The virus has disrupted daily life in myriad ways; of course, at Smarten Up, we’re particularly focused on its impacts on students. In this post, we’ll lay out the changes to AP exams planned for the end of this school year and offer some advice for how to adapt to the new format.
While some end-of-year tests, including for the IB (International Baccalaureate) program, have been cancelled entirely, AP exams will still take place! A wide selection of AP students were surveyed as the shutdown began, and the response was overwhelming: students who have spent their school year learning material in preparation for exams remained eager for the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge to admissions officers and earn potentially valuable college credits. The College Board, which administers AP exams as well as the SAT (which, as of this writing, will not be administered in an online format -- although a contingency plan to that effect is actively being explored), responded quickly, putting forth a new plan for testing that includes unprecedented changes from previous years. Colleges across the country have committed to honoring the results of the adapted online exams - so what, exactly will they consist of?
New format in brief:
All AP tests, normally 2-3 hours long, will be limited to 45 minutes, and include as few as one multi-part question, depending on the subject. All exam questions will be free response, rather than multiple choice, and all exams are now open book. Finally, the College Board has announced that material that would have been taught in the final two months of the semester will not be assessed on the adapted exam. For a subject-specific breakdown of changes to each test in the new format, check the AP site directly.
What this change means for students’ study plans
Now that we’re all stuck inside, finding time to study should be a breeze, right? Unfortunately, many students are reporting difficulty focusing as they struggle to stay motivated with the distance from peers and teachers. These conditions are similar to those students will experience in college in the near future: broad swathes of unstructured free time, and a personal responsibility to craft your own study plan. Luckily, there are resources to help. The College Board has enlisted master AP teachers from across the country to teach live online versions of their courses on YouTube, which are available here. You should also explore Khan Academy’s extensive AP-prep catalogue, which is well-organized by unit and includes helpful practice problems - take a glance through the AP Calculus AB course here, for instance, or search up the one that’s most relevant to you. And don’t be deceived into thinking that an open-note test will be simple; test-makers have made it clear that questions will be designed to test students’ ability to reason logically and apply concepts learned in the course, rather than merely recite information.
What this change means for students’ test-day strategies
It will be up to students (and families) to work through the College Board’s explication of the procedure for test day, and to set up an individual testing environment for optimal focus. Even though the test is digital, students will benefit from using paper to annotate their thought process and outline free response answers. Although you may technically use the internet to find information for your exams, it’s recommended that you first refer to notes compiled from the course, since online resources may yield confusing or misleading answers. With only 45 minutes for the entire exam, time is another limiting factor on the usefulness of the open-book format. Keep an eye on the clock, and another eye on the AP scoring rubric for your subject; it’s a good idea to print this out for reference on test day.