How to approach the Spring 2020 Online AP Exams during COVID-19

It’s been an unprecedented couple of months for all of us — including our students!

Almost everything about the second half of the Spring semester has changed, and the AP Exams are no exception.

If your teen is enrolled in AP classes this semester, they might be wondering…

• How will AP exams work during the shutdown?
• What content will they need to know for the exams?
• Should they still plan to take the exams?
• How can they prepare to do their best on this year’s exams?

Here are some tips for how your teen can approach this year’s online AP Exams as effectively as possible.

Understand what’s changed

First and foremost, it’s important to look at exactly what changes the College Board has made to the format, content, and schedule of the AP exams.

These changes can vary dramatically depending on your student’s state, school, and grade level. Here are some examples of grading policy updates we have seen middle schools, high schools, and colleges announce that you may want to look out for…

• Exams will be taken online, from home. Students will be able to take exams on any device they have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone—and will be able to either type and upload their responses or write responses by hand and submit a photo of their responses
• The timeline for exams has shifted, so it is important for students to confirm the updated date and time of their exam, as it may have changed. Check out the full schedule here.
• This year’s AP Exams will be open book / open note, so students will be able to use their class notes and resources on the test. Note: Searching online for answers or collaborating with others on the test will not be permitted.
• For most subjects, the exams will be 45 minutes long, and instead of multiple choice questions will have one or two free-response questions. 
• Each exam question will be timed separately, so once students are finished writing their response and submit their answer, they will not have a chance to go back and correct their work. 
• Exams will only include topics that most AP teachers and students would have covered in class by early March (for the specific topics that will be covered on each exam, see the details “Course-Specific Exam Information” overview here).
• Portfolio classes (2D Art & Design, 3D Art & Design, Drawing, Computer Science Principles, Research, and Seminar) will not have a separate online exam. The deadlines for these submissions have been extended to May 26, 2020 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time.

Considering whether to take the exams?

The College Board has waived fees for students who want to cancel their scheduled exams. So, you will not be charged if you decide not to take this year’s AP test. However, refunds are up to the school, so depending on their policies you may not get your original registration fee back.

Have a conflict with the updated exam dates? If you are not able to take the exam at your scheduled date and time, each exam will also be administered on a second make-up date in June. Students will need to get approval from their AP coordinator to test on the second date, but this may be a better option than skipping the test if you are not able to take it on the original date.

Worried colleges might not accept the scores? While not all colleges have issued an official response to the new AP Exam format, many colleges do seem to be willing to support the online testing solution presented by the College Board and have committed to ensuring students will receive credit for this year’s exam. If you’re not sure how well you will need to score on the exam in order to get credit at the college you’re planning to attend, most schools post their required scores online so you can easily get access to this information (you can find this by searching “ap exam credit” and your school’s name. For example, here is UGA’s page)

Concerned you’re not prepared? If your teen is reconsidering taking the test because their class has been disrupted and they’re concerned that they may not be prepared, keep in mind that…

1. There is less information to study for this year’s exam, 
2. There will only be a couple of questions on the test, so even if they don’t know everything there is still a chance that they might luck out and get a topic they’re especially familiar with, 
3. Even if the test goes really badly, they won’t be wasting much time taking it since it’s only 45 minutes long 
4. Even if they get a bad score, it will not hurt them any more than choosing not to take the test; since AP Scores are all self-reported, they can simply exclude any scores they’re unhappy with when they fill out their college applications.

How to prepare for this year’s exams

Even under “normal” circumstances, it’s important for students to make a plan for how, what, and when they’ll study. Given the drastic changes to this year’s exams, it’s more important than ever for students to familiarize themselves with the exam format and content and make sure they are approaching the exam prepared to do their best. 

Work out the logistics ahead of time
Normally, exam logistics are dealt with by the testing center, and the testing environment is entirely regulated by the proctors and outside of students’ control. With this year’s exams taking place  online and at home, it’s up to the student to work out all of the logistics for…including where to take their test, how to make sure they have a reliable internet connection, what resources to have nearby, whether to type or handwrite their answers, and how to upload their responses.

In order to make sure everything goes smoothly, students should have a plan in place for all of these details well in advance, and plan to access the online testing system 30 minutes early on test day to get set up for their test. To learn more about exactly what the testing process will be like, including a video of the process, check out this page on the College Board’s website.

If students can go ahead and get their test-taking space set up now and begin studying for their AP exams in the same location where they are planning to work on the day of the test, this will help to improve their performance on test day because studies suggest that encoding and retrieving information in the same location enhances memory retention.

Organize your materials
It’s common for students to think that open book/open note tests are easier, because they’ll be able to look up answers as they go. But the amount of time students have on these tests is so limited, it will be impossible for them to look up all of the answers and still have time to write out a thorough response to the prompt during the time provided.

However, it can be helpful for students to create a summary sheet of key ideas and information that they will want to be able to easily reference during the exam. By taking time to process this information in their own words and organize it concisely in a way that makes sense to them, they will improve their own comprehension of the material and also ensure that it is quick and easy for them to access if needed on test day.

For an open book exam like this, it is a good idea for students to create their summary sheet after they have learned all of the key concepts they’ll need on the exam but early enough in the study process that they can use the summary sheet when they are practicing for the exam (see below). This will give them an opportunity to get comfortable using it, confirm that all of the key information they need is included, and make any necessary updates or modifications to it before the test day. 

Practice taking the exam
Taking realistic, timed practice tests is one of the most effective ways to prepare for test day, because they help students familiarize themselves with the format and pacing of the test and get used to applying their knowledge to actual exam questions.  This is especially important with this year’s tests, because they have been designed knowing that students will have access to class notes and resources, so they will be designed to ask students to apply concepts from the class in new ways.

The College Board has a number of different practice questions available online that students can use to prepare for their exams.  To find them, your teen can visit the AP Course Index, click on the link for their course(s), select the tab “About the Exam” at the top of the page, and scroll down to the section called “Exam Preparation” to find links to free-response questions from real exams, including scoring guidelines and sample student responses.

Understand how accommodations will work

The College Board is still honoring accommodations for students who need them. If students have already requested and been approved for accommodations for the 2020 AP exams, they don’t need to submit any additional information to receive their accommodations.

The way accommodations are provided may be different because the exams are shorter and will be taken online at home. For example, extra breaks won’t be provided for all exams since the standard timing for this year’s test is 45 minutes. Click here for a full list of how accommodations will be provided in this online testing environment.

Check out these additional practice resources

Ask your teacher about the practice resources in AP Classroom. AP Classroom is a suite of digital tools that teachers can use to help students prepare for the Exam. If you are not familiar with this website yet, consider asking your teacher if they can send you a class code you can use to get access to it.

Check out the College Board’s YouTube page. They have put together an extensive series of free classes and daily review sessions to help students review the content they need to know for the exams.

Khan Academy is an official partner for the AP exams, and has a lot of free content available to help students prepare for the exams.

Want more practice materials? Consider asking your teacher for their favorite websites and resources, or try searching online for the word “practice” and the name of your course.

Have more questions?

Check out the CollegeBoard’s FAQ’s page here on the changes to this year’s AP Exam process.

Join 11,000+ parents helping their students earn better grades with less stress!

About The Author

Dr. Maggie Wray is a certified ADHD Coach & Academic Life Coach with a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell and a Bachelor’s degree in Astrophysics from Princeton. She founded Creating Positive Futures in 2012 to help high school and college students learn how to earn better grades with less stress. Her team of dedicated coaches is on a mission to empower students to develop the mindset, organization, time management, and study skills they need to achieve their goals.