Photo Source: The College Board
According to College Board, ¨For the 2019–20 exam administration only, students can take a 45-minute online free-response exam at home.¨ Due to COVID-19, all AP tests will be held at home for a shorter time, rather than in classrooms for close to three hours.
An email was sent out recently, declaring that the AP Exams will be taken between May 11 to May 22. College Board will be providing makeup test dates for every subject in June.
“Most exams will have one or two free-response questions, and each question will be timed separately.” The questions will be timed due to the exam only being 45 minutes.
Some subjects are not required to take the Advanced Placement exams. For example, art classes will not be taking exams, but they are required to submit their portfolios by May 26, 2020. World Language students will take exams that consist of spoken tasks; students will verbally answer free-response questions, and they won’t be required to do any written sections.
These exams are a whole new experience for everyone.
In my opinion, a 45-minute test sounds amazing; it is way better than being stuck in a room for three hours with only three small breaks, but the home part, not so great.
Why isn’t the idea of taking AP tests at home a good idea? Well, some people do not have the proper necessities needed while testing at home. Not everyone has a quiet separated space to take their exam properly. For example, I live in a two-room home with no privacy, so I’m pretty sure I won’t do that great taking the test at home. Students need to have space for themselves so they process information well, especially if they have a noisy household.
I doubt anyone would be able to take the test while their siblings or family members are in the other room being loud. This isn’t fair to those who want to do well on their exams but don’t have a good place where they can focus.
Taking the exam at home is better than nothing. I´m pretty sure thousands of kids were looking forward to taking these exams so they can get some college credit. Those endless nights of studying would be for nothing if they ended up canceling all exams. I was looking forward to taking my AP Biology and AP U.S History exams, and I’m glad that I still have the opportunity to do so. Even though it will be difficult, I will put my all into it, so I can hopefully get some college credit.
Taking AP exams at home may be difficult, but it is better than nothing. Every student planning on taking their AP Exams at home should make sure to study as much as they can and make sure to be prepared.
By Ashley Farias (Editorials Editor)