Everything you want to know about AP exam day--and more

[Brigid in NC]

I like to pull out information from the the AP Coordinator's Manual and the Proctor Instructions to help my students visualize what exam day is going to look like. The more that students understand the process, the more they can reduce their stress levels and focus on the exam content.

If you're interested in perusing the process, here are a couple of resources you might find helpful for things like timing, calculator policies, bubble sheets (what they look like and what the sticker process is), homeschool and online provider codes, and proctor instructions.

• AP Coordinator's Manual
• Proctor Instructions (what proctors are supposed to say and do on exam day, subject by subject)

College Board is notorious for changing links. So if these links don't work in the future, just let me know, and I'll relink them. I hope this is helpful--particularly for AP newbies!

Edited April 4, 2019 by Brigid in NC

[LAR]

Thank you so much, Brigid! 

From an AP Newbie Mom

[Arcadia]

4 minutes ago, LAR said:

From an AP Newbie Mom

 

If your child forgot the homeschool code and the proctor doesn't know/remember where to find it (page 144 of the 2018-19 AP Coordinator’s Manual), you can call CollegeBoard and get that changed for your child’s AP score report. I had to do that for three years because of my absent minded kids 😛  My kids also didn’t remember their course provider codes so I emailed their results to their teachers instead. 

[daijobu]

I think there's some advice if your student is taking different AP exams at different locations.  I believe they need to take their sticker book with them when the exam is over and bring it them to another site.  Is that right?  

Also, don't take any photos of the exam room for social media or you run the risk of having everyone's scores cancelled.  

[aaghomeschool]

On 4/4/2019 at 1:39 PM, Arcadia said:

 

If your child forgot the homeschool code and the proctor doesn't know/remember where to find it (page 144 of the 2018-19 AP Coordinator’s Manual), you can call CollegeBoard and get that changed for your child’s AP score report. I had to do that for three years because of my absent minded kids 😛  My kids also didn’t remember their course provider codes so I emailed their results to their teachers instead. 

Hi Arcadia. Do we need to make this correction? My DD did the same thing- used the school code because the school insisted that she had to. I even sent a copy of the page with the codes 😞. The school AP coordinator tells me it's not a big deal and I will still get her scores online, just that they will get a copy too. Do you call and making the correction to avoid results going to the testing school? Is it for privacy of data? Many Thanks. Regards. 

[Arcadia]

4 minutes ago, aaghomeschool said:

 The school AP coordinator tells me it's not a big deal and I will still get her scores online, just that they will get a copy too. Do you call and making the correction to avoid results going to the testing school? Is it for privacy of data? 

 

Whether it is a big deal and the privacy issue depends on your relationship with the school, as well as what you are using the AP score report for.

The private school that host my kids has a helpful AP coordinator and she gets my kids scores before we do. Schools get the school report at least a day earlier. I was tempted to ask her for my kid’s scores last year but didn’t want to put her in a spot. It does make the school look better but the private school doesn’t use their school’s AP scores for marketing purposes.

I got it changed after my kids received their score report in the mail (before they turn 13) and after their score report was online (last year for DS14). I called after the AP exams and the customer service representatives were all confused since exams weren’t even graded yet.

I wanted DS14’s 2018 AP score report to be changed to reflect that he was homeschooled as we submitted his AP score report for dual enrollment purposes to our local community college. 

The scores release dates by state is here https://apscore.collegeboard.org/scores/

This is the CollegeBoard AP helpline I call (888) 225-5427

[aaghomeschool]

Thank you. I think I will wait till after the grading is done and get it changed. We don't want to be in a situation in the future where because of this inaccuracy, it is thought that DD was in the public school and not homeschooled. And I am concerned about data privacy. Thank you for sharing your experience. 

[Pink and Green Mom]

Thank you for this.  My 8th grader is taking AP CSP tomorrow and he is a nervous wreck.  I'm sure this will be a tremendous help.

[Arcadia]

8 minutes ago, Pink and Green Mom said:

  My 8th grader is taking AP CSP tomorrow and he is a nervous wreck.  

 

Check what time he has to check in (e.g 7:15am for the 8am paper) and be earlier than that time.

If this is his first time, below photos is what the AP student pack and stickers will look like.

Good luck.

[SanDiegoMom]

Our local school actually let us pick up the student pack and answer sheet ahead of time.  He filled out most of the sheet ahead so there was very little to fill out the day of. Which was a good thing since he took about 30 minutes to fill it all out! The only questionable thing was that they did NOT check his photo ID. I was very surprised.  But then again maybe they assumed if we were going to cheat by sending someone else to take the test, they would be older looking?  IDK.  But they were super nice and responsive through the entire process which was a relief.