[Another change to AP exams?]

Thanks for the reply. My son has been watching all the videos. As you noted, the current content is stuff that will not be on the test (but since he already studied it, it is still good info to check his knowledge). Their are supposed to be review sessions later this month. As for the FRQ that were being covered (at least in the videos he watched), most came from past exams (i.e., the FRQ covered in the Biology lesson was from the 2013 test). Unfortunately, I do not think the FRQs from the past tests are going to be overly relevant given that the new test is Open Book/Notes (and usually one or two parts of each FRQ have a memorization component). I am looking forward to what AP comes out with tomorrow on the April 3rd update.  

[Another change to AP exams?]

3 hours ago, Hadley said:

I understand what you are asking about here, and I am so sorry to have to tell you that yes, you are out of luck. My son can get access to practice questions, but his online teacher can’t figure out how to open the answers/rubrics and does not seem too concerned about it.  My son has been very upset.  Like yours, he had studied so very hard and taken many practice exams, only to have the game changed on him before the exam.

I am actually a former AP teacher, but of course, I can’t access the subjects that my son needs.  My husband spent much time on the phone with the College Board trying to figure out how to get access to these questions and answers, only to come away with the knowledge that they just don’t care about Homeschoolers...or kids in classes with teachers who don’t want to put in the extra effort now, for that matter.

I wish I had  better news for you.  I am trying to keep up a good attitude, but I really feel that kids who worked hard this year have been bitten in the butt, while some who have coasted will get a bump up in this process...just stinks for our students.

Editing to add that your son will probably be just fine, as will mine.  Surely, if they know the material well enough to make 5s on the former tests, they will make 5s on this version.  I think it’s the added stress that is making it so frustrating right now, and the madness of the unfair way this is being delivered.  Hugs to your son.

That is exactly what I was afraid of. Like you, I definitely came away with the fact that AP really does not care about home-schoolers or self-study :-( I tried three different sources at AP Central and pretty much got the big "No".

In my son's case, FRQ's have always been a sore spot. He just get's wrapped around the axel regarding how much to write. He either writes way too much or way too little. In the past we really did not worry since he has zero issue with the MC questions and just needed some partial credit on the FRQ to get a 5. I am guessing that if we had to take the test tomorrow, he would be a solid 3. He just needs a lot more practice on the FRQs and thus the dilemma. Thanks again and best of luck.     

[Another change to AP exams?]

9 hours ago, Tmhearn said:

Possibly, I don’t understand what you’re asking... But, the only way I know of to take an AP exam is to register with a school who is offering the exam. Therefore, you must have a college board account setup with access to the AP classroom. My dd has access to a college board AP classroom even though she is taking the exam as a homeschooler at a local high school. This will be her second year taking an exam like this at a local high school. You would have setup the account when you registered for the exam. Perhaps someone with more experience than I have can elaborate. 
 

Thanks. I am very surprised that your local school allowed you access to their AP Classroom content. My son is registered for 3 tests at the local high-school but within the AP Central system he is listed as "Exam Only" (versus "class + exam" which would give him access to the testing material). Your dd seems to be lucky (I am guessing someone at the school messed up when setting up her account) since I do not think that is the norm.  

[Another change to AP exams?]

Has anyone figured out how an "exam only" self-study/home-schooler can get access to all the FRQ's that are supposed to be uploaded to AP Classroom? My DS13 is freaking out. He needs a 5 on Calc BC and Biology in order to get full college credit (luckily only needs 4 on Macro). Not having access to AP Classroom has not been a big deal up until now since there is so much info available online. He already finished all the content on Khan Academy in February so the next few months were strictly for "review". On the practice tests, he pretty much aces the MC and then gets about half-credit on the FRQ (he knows the content but never knows how much to write and tends to run out of time). Now that this is 45 min/open book/FRQ/only covers 65% of what he learned/etc, his head is about to explode :-/

I already called AP Central and they pretty much said "tough luck". I had applied for an audit back in January but evidently I missed some un-published deadline since they never contacted me to submit my material (and I really don't care about AP accreditation, just wanted access to AP Classroom). Just really frustrating (for both of us) as to how the lack of the RFQ test bank potentially puts self-study/home-schoolers at such a big disadvantage on this particular test. He is already watching the online videos for review (of content not on the exam) with the idea that they are supposed to do "test review" at some point in the coming weeks. Really don't want to push all of these until next year since he already has 7 additional APs in the pipeline for 2021.