As the second year of AP testing during the pandemic approaches, Tenafly High School has been preparing for the newly altered testing administration. After planning for the past year, the College Board has announced that both digital and physical exam options will be available for students, with the exception of a few language courses.

Planning for the exams has been a Herculean undertaking for the guidance department. “This year, THS will be administering almost 1,000 AP exams and has been developing a schedule that meets the needs of all AP students and their teachers,” Mrs. Bembridge, the THS Director of Guidance said. “We are providing students the ability to choose which exam format they prefer, regardless of whether they attend school in-person or are fully virtual. We plan on administering the paper and pencil exams in the cafeteria or Tiger Study Den, where we will be better able to maintain social distancing. All digital exams will be taken at home and will be full length, unlike last year’s exams.” 

Many students feel like certain test format alterations are making them study harder than last year for their exams. “I feel like taking AP classes and the AP test this year is definitely a larger responsibility than last year,” Lucy Harper (’22) said. “Students have to put a lot more effort in to stay focused during class on online school and are more unsure of what is actually going to be on the test and what the format is going to be like.” Now that both physical and digital exams will both be the full length of three hours, a difference in difficulty level between the two formats can be anticipated. 

Even some of those fighting senioritis have been focusing on studying for these exams more than usual. “I’m not really looking forward to taking the APs as a senior,” Maddie Davis (’21) said. “However, it’s probably better for my grades, because the looming AP tests are motivation to stay on top of my work in my AP classes, versus in my non-AP classes, with finals canceled, sometimes I feel a little checked out.” However, now that college application season is nearing its end, many seniors’ attitudes towards their scores have shifted. “How hard I study for my AP tests will probably be determined by the score that I have to get to receive college credit or place out of classes at the school I commit to by May, or even if the school accepts credit for my AP classes at all,” Davis said. “Some schools only require a 3 on BC calc to place out of a semester of calculus, others a 5, and some schools won’t place you out of classes or give you credit no matter the score.”

The decision to either test digitally or in-person has been a popular conversation topic among students. Some feel that testing at home will be advantageous because of the availability of notes and Internet access. All-virtual students also feel that doing so would best replicate their already well-adapted studying environment. 

Other students expressed their concerns on the possible heightened difficulty of the digital exam and are opting to take theirs in-person. This concern includes the fact that digital exam takers will not be able to move in between multiple-choice questions, making them unable to go back and check their work. “I chose to go in person for APs because I prefer reading a paper copy rather than having to keep looking at the screen, but also because there’s no option to go back between questions,” Brenda Kim (’21) said. “I feel like that’s an important factor for me because I like to review my answers for my tests, so not having that ability could mean I could be stuck on a question for an extended period of time because I can’t guess and go back later.” 

Choosing which format to test with also comes with the consideration of what class you’re testing for. If a class is very memorization-heavy, for instance, a student may opt to do the digital exam. “I think for exams it may differ, like AP Lit, because people may prefer to type, but I prefer the paper because, in school, the exams are probably going to be the traditional paper method so I think it’s better to take the paper,” Kim said. But even students with the same classes tend to choose different methods of test-taking. Davis said, “For AP Lit, I decided to take the test virtually because I would much rather write 3 essays in a row on a computer than with a pencil.” The dates of the exams are also being taken into consideration. “The digital dates are later and I don’t want to drag it on until then, so that’s also why I decided to go in-person,” Kim added. 

This year’s AP season is almost just as ambiguous as it was last year. However, now students have a couple more clues as to how they will be spending their three hours to prove their year’s worth of learning.

Below is the 2021 exam schedule:

AP 2021 Exam Administration

Biology

• Administration 1: Friday, May 14 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: Thursday, May 27 12pm (Digital)
• Administration 3: N/A

Calculus AB

• Administration 1: N/A
• Administration 2: Monday, May 24 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 3:Wednesday, June 9th 12pm (Digital)

Calculus BC

• Administration 1: N/A
• Administration 2: Monday, May 24 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 3: Wednesday, June 9th 12pm (Digital)

Chemistry

• Administration 1: N/A
• Administration 2: Monday, May 25 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 3: Wednesday, June 10th 12pm (Digital)

Chinese Language

• Administration 1: Friday, May 14 12pm (Digital)

Computer Science A

• Administration 1: Thursday, May 6 12pm (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: Tuesday, May 18 4pm (Digital)

English Language and Composition

• Administration 1: Wednesday, May 12 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: Wednesday, May 26 12pm (Digital)
• Administration 3: N/A

English Literature and Composition

• Administration 1: Wednesday, May 5 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: Wednesday, May 18 12pm (Digital)
• Administration 3: N/A

Environmental Science

• Administration 1:  Friday, May 14 12pm (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: Thursday, May 27 4pm (Digital)
• Administration 3: N/A

French Language

• Administration 1: Monday, May 10 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: N/A
• Administration 3: N/A

Macroeconomics

• Administration 1: Monday, May 10 12pm (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: Wednesday, May 19 4pm (Digital)
• Administration 3: N/A

Physics C: E&M

• Administration 1: N/A
• Administration 2: Tuesday, May 25 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 3: Thursday, June 10 12pm (Digital)

Physics C: Mechanics

• Administration 1: Monday, May 3 2pm (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: N/A
• Administration 3: N/A

Psychology

• Administration 1: Tuesday, May 11 12pm (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: Thursday, May 20 4pm (Digital)
• Administration 3: N/A

Seminar

• Administration 1: Tuesday, May 11 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: N/A
• Administration 3: Monday, June 7 4pm (Digital)

Spanish Language and Composition

• Administration 1: N/A
• Administration 2: Friday, May 21 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 3: N/A

Statistics

• Administration 1: Monday, May 17 12pm (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: N/A
• Administration 3: Thursday, June 10 4pm (Digital)

Studio Art

• Administration 1: N/A
• Administration 2: Thursday, May 20 11:59pm (Digital)
• Administration 3: N/A

US Government and Politics

• Administration 1: Monday, May 3 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: Thursday, May 20 12pm (Digital)
• Administration 3: N/A

US History

• Administration 1: Thursday, May 6 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: Wednesday, May 19 12pm (Digital)
• Administration 3: N/A

World History

• Administration 1: Monday, May 10 8am (Paper, In School)
• Administration 2: Thursday, May 20 12pm (Digital)
• Administration 3: N/A