AP Exam Changes

Emma Miller - Editor

With all the new changes, everything is getting altered, pushed around, and more difficult, including the AP tests.

AP students work the entire year in efforts to pass the tests that conclude their year. The test normally takes place in a church about thirty minutes away from the school. There are anywhere from 100 to 300 students sitting at folding tables patiently waiting for their test. Number two pencils in hand, minds racing trying to remember everything they have been taught throughout the year. Everything is monitored by multiple volunteer teachers, cell phones are placed in a large box with a sticky note of your name on it, and distractions are minimal. All that is going to change with the new guidelines of the AP tests because of the pandemic.

Depending on the test, the time varied for each section of the test. They could have one hour sections, two hour sections, thirty minute sections, or more. Which would all take place in the church. Now that the coronavirus has changed our recent ways of life, the tests are being taken at home on a computer. They are now 45 minutes long, do not contain multiple choice, only free response, and there are two times that the student can choose to take the exam.

The students opinions on the matter have mixed responses. Some students have opted not to take the test anymore due to the lack of practice over the online learning, they feel unprepared. The exam guidelines have explained that if a student decides not to take the test, they will receive their money back. Other students are very relieved with the whole situation.

Senior Emma Williamson, who has taken around five AP tests throughout her sophomore and junior year, stated that “the whole atmosphere of the church and hundreds of students is very overwhelming, and when someone else is finished before me I get scared that I’m going too slow and won’t have enough time, it’s just a lot.”

She explained how with the new guidelines, she is much more comfortable being able to take the test from her home and be able to be alone and think about the test more clearly, free of other stress and distractions that the traditional testing atmosphere gives.

On the other hand, some students feel that taking the test at home will be an even bigger distraction than if they are at the traditional location. Senior Lexi Fisher believes that her family and pets will be distracting during the test.

“I can barely do homework without being interrupted, I don’t know how I am going to take a whole AP test without issues,” she said.

Throughout the whole mess, students are still feeling prepared and excited to take the exam, hopefully they all pass with flying colors.