Hello!

The focus of the chapter review MCQs are more about clarifying and solidifying concepts.

The actual MCQ of APES is more focused on giving students a novel scenario

and asking them to apply what they have learned throughout the year.

It is a difficult question to answer, because the perceived difficulty of the exam varies depending on the student,

but most seem to think the actual test is easier in terms of concepts that are asked.

The perception is that there is less focus on tiny, minute details that you have to remember,

and more about learning a new scenario and figuring out the data on the spot.

In that sense, a lot of students comment that the test reads more like a "logic-based word problem" exam,

where as long as you interpret the data correctly, there is very little actual "environmental science" involved.

The difficulty lies in handling exam day pressure and not making weird mistakes you wouldn't normally make.

This ties in nicely to this year's digital format, where focus lies in the security and anti-cheating methods.

The collegeboard website states,

To prevent students from gaining an unfair advantage, digital exams will:

• Not include questions that can be answered with internet searches, textbooks, notes, study guides, or similar material

This is why I expect the sense of "logic-based word problem" trend to continue this year as well

where students will not be asked to recall 

"how many kilometers high the stratosphere goes up to" or

"what are the top 3 countries with the highest fossil fuel reserves"

but more like 

"an organization is trying to build solar panels on the roof. 

what are some important things to consider in terms of enviornmental impact and cost"

type of questions.

I understand this response might feel pretty vague and ambiguous to a student,

so my best advice would be, don't shy away from solving as many practice exams as you can

and don't get too caught up trying to memorize numbers or tiny facts,

focus on the overall trend and how things are changing in the recent years.

(shameless plug here, but my final APES MCQ tests are a pretty good estimate of the actual exam imo! :D)

Hope this helps!