Due to the recent school closings caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, all Advanced Placement (AP) tests are taking place at home, online. Normally, these tests are taken at school and on paper. However, schools closing forced the test to now be condensed and taken online.

The AP tests were originally designed to be taken consisting of multiple questions. Now, the tests have all been shortened and only consist of one FRQ (free response question). Out of 50 students polled, 58 percent of them stated that they did not like the new style of the exam because they were worried about harsh grading.

The AP exams used to have around 60 questions, including all multiple choice and any short answer or essay questions. “I do not mind them being online, but I’d rather it not be exclusively an essay question, especially for math, I rely on the multiple choice section to boost my grade,” senior Wyatt Hauhn said.

In addition to reducing the amount of questions, these tests were also about two and a half hours in length as well. With the new FRQ put in place, the exam only allows 45 minutes of writing time with a five minute upload window after the exam time has finished. Junior Laurel Brown stated, “I have a lot of concerns about the mechanics of the test since it is online. What would happen if I cannot upload my response in time or if the connection is poor and my screen freezes?”

Since Maryland schools were closed after March 13 through at least May 15, not all units were able to be properly taught to the AP students. This led to the College Board to decide to eliminate those units that hadn’t yet been covered by teachers, allowing students to be able to focus on studying the content that they had already learned throughout the year.

Yet another change was brought to the new exams this year. It is now an open book/open note test. “I think Mr. Scarborough’s notes are very helpful and easy to understand so they will be useful in this scenario,” sophomore Bethany Gryzmala stated.

Many students are starting to worry about their test scores because they are graded solely on their response to one question opposed to being graded on many different categories that are weighted differently all contributing to their overall score. According Holmes, “I’m worried that if I do poorly on this one question, that I could end up getting a one, whereas if I would have gotten to take the rest of the test another time, or taken the multiple choice section instead, it could help me get a better score.” Out of 50 students polled, 81 percent said that they were nervous for the exam since its only one question.

However, since we have gotten out of school at the end of third quarter, this allowed teachers to prepare students enough so they can feel confident with what they have learned. The College Board has also accommodated for the sudden closing of schools by eliminating those units that haven’t been covered. “I still feel very prepared for the test because we were able to cover all of the content that could be the FRQ before school closed, so I know I have all of the materials to study, to hopefully receive a good score in the end.”