AP Exam FAQ Scoring, Timing, and Notes
COVID-19 Series The Princeton Review
Thanks so much for joining, everyone.
I’m Rob Franek, Editor-in-Chief at The Princeton Review, and on behalf of all of us here at
TPR, I hope you and your families are safe and healthy right now during these challenging
times.
In addition to being concerned about your health and well-being, many of you are also
worried—understandably!—about your futures.
The AP exams will be dramatically different than what you’ve been expecting for most
of this year.
We’ve published a bunch of videos about the new format (just 45 minutes!
Not a lot of minutes!), and our stellar teachers and tutors are running daily livestreams right
here on YouTube at 1:00 p.m. Eastern every weekday.
If you haven’t been watching, please do tune in and send us your questions!
Now, speaking of your questions, we are getting them in fast and furious, and so I wanted
to devote today’s segment to answering your most pressing questions, concerns, and worries.
Because there are so many of them, I’m going to try to answer each one in under 30 seconds.
If you only have 45 minutes to take an AP exam, I should be able to do this!
And I’ve got my own personal timer to keep me honest.
OK, Question #1: We get this question a lot.
What will the curve be like for these exams?
Well, good news my friends: There will not be a curve for the AP exams this year—in
fact, there’s never an AP exam curve.
So for AP Psych, for instance, if you got about three-quarters of the questions right,
you earn a 5.
Simple as that.
The percentages are different for each subject, but the principle remains the same: Consistent
ranges of raw scores will convert to numbers on that 1–5 AP score scale.
Now, the tricky thing this year is that we don’t yet know exactly how that’ll work,
since there are no multiple-choice questions and the exam format is all free-response.
Given that College Board wants this year’s AP exam results to be acceptable to schools,
we do expect that the distribution of scores will be similar to what we’ve seen in previous
years—but at the moment, we don’t know exactly how raw scores will convert to final
AP exam scores.
Question #2: If other people cheat, won’t that hurt my score?
This is the best part about there being no curve.
Other people’s scores have NOTHING to do with your score.
If someone else were (somehow!) to cheat and get away with it (and as we’ve talked about
before, that would be very difficult—with high risks, severe consequences, and minimal
reward), their potential 5 score in no way makes your potential 5 score any less likely.
If you demonstrate mastery of the material at a “5” level, then that 5 score will
be yours.
It doesn’t matter how many other people earn 5s.
In theory, everyone could.
Question #3: Next question: Will these exams be harder?
A bunch of you have hypothesized that they will be harder both because they’re so much
shorter (so you’ll have to prove yourself some other way) or because College Board wants
to make it harder to cheat.
Here’s what I have to say: It will be different for sure.
You don’t usually take an important exam at your kitchen table, or in your bedroom,
or wherever you end up getting set up.
You don’t usually take an important exam at 6am, or the middle of the night, or whenever
your time zone is scheduled.
You don’t usually take an important exam that’s open-note and open-book (at least,
not before you get to college).
You don’t usually earn college credit for a test that’s 45 minutes long and perhaps
just 1 or 2 questions total.
But there is nothing about this global pandemic that’s usual.
So if you’re worried about challenges, the good news AND the bad news is that you’re
currently living many of them.
It is already more challenging to be taking these exams under such unusual conditions.
What I think we can count on is that the skills that these exams will test are going to be
a bit different.
Rather than testing recall, they’re really going to focus on synthesis and analysis.
So if you’re amazing at recalling names, dates, places, formulas—you won’t get
an opportunity to show off your incredible memory.
But in truth, that has never been the key focal point of these exams.
The folks at the College Board—and colleges themselves—have always been keen on making
sure that you know how to think...and think on your feet.
And so, if anything, these exams will give you a chance to shine in that regard.
Question #4: Can I Google stuff?
Does using the internet count as “open-note”?
Yeah, we’re getting a lot of questions about what counts as “notes” right now.
So before I tell you what counts, I want to remind you that you really won’t have a
lot of time, and Googling simple facts does not constitute the best use of that time.
But now I’m going to answer your question: Googling does not fit within the guidelines
for “open-note” that College Board has provided.
Here are the notes, resources, and tools that are permitted:
Class notes created by you Classroom resources provided by your teacher
Previous assignments or assessments returned by your teacher
Calculators for certain exams And given that some of those resources may
be digital, you’re ALSO allowed to access them in the following places:
Personal or school email Digital classroom site
Online storage accessible only by you Note that “Google” isn’t listed there.
But that should be a moot point anyway, folks.
You won’t have time to look up facts during these exams.
You just won’t have time.
Question #5: Can I choose my test date?
The short answer is YES.
The longer answer is, College Board has waffled a bit on this point.
Initially, when they announced AP exams would be at-home tests, they said you’d get to
choose your date.
Then, they said all students would automatically be registered for their exams during the May
11–22 testing period, and would need special permission to take a makeup exam during the
first week of June.
Now, they’ve just issued a clarification: You get to choose, but they still urge students
to choose May.
Here’s what College Board is saying: “Students can test in either May or June, but we're
strongly encouraging May test dates.
Students are allowed to test in June, but should understand that if they encounter a
problem on exam day, they won’t have additional opportunities to test.”
You’re also allowed to take some AP exams in May and some in June.
But College Board is not giving unencumbered choice here.
They’re saying: You can choose June, but you should choose May.
We here at The Princeton Review say something slightly different: You should weigh all of
the factors that are important in your life—how many exams you’re taking, what your study
schedule has been, how much more time you’ll need to earn your target score, how important
to you it is that you’ll definitely get to take all the exams you’ve registered
for (if there are technical difficulties), and so on.
This is already a tough situation, folks, so be kind to yourself as you think through
your study and test-taking plan.
Question #6: Will College Board randomize the questions, or will everyone take the same
exam?
This is an excellent question.
As far as we know, everyone will take the same exam.
That’s why students in Hawaii will have to sign in at 5:30 a.m. for a 6:00 a.m. exam
that someone in Maine will get to take at the much more reasonable hour of noon.
But of course, it’s understandable that College Board isn’t releasing all of their
test security measures.
Still, should we hear anything different, we will report it out to you right here.
Question #7: A lot of you are asking about what happens when more than one student from
the same household takes the same exam.
The short answer, as far as we know, is: You all just take it.
The longer answer is, you’ll probably need to find separate workspaces, and you’ll
definitely need to have your own devices.
If you don’t have enough tech or internet in your house, please reach out to the College
Board.
They are committed to providing all students with the tools they need.
We’ll add a link to their contact form in the comments.
Finally, College Board will likely look even more closely at your exams to ensure you’re
not sharing thoughts or ideas during the test.
So it goes without saying, but: don’t cheat!
Question #8: Now, a lot of you are asking questions like this: “I’ve heard that
College Board will be sending a copy of my completed test to my teacher.
What if I am self-studying?
Who would get the test then?”
We have not heard College Board give a direct answer to this question—yet.
Here’s what we do know: Your teachers would be getting the test both so they could flag
anything that seems inconsistent with your usual work, but ALSO so that they can decide
whether to let that exam count as your final exam, or for some other part of your grade.
Our understanding is that if you’re self-studying, it’s possible that your counselor or school
(or guardian if you’re homeschooled) would get a copy of the exam, but it may not go
any further than that.
Question #9: What is the best device to take this exam on?
Excellent question, and this will depend a bit on your own preferences and skill levels
with technology.
If you’re an old-fashioned hand-writer or not a particularly fast typist, you’ll probably
want to write out your answers and submit a photo.
For many if not most students, a computer will probably be the fastest.
And again, if you feel that your optimal device is one that you do not currently have in your
possession, please—for the love of french fries—reach out to the College Board and
request a loaner.
Again, that link is in the comments.
Question #10: OK, this is the last question for today, my friends.
Thank you all for watching and writing in with such excellent, astute questions.
We have gotten this one from SEVERAL students: “What do I do if my computer or internet
crashes during the test, or as I’m submitting?”
We have not gotten a procedure from the College Board for that unfortunate—and I hope unlikely—eventuality,
but here is my personal advice to you: Document everything.
Write down exactly what happened, exactly when it happened, and report that information
to your counselor and the College Board as soon as humanly possible.
So if your internet went down at 12:17 p.m. EDT and you’d gotten through the first 2
paragraphs of question 1 in that timeframe, document that.
If your internet started working again at 12:28, write that down too.
Document what happens.
Then College Board can check your records against their own, and depending on how much
you’re able to finish, and what they’re able to corroborate, they may offer you an
opportunity to take the makeup exam in June.
The thing I want to reassure you about, folks, is this: This whole process is designed to
make sure that you’re not going to be penalized for circumstances that are beyond your control.
So it feels right and natural to me to imagine that, should there arise some other circumstance
beyond your control, once again you wouldn’t be penalized.
Of course, if and when we get more specific intel, we will be right back here with that
for you.
Thank you all so much for watching.
Please subscribe to our channel for all the latest updates about the rapidly changing
AP world.
And should you have a question I didn’t answer here, please leave us a comment!
Take care.