With the COVID-19 pandemic, many aspects of our lives are changing in unprecedented ways. Many high school students across the nation have left school and are now in online learning in order to stop the spread of this pandemic. As schools close down, the College Board recently announced that they were moving their tests to an online platform.

As schools started closing down in early March, AP tests will only include materials that most AP classrooms already covered before March. The exam is open-note, so it’s time to get your notes together! AP exams will be held from May 11 through May 22 and all students will take their class-specific exam at the same time. The College Board is making most AP tests last for 45 minutes, usually in an FRQ (free response question) format, with an additional 5 minutes at the end to upload pictures and writing. However, the College Board is telling students to log on 30 minutes early in order to get ready for the test. There will be a practice run in late April in order to practice this new online format. If typing is uncomfortable for you, you’re allowed to handwrite your answers as well, as long as you photograph them and upload the pictures in place of a typed response. If you’re taking a language and culture class, the AP test will consist of two spoken assignments instead of writing assignments.

Students may think that this online version of the AP test is a wonderful opportunity to cheat; it’s not. The College Board has said that “questions are being designed specifically for an at-home administration, so points will not be earned from content that can be found in textbooks or online.” At the moment, the College Board is keeping some of their cheating protocols confidential to “maximize their effectiveness.” However, they have shared that AP tests will be put through a plagiarism checker to make sure that you are submitting your own work. If your responses mirror that of another student, or if you share or receive exam content or get any unfair advantage, your exam score can get cancelled, your colleges notified, and you may be banned from taking other AP tests, SAT tests or other College Board tests. 

Review sessions are being streamed by College Board for anyone who’s interested and wants to prepare themselves for the test.

Unfortunately with COVID-19, many students across the nation are unable to go to class. With this new online AP test, at least our hard work in class won’t be for nothing.