarily taken by 11th graders in AP English Language and Composition. The new 2025-26 school year English curriculum was introduced to improve students’ literacy skills. Sophomore Lia Clarence is taking AP Seminar this year and said that the EOC is focused on topics that were not covered in the AP Seminar curriculum.
“We have had to learn a lot of new topics in the span of two weeks,” Clarence said. “AP Seminar is very time intensive. We have essentially spent the entire year working on the performance tasks for the AP exam.”
Clarence adds that the EOC takes away preparation time for the AP Seminar exam. She explains that it has been difficult to prioritize exam preparation with the EOC coming up.
“The AP exam is in almost two weeks, and we haven’t had a chance to start reviewing yet because of EOC prep,” Clarence said. “It is inconvenient that both tests are around the same time, which adds a lot of extra stress.”
AP Seminar teacher, Erin Aube, said that preparing students for the EOC alongside the upcoming AP exam was difficult considering the circumstances.
“It was quite challenging to prepare the kids for both exams. The timing of the EOC made preparation especially difficult.” Aube said. “ There were multiple AP deadlines around mid to late April, including presenting Individual Multimedia Presentations, finalizing and submitting the Individual Research Report and Individual Written Arguments, and preparing for the AP Seminar exam coming up in May.”
The EOC is said to count for at least ten percent of sophomores final grades in their AP Seminar classes. Sophomore Dexter Williams said he expects to feel unprepared as he didn’t take 10th-grade literature.
“I do think it is a little unfair, particularly because we were given a milestone study packet with such short notice,” Williams said. “However, I think that it is kind of fair because I signed up for AP Seminar rather than tenth grade literature, knowing that I wouldn’t be getting the same education to prepare.”
Aube believes that the AP Seminar student should not be exempt from the exam as they have chosen to take on the rigor of the course.
“I have definite feelings about required standardized testing in general, but as long as it is required, I see no reason why AP students should be exempt.” Aube said, “ In my opinion, there are already plenty of perks to being in an AP class; getting out of a test that the rest of the students have to take doesn’t need to be another one. Students can always choose not to take an AP course if the testing or other requirements seem too overwhelming.”
Williams said his AP Seminar teacher Mario Herrera provided them materials to study for the EOC.
“Mr. Herrera gave us milestone study packets and online practice tests for the EOC; the packet was really hard to understand when I first looked at it,” Williams said. “I felt stressed because I wasn’t used to seeing this material.”
Aube adds that despite the preparation being challenging, her students were able to adequately prepare for the EOC.
“Although I certainly would have appreciated more time for any or all of the AP components or Milestones prep, we worked within the confines we were given.” Aube said, “ I feel my students had adequate time; most of my kiddos were champs. We have been working hard all year, and they understood it wasn’t yet time to take the foot off the gas.”
