Every May, students are packed inside of a gym, classroom or cafeteria to take a test for hours. However, this year students will be sitting in their homes, in front of a computer screen for 45 minutes.
On Mar. 23, 2020, the College Board sent out an update through email in regards to the changes students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) classes should expect. The College Board states that the health of students and educators is their priority and they will support AP students with at-home testing.
Throughout the month of May, students across the country will take a 45 minute free response exam at home per subject. These exams can be taken on any device that is able to connect to Wi-Fi. However, each subject will have two different test dates so students will be able to choose when they want to take the exam. The exam will also only cover material that teachers have already covered up to early March.
In addition, the College Board is uploading review videos to YouTube to aid students in their studying. The videos are live but get uploaded afterwards for any student who may have missed it. The material in the videos are reviewed by AP teachers in that subject.
This year’s AP exams not only stray far from traditional AP tests because of the time, but this year’s exams will be open book. However, the College Board warns students on their “Tips for Success on Open Book/Open Note Exams” page that just because it is an open note exam, it does not necessarily mean it will be easy.
The College Board is also ready to prevent any cheating done by students.
“We use a range of digital security tools and techniques, including plagiarism detection software to protect the integrity of the exams,” the College Board stated.
With the support and extra material that the College Board has put out, San Marin students are continuing their preparation for exams.
“I’m happy that the test is shorter because it makes me feel better about taking the test at home but I am terrified to take the test,” sophomore Sydney Martinez said.
