AP exams for HS class of 2021

Just received a note from our high school that they are willing to refund the cost of AP exams for those students who wish to cancel due to “changes” in how colleges are planning to handle AP scores this year. We have been kept abreast from the college board about all the changes occurring with this years’ exams but I haven’t heard anything about changes to how colleges will use the exams. Is it worth taking the exams this year?

Of the 33 or so state flagships who previously guaranteed credit for AP exams, all have guaranteed to continue to do so for this year’s exams. I don’t know of any complete list for all 3,000+ colleges out there. My recommendation is to take whatever tests you were previously signed up to take. They can’t hurt you (you don’t have to submit low scores), and can only work in your favor.

My kid is going to take hers (English and Chemistry) even though the exams will be online at home and hugely modified from past. Because she might as well. I expect they will still try to distribute the scores more or less equivalent to the past. Worst case scenario, same percentage of 5s, 4s, and 3s as previous years. Best case scenario. Due to unavoidable circumstances they are more generous this year than normal.

As for how schools are going to treat them? Haven’t given it much thought as she is mostly doing it to boost admissions chances and perhaps place out of entry level classes. Not to leapfrog into sophomore status or try to graduate in 3 years.

College aboard says there will be no limit for any of the grades. If you produce an exam worthy of a 5, you will receive a 5 regardless of the percentage of 5s given. That’s what they are claiming at least.

But I don’t expect that is exactly how it will work.

They will do what they always do which is create a rubric in which, for essay questions, points are assigned from 1 to 10 for each answer based on whether the the answer met all the rubric criteria. Then they will use multiple readers read each essay and elevate if the various readers don’t agree on the appropriate grade. Then they will curve the test and decide what the cut points are for 3, 4, and 5. You don’t often know how difficult a question will be until you try it on students. And in subjects like physics and chemistry there may be more than one solution to a problem that the test writers didn’t even think of before. That some clever students will discover.

If they create a rubric and it turns out that only 2% of the students get a 5 they will re-evaluate and adjust the so that they fall into a more normal distribution range.

Since the tests will be completely changed from previous years, both in terms of format and length, I expect it will be impossible for them to know in advance what kind of performance will be considered 3, 4, and 5. They won’t be able to do that until they have thousands of tests to score and curve.

I expect they will do their best guess and then make certain that the scores at least distribute similarly to past years. At least the same percentage of 3s, 4s, and 5s at a minimum. And given the circumstances, they might even be more generous. The same students who would have gotten 5s on the old test should mostly get 5s on the new test, and so forth. Some students may do better on the new test than before, and some will do worse. Because the format is changing and not everyone is equally strong in every test format. Some are better at multiple choice, others better at essays. But mostly 5 students will still get 5s, and 4 students will still get 4s and so forth.

I’m wondering if there might be an advantage to taking the tests in June, on the makeup date. I don’t trust that there won’t be glitches with this untested system.

I am concerned about glitches and that is why I’m glad there is a make up date. If something goes wrong (technical difficulties/bad internet connection) there is a second chance…but if you wait until the second test and there is a problem—technical or sick that day, what then?

@1Lotus Good point - although my understanding is that once you open the test you can no longer take the makeup. I’m not sure what the appeal process will be for things like bad internet connection, etc.

I listened to the AP’s presentation for parents on how this will work. During the exam, it doesn’t sound like there will be an issue. They have a way students can report technical difficulties during the exam and they will allow the make-up.

The end of the exams seems to be the nail-biting part. CB is pushing kids to “practice uploading” their work at the end of the tests. I believe they have five minutes to upload. No one wants to retake the exam if something goes wrong at that point. The way the AP is pushing the kids to “practice uploading” brings up questions such as 1) How hard can it be? and 2) Will CB be as sympathetic of problems in the five minute uploading as they will be with issues DURING the exam.

DD takes her test on May 15. I am hoping to hear anecdotes from earlier tests on how smoothly things went on the technical side.

@Groundwork2022 Thank you…that is helpful to know. The uploading concerns me a lot…some days our internet can be fine and other days it takes way longer than 5 minutes! A neighbor mentioned the same issue. 3 of my D’s tests where she will have 5 minutes to upload her work are on the first 2 days of exams :neutral: I’m hoping for the best.

@1Lotus

I’ve had some slow moments too, especially with one e-learner and DH & I both working from home. We’ve agreed to completely stay off any technology whatsoever during the test to give her the best chance at the bandwith she needs - not even a quick email check - and hope for the best.

Good luck, and please post how it goes for her.

I am a math college prof teaching remotely and am grading many uploaded exams. We use a sophisticated learning management system to read these files, but still get files that the software messes up. From that experience, here are my tips to my kid, who’s taking 2 AP exams this year:

  1. for the math /chem/physics, if a question has many symbols etc, students may be better off writing longhand (assuming reasonably legible handwriting)and uploading through a phone.
  2. Get a free phone scanner app like Office lens or Camscanner to turn the written page(s) into a single PDF file. The scanner app sharpens the images and provides better contrast. Practice taking shots of written pages and compiling the file and see how it looks…
  3. Use paper with lightly colored lines. Blank paper is even better.
  4. Use a wooden No. 2 pencil. If using a mechanical pencil, make sure the lead is thick enough
  5. Even if using a word processor, best to save as PDF and upload. This way the student knows exactly what got transmitted. Hopefully the College Board software won’t mangle Word documents or other formats, but why take a chance?

D is taking Calc BC next week on 12th, Chem and Physics 2 days later then Lang and Psych the following week. Will show her your post @momprof94

Thanks @momprof9904 !! We have the computer set up next to a scanner/printer and she is planning to scan and then upload her work-does that sound just as good as using the phone? I will pass these words of widom on to my D too!

Thanks @momprof9904 for the suggestions. I will share your post with my D.

@1Lotus @okeokkadu

I can’t edit my prior post - so here is a CORRECTION: Looks like the AP upload directions accept only JPEG or PNG or JPG format for picture files. So, if scanning, they have to be of that type. Their demo upload is up - best to practice. Look at their picture examples. They will accept Word or PDF for text document files.

@momprof9904 Thank you! I checked and it scans for JPG. Last night my son was trying to work using the internet and he said it wasn’t working for a couple hours…so my husband was able to disconnect something and reconnect to get it started again…but of course it took a few minutes to get back to normal which is concerning. I’m trying not to let my worrying known to my D, but am glad that she has practiced the demo.

Pros: They may get credit for College Classes…you can get thousands of dollars of worth of credit for, what $60?

Cons; If you don’t do well, it doesn’t matter. APs scores are not used for admission, only for credit. If you don’t do well, you just take the class in college.

^clarification, current price is around $94 per AP exam

(I have a junior taking 3 AP exams, none of which are likely to be useful for replacing core requirements at the colleges of interest, where AP Physics 1 and APUSH might garner elective credit only; taking calc AB this year, BC next year, but will likely take more math in college anyway.)

I would not be surprised if many colleges do not allow credit for this years AP exams given that many of the exams do not cover all of the material that the course typically covers.