WHY STUDENTS HATE THE COLLEGE BOARD 

As April is quickly flying by and May is fast approaching, the students of Sonora High School can see the freedom of summer within their grasp; however, one obstacle lies ahead of the sweet release of summer--AP Exams. Across the United States, students in Advanced Placement courses prepare months before to test their knowledge on the subject material. And yet, despite such serious preparation, bewilderment for many students still surrounds these exams, namely towards the College Board's controversial decision to go forward with normal test-taking.

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Last year, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the College Board announced that the exams would be completely online and shortened. For example, the history exams typically consist of a multiple-choice, short answer question (SAQ), long essay question (LEQ), and a document-based question (DBQ). However, In 2020, the history exams consisted of one document-based question, and the exam time was 45 minutes rather than 4 hours like it typically is. The exams also had lenient cheating guidelines and allowed students to use their notes and textbooks.

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The exams faced many issues. Students were not able to upload their work and their scores got canceled, leading many to speculate about the upcoming exams in the 2021 school year. 

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Ultimately, the exams the Board decided the exams would be full length--offered in-person and online-- with dates spread across early May through June. Most exams are offered digitally, except for the language and music theory courses, due to what the College Board describes as  “students’ access to online translation applications and other tools means that a full-length exam can’t be securely and fairly administered at home.” 

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Between the online and in-person exams, there will be a few differences in the test material. For example, the in-person exams for the AP History courses (US, European, and World) provide 3 SAQ’s, 1 LEQ, and 1 DBQ with optionality among the essay topics, meaning that students will be able to pick among different topics to write for their essay. For the online exam, there will be 5 SAQ’s and 1 DBQ with no optionality to limit cheating. Additionally, the digital math exams require the answers and work to be typed, meaning that a student cannot handwrite the math problem and submit a picture of their work. 

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As a first-time AP exam taker, Mia Liapoen, a sophomore in Cohort C taking the AP European History test, decided to take the exams in person because she felt  “there were too many restrictions on the online test and it feels better to be in a classroom environment,” since “taking online exams stresses [her] out.” She plans to prepare for the exam by “listing a bunch of key events, terms, and people,” as well as “reading review websites.” This is her first AP Exam, so she was unfamiliar with the different lengths of the exams in recent years.

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In contrast, Davis Hufnagel, a junior taking APUSH and AP Psychology in Cohort C, decided to take exams at home because he is “more comfortable typing his answers because [he’s] been taking online tests all year.” He also noted that he prefers the SAQ style of writing instead of the LEQ, which is excluded from the online exam and replaced with two SAQ’s. 

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Kyra Shah, a sophomore in Cohort AB taking the AP Psychology exam, decided to take the exam in person because she’s “never experienced an in-person AP exam and [she] won’t have to worry about any technical difficulties that might arise through doing it online.” 

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Additionally, Eric and Annie Jung, 11th graders at Sonora who are both in Cohort C, decided to take the AP Exams in person because they “didn’t want to deal with the internet issues” and they liked the “perks of having the ability to choose their own SAQs and prefer LEQs over extra SAQs.” Also, they feel that they can “concentrate better while in a classroom environment rather than at home.”

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Ultimately, the stress of exams seems to have divided the Sonora population with most of the students deciding to take the exams in person because of better concentration in a classroom environment. However, one thing remains constant over the student body: the frustration with the College Board to recognize the difficulties in distance learning for more than the majority of the year, and their incomprehensible decision  to enact full-length exams. Even though last year only about a quarter of the year was spent online and this year more than one semester was spent in full-distance and hybrid learning, students will still take full-length exams. 

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Yet, we can only hope for students to study, get a good night’s sleep the night before, eat a hearty  breakfast, and whatever the outcome the school will be proud of the tremendous efforts taken in these college-level courses. Good luck Raiders!