Overview of 2020 AP Exams

On March 20th, the College Board announced that the May AP exams will be moved online due to COVID-19 concerns. Trevor Packer, head of the AP program, announced new exam dates and details about the all-online AP exams in a video uploaded to the AP Program website. You can find the full update here and the revised exam schedule here. We’ve summarized the major changes coming to AP exams this year, along with tips about how to prepare for these tests and achieve your best score.

Students will take their AP exams online from a home computer

As usual, the exams will be administered across several days in May. However, to help accommodate overlapping test dates, technical difficulties, or other conflicts, each exam will also be administered on a make-up date in June. Students will need approval from their AP coordinator if they need to test on the second date. Some AP courses, like 2D Art and Design and Computer Science Principles, don’t end with an exam, but with a portfolio submission. The portfolio submission deadline has been extended to May 26th.

Students who do not have access to a laptop, mobile device, or internet connectivity should reach out to the College Board for support using this link.

• TIP: Log on 30 minutes before the scheduled exam time to make sure you’re able to access the testing platform. Time management will be as important as ever, and you don’t want to feel stressed and rushed.

The tests are shorter in length and narrower in scope

Because many students are missing valuable instruction time, the revised AP exams will not feature content from the end of each course syllabus. As a result, the exams will be shorter in length: about 45 minutes rather than the usual 2 to 3 hours. Most of the exams will feature two short-response questions. In most cases, students will have 25 minutes to answer one question, 5 minutes to upload their response, then 15 minutes to answer the second question. Students will be able to enter their answers directly into the testing platform, type them up and submit them later, or take a picture of handwritten responses and send them in for grading.

Most of the AP exams will feature this format and timing; however, Language, Literature, and History exams will be slightly different. See the chart below for details on each exam subject.

• TIP: Break your study sessions into 45-minute chunks to get a feel for the timing; when answering practice questions, keep your writing time to about 15-25 minutes to mimic the test day experience. You can download practice questions for each exam on AP Central.

The tests are open-book (but that doesn’t make them easier!)

All the AP exams will be open-book, since you’ll be testing from home, and most of the exams will feature several open-response questions. However, that does not mean that you should be looking up answers during the test. These AP exams aren’t focusing on facts and dates; the test questions will require knowledge and comprehension that you simply won’t have time to acquire during the test. Remember, these are very short tests: the quicker you get to writing and justifying your answer, the better shot you have at achieving your best score.

• TIP: Pretend that you are only allowed one sheet of notes (front and back) and then make a study sheet beforehand, in whatever form works best for you: outline, bullet-point, question-and-answer, or concept map. This is a great study strategy for several reasons:
• It causes you to actively engage your notes, not just passively read them, which makes the information easier to remember when you need it on test day.
• It forces you to think carefully about the material and determine what is important, which will help you with both comprehension and time management.
• If you do need to consult your notes, you’ll be able to do so much faster.

As you're working to review all your notes and materials, you don't have to do it alone. Applerouth is offering live online AP Review Sessions with our expert instructors starting next week.

Just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you don’t have to be test-ready!

It’s always a smart idea to give yourself lots of study time, and that idea just got smarter, given all of the changes happening this year. It’s also important to gather your materials the day before Test Day. The College Board encourages students to make sure that they have everything they need before their scheduled exam time; this includes calculators, equation sheets (which you can download from the course pages on AP Central), pencils, textbooks, and notes. You may not have to pack your bookbag the night before, but you should set aside your materials in a place you can easily access the morning of the test. You should also create a testing space for yourself that’s comfortable (but not in bed!) and separate from the hustle and bustle of your family.

The table below summarizes the details of each test. More information can be found on the official exam schedule page here.
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