This Year's Online AP Exams Were Even More Painful Than Usual
College Board showed AP students no mercy this year. Image Editing: Shirley Lin
By SHIRLEY LIN
The 2021 Biggest Bully Award goes to… (drumroll please)... COLLEGE BOARD! Now let’s all get up and boo in a synchronized fashion.
Although AP students willingly put themselves through months of torture and anxiety, like hot oil hitting water, College Board has repeatedly shown us no mercy year after year.
AP exams are taken by over a million high school students each year. A five is the highest score you can receive, and although a three is generally considered a passing grade, most colleges and universities only give credit to those who score a four or better on an exam.
Months before exam day this year, Midwood students received a survey asking whether they would like to opt-out, take the test digitally, or take it on paper.
“If I were a student, I probably would have chosen the digital exam instead of the paper exam, if only because it would have given me back the two weeks I missed when school was delayed in September,” said Mr. Joe Peters, an AP United States History teacher. “Having said that, the very few students of mine who chose the paper exam were happy with their choice.”
Although students also took the tests online in 2020, the digital process this year was very different. First, students were required to download the “2021 Digital AP Exams” app and complete a demo for each course. Additionally, exam setups had to be completed for each test one to three days before the testing date. Students needed access to a designated laptop or desktop computer, meaning that they could not share with anyone else in the family who was also taking AP exams.
On the day of the exam, aside from having a constant urge to pee, students had to check in on the app 30 minutes before the start of the test. You couldn’t check in on multiple devices, only on the device that you used previously to complete the exam setup, and there were plenty of extra security measures to click through.
Students had to take the full exam this year, ranging up to three hours, in comparison to the shortened digital exams in 2020.
“I took the APUSH [U.S. History] digital exam, and sitting there for three hours straight in front of a laptop was definitely not the high school experience I expected to have,” said Selin Aptoula ‘22. “I mean, I think we’re all used to sitting down in front of our computers for at least ten hours these days, but it’s different when you’re taking an exam.” Although there were breaks in between each section, it is safe to say that everyone had a sore butt on their test day.
Worst of all, College Board also made it so that we were not allowed to move back and forth between each question. Once you had moved on to the next question, you couldn’t go back to make adjustments. Curse you, College Board!
“I found it a little unfair that they did that,” said Aptoula. “It’s a common strategy for students to skip a question they’re unsure of, but now we really had to make sure we were able to answer. I had to make sure I wouldn’t regret any answers, and even if I did, I just hoped I’d do better on the essay questions.”
What came after the test, you may ask? Jumping, screaming, crying, and more peeing. Aptoula said, “Right after the exam finished, I immediately went to try and calculate how my score would turn out if I didn’t do that well on the multiple-choice. Looking back, I’d probably prefer to take the exam in real life.”
According to College Board, around 50% of high schoolers who are taking AP courses do not qualify for college credit with the scores that they’ve received. This can be devastating, especially after all the effort put into studying and the countless all-nighters. Let me tell you, learning while being sleep-deprived is a skill AP students have to master.
“Nothing could have prepared me for the exam,” said Joy Tang ‘22, who also took the APUSH test. “Although we went through numerous examples of short responses and did review just as much, this year’s test format and wording were not expected.”
Abigail Cen ‘22 said, “The AP Psychology exam went okay for me, but the multiple choice questions for the actual exam were more challenging than the questions on all the practice exams I’ve taken. Many were very lengthy, I had trouble understanding some of them, and I had some trouble with timing as well, so I had to guess.”
If you’re not satisfied with your scores, it’s not the end of the world. AP courses are challenging in general, and 2021 presented unique obstacles.
Mr. Peters said, “This year was so unpredictable for the obvious reasons of the pandemic and remote schooling. I am really proud of the hard work that all my APUSH students put in this year in the strangest, most difficult situation for education that we could possibly have imagined.”
“Scores on the exam might not reflect what students could have been able to do during a normal year of school,” he added, “but I am confident that every student who took the APUSH exam did the best they could all year and on exam day.”
“It’s okay,” said Aptoula. “There are more AP exams to take and get a better score on. The anxiety while waiting for your score to be released is real. Let’s just look forward to the College Board website crashing again once AP scores are on their way.”
To the students who are confident about their performance, here is a virtual high five. To the students who are doubtful, I recommend buying tissues in bulk before they sell out in July. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll tell my Buddhist grandma to pray for us all. All jokes aside, be proud of yourself regardless of whether you get a one or a five. Good luck!