There is now modified AP testing to ensure that students can get the credit for the classes that they have worked on all year. 

To ensure students can still earn credit for their work this year in Advanced Placement classes, the College Board has made accommodations for students to take their AP tests at home. Unlike a typical exam, students can either type their response or write it on paper and then upload a photo. The College Board will also be providing video instructions so that students can learn the new system before testing. Students should access the online testing system 30 minutes before their exam starts, and any device can be used for uploading.

A majority of the exams will consist of one or two open note free response questions and students will have 45 minutes to write their responses plus an additional five minutes to upload their work. However, some classes don’t have an online test to take, so there are modifications to the process. For example, classes like AP Art require a portfolio that needs to be submitted by an extended deadline. Additionally, students taking world language exams will have spoken response tasks without any written portions. The grading system will remain the same for both kinds of final exams. 

Simon Graves (10) says, “I’d feel stressed either way but I feel more so underprepared because of e-learning guidelines. We’re preparing in class and that’s helped greatly, but it doesn’t help that I’m trying to get ready when I feel both out of energy and scared out of my mind” 

The dates for testing are between May 11 and May 22, with make-up dates being between June 1 and June 5. Every student will take their exam at the same time worldwide. 

The College Board expects colleges to continue to accept credit as they have in the past for the classes as long as students pass the exam. Colleges are accepting the credit from the modified testing the same as they would have before. School cancellations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a loss of instruction time for numerous AP students, several of which are and have been behind in the course material for their AP class for weeks now. Because of this, the AP exams will only have content on it that most teachers had covered by the beginning of March. 

Since students are going from having multiple opportunities to show what they know, to a single open note essay, the way that AP Teachers are preparing their classes has changed a bit. An additional way that students can study is the free lessons taught by AP teachers available on YouTube that are provided by the College Board, which can help teach any missed lessons and review concepts from earlier in the year.

“Take time to study so that you know the content well and can recall the information you need quickly,” AP U.S. History teacher Ms. Erin Edwardson-Stern said. “When you are writing an essay, you want to be able to start the essay without struggling to remember key pieces of information.”

Other tests that have been impacted by COVID-19 include the ACT, which has been rescheduled, the SAT, which has been cancelled until this summer and the MCA, which has been waived entirely this year by the Department of Education.

Even with the current situation, there are modifications being made so that students who have gone through their courses will get the credit they have worked all year for. Students can continue to make progress despite the stresses of quarantine, distance learning and the ongoing effects of the pandemic.