Important AP Exam Updates Spring 2021 COVID-19 Series
The Princeton Review
Hello, everyone!
I’m Rob Franek, Editor-in-Chief at The Princeton Review, and I’m here today with another
update about the College Board—this time it’s not about the now-defunct SAT optional
essay and SAT Subject Tests.
We are here to talk about AP exams!!
So let’s get started.
If you took any AP exams last year, you know they were different—very different: They
were all-FRQ, open-book, open-note, online, remote exams.
And they were abridged.
And lots of students had trouble submitting their exams, and many had to take the June
makeup, and we heard from a lot of you about your successes, your frustrations, and your
concerns—about fairness, cheating, and technical difficulties.
This year, the AP exams will be a lot more like the versions you’ve been preparing
for all year.
Let’s start with what’s the same: The exams will be full-length (we’re talking
3-plus hours), covering the complete scope of AP content for each course.
For the most part, they will be in-person.
If you’re prepping, you should definitely check out our series where we walk you through
the key concepts you’ll need to know for your AP exams.
Now, let’s talk about what’s different: There will be three—I repeat, three—testing
dates for each AP subject between early May and mid-June.
Administration 1 will take place starting on May 3 and running through the 17th.
Administration 2 will start on May 18th and run through the 28th.
And administration 3 will start on June 1st and continue through the 11th.
Here’s another thing that’s different: Standard paper-and-pencil exams as well as
digital exams will be offered in school—and in some cases, remotely.
Now, let’s talk more about the digital exams: You’ll have to take them on a computer.
No phones or tablets will be supported.
Also, there will be no submitting photos of your written work, as students were able to
do last year.
The digital exams will be extremely similar to—but also slightly different from—their
analog counterparts.
Ed Surge cites College Board’s Trevor Packer in providing an example of just how the two
exam types might differ: On a calculus exam, for instance, a paper-and-pencil test taker
might draw out a graph, but a digital test taker might instead be shown graphs.
These differences should not affect student scores, however.
Packer said that each test would be [quote] “statistically equated for difficulty levels.”
There will also be some specific question differences for the two exam formats for history
subjects as well as those math and physics subjects we just discussed.
For example, in history subjects, your free-response section will consist of 3 short-answer questions,
1 document-based question, and 1 long essay question—with some optionality—if you’re
taking the exam on paper.
If you’re taking it digitally, then you’ll have 3 SAQs and 1 DBQ—same as on paper—and
then 2 SAQs rather than 1 long essay, and you’ll get no optionality there.
This shouldn’t dramatically change your prep, but you will want to be aware of those
differences, especially as you think about how you’ll manage your time on test day.
Another difference is that if you’re taking the digital exam, unlike on the pencil-and-paper
version, you won’t be able to return to a question you already completed—that’s
a security feature the College Board is implementing.
In light of last year’s technical difficulties—the new digital exam won’t go bananas on you
if your internet gets disconnected.
You’ll still need internet to start and finish the exam, but if you get interrupted
in the middle, you should be able to keep testing without an issue.
It’s also worth mentioning that not every single subject will have a digital option.
Nine of the 38 subjects—including music theory and languages—will only be offered
in the standard paper-and-pencil format.
That’s in part to prevent cheating, especially where languages are concerned—again, that’s
according to Trevor Packer in Ed Surge.
And now for the final difference—you knew we had to save the biggest for last—exams
during Administration 1 will be offered in school only.
But exams during Administrations 2 and 3 will be offered both in school and at home.
To be clear, it’s not like anyone can opt in to take their AP exams at home.
If a school is closed due to Covid, then AP coordinators will be able to authorize a full-length
digital contingency exam that can be taken at home.
After the pandemic is over, at-home testing will cease to be an option—but the digital
exams will stick around.
These announcements come on the heels of College Board’s announcement to cut SAT Subject
Tests—a decision we expect will only further increase the demand for AP exams.
We know you probably have more questions—like: what about cheating?—and we promise that
we’ll be back here with updates as new details become available.
So, leave us a comment: Are you planning to take the AP exams this year?
How do you feel about these options?
Let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover!
Thanks so much for watching.
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to our channel for the latest up-to-the-minute updates about AP exams, and a whole lot more.
See you here next time.