AP Testing: How did it go?

[SeaConquest]

How has everyone's experiences been?

This was my older DS' first time testing. It went really smoothly testing at home. He is pretty young and finished his class in December, so I am not really optimistic on his test score (especially since I had to leave town for 6 weeks right before the test and I am pretty doubtful that he followed the study schedule I left him -- eyeroll), but the testing itself went well. 

How did it go for your kiddos? 

Edited May 23, 2021 by SeaConquest

[freesia]

It went well for dd. Last year’s online version was not a hit.  She was so relieved to take them in person and to take the full test. 

[Arcadia]

28 minutes ago, freesia said:

It went well for dd. Last year’s online version was not a hit.  She was so relieved to take them in person and to take the full test. 

My kids dislike last year’s version so much that they rather wake up before 7am to do the in person paper exam at 8am.

[kokotg]

Still waiting here; we got stuck doing the June online ones. 

[UmmIbrahim]

My middle son is going in-person for Calculus AB tomorrow morning. He's doing some final reviewing today.

It will be his first AP, so hopefully it goes well and boosts his confidence for future tests.

[fourisenough]

1 hour ago, kokotg said:

Still waiting here; we got stuck doing the June online ones. 

Same

[crazyforlatin]

Dd is glad to get stuck with the June test. She has not taken an AP since pre-Covid and that was on paper. This year she will have to use a computer.

 Is it going to be 3 hours?

[madteaparty]

37 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

Dd is glad to get stuck with the June test. She has not taken an AP since pre-Covid and that was on paper. This year she will have to use a computer.

 Is it going to be 3 hours?

Some were more like 3 hrs 20 min for mine? With a break in the middle 

[crazyforlatin]

16 minutes ago, madteaparty said:

Some were more like 3 hrs 20 min for mine? With a break in the middle 

So last year the AP test was 45 minutes? But this year it's the usual number of hours. 

[madteaparty]

5 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

So last year the AP test was 45 minutes? But this year it's the usual number of hours. 

I don’t remember what it was last year,sorry, but yes this year it’s a full exam. 

[Arcadia]

6 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

So last year the AP test was 45 minutes? But this year it's the usual number of hours. 

Yes. CollegeBoard also don’t allow kids to go back on the MCQs and there will be no drawing of graphs, just interpreting.

[kokotg]

1 hour ago, crazyforlatin said:

Dd is glad to get stuck with the June test. She has not taken an AP since pre-Covid and that was on paper. This year she will have to use a computer.

 Is it going to be 3 hours?

It's a full length test, but some of them are different from the paper test; it just depends on the subject. Like APUSH will have no long essay and extra short answer questions. 

[crazyforlatin]

1 minute ago, Arcadia said:

Yes. CollegeBoard also don’t allow kids to go back on the MCQs and there will be no drawing of graphs, just interpreting.

So once you are done with a question and move on, the student can't scroll back to check answers? Dd will be taking algebra based physics.

[madteaparty]

1 minute ago, crazyforlatin said:

So once you are done with a question and move on, the student can't scroll back to check answers? Dd will be taking algebra based physics.

Correct for the online. Have her download the ap and practice, it gives a good feel, for the form of it anyway...

[Arcadia]

57 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

So once you are done with a question and move on, the student can't scroll back to check answers? Dd will be taking algebra based physics.

https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/digital-ap-exams
“

Keep in Mind

 

Exams will be full length.

Digital AP Exams will be as long as paper and pencil exams and test the same knowledge and skills. You won’t need to study or prepare differently to be successful on a digital exam.

…

You won’t be able to go back to questions.

For security reasons, digital exams don’t allow you to move back to previous questions or review questions you’ve already answered. If you skip ahead, you won’t be able to go back.

 

 

You’ll need to complete a few simple steps before you can test.

Before exam day, you need to download the digital testing app and complete exam setup. We also recommend doing digital practice. On exam day, you need to check in before the exam starts.“

https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/digital-ap-exams/security-policies

“Textbooks and notes are not permitted for digital exams administered in school. We understand students taking digital exams at home may have access to these materials. To prevent students from gaining an unfair advantage, digital exams will:

• Not include questions that can be answered with internet searches, textbooks, notes, study guides, or similar material
• Be reviewed with plagiarism detection software
• Be reviewed with post-exam analyses to identify collaboration or use of unauthorized aids”

[BakersDozen]

I continued to gently press my dd to follow up with the gal in charge at the testing site - are you registered? Are you sure?? Materials ordered? I asked to the point of slightly annoying my dd but not quite angering her. I think.

And I was right. My dd walked out of her first test and the gal said, "So, um, I didn't want to tell you this before the test but you actually aren't officially registered. But don't worry, I'm taking care of that now."

Good grief. Thankfully, things got taken care of and there were no issues with the next test date/exams.

Dd was so very glad to be back to in-person testing.

[Arcadia]

21 minutes ago, BakersDozen said:

I continued to gently press my dd to follow up with the gal in charge at the testing site - are you registered? Are you sure?? Materials ordered? I asked to the point of slightly annoying my dd but not quite angering her. I think.

My kids received join codes for exam only sections after I registered them for the exams last year. The AP coordinator at the test site emailed us the relevant codes. Once my kids enter the codes on their CollegeBoard account, it shows they are registered for their exam.

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/exam-administration-ordering-scores/ordering-fees/ordering-exam-materials/help/find-join-code-for-class-section-exam-only-section

”A unique alphanumeric join code is automatically generated for each class section or exam only section created in AP Registration and Ordering. Students need the join code for each of their class sections so they can enroll in My AP. ”

[BakersDozen]

2 hours ago, Arcadia said:

My kids received join codes for exam only sections after I registered them for the exams last year. The AP coordinator at the test site emailed us the relevant codes. Once my kids enter the codes on their CollegeBoard account, it shows they are registered for their exam.

This is what I kept asking my dd - you have the code, right? She said yes but something on the school's end (new testing coordinator) didn't go as planned. So the gal was scrambling even as my dd was taking the test to straighten things out. I'm just glad she didn't say something to my dd before the exam.

[Arcadia]

10 minutes ago, BakersDozen said:

This is what I kept asking my dd - you have the code, right? She said yes but something on the school's end (new testing coordinator) didn't go as planned. So the gal was scrambling even as my dd was taking the test to straighten things out. I'm just glad she didn't say something to my dd before the exam.

There were three exam administrations this year. (Now there is four.) The gal probably didn’t have your daughter’s name down for the correct exam administration. 
 

The AP coordinator of my kids’ test site ask us to confirm which session my kids want to take the exams in as they are offering paper exams only in session one, online only for session two and three. 

@crazyforlatin
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/exam-administration-ordering-scores/exam-dates
“Updated May 2021 Another testing window—Administration 4—is available in June for students who were scheduled to test during Administration 3 and require a makeup digital exam, or for students who were unable to test during Administration 3 due to a conflict. Review the Administration 4 schedule and details here.”

Edited May 24, 2021 by Arcadia

[madteaparty]

5 hours ago, BakersDozen said:

This is what I kept asking my dd - you have the code, right? She said yes but something on the school's end (new testing coordinator) didn't go as planned. So the gal was scrambling even as my dd was taking the test to straighten things out. I'm just glad she didn't say something to my dd before the exam.

My DS took only one exam in person, and I had had the join code since early days, but on day of exam, they told him “we don’t have your sticker, just hand write the info”🙄 and mid exam they “found it”. 

[MamaSprout]

We were really lucky to have an in person test site. Dd is the first homeschooler in our county to ever take AP exams. It went well.

Edited May 24, 2021 by MamaSprout

[NittanyJen]

On 5/23/2021 at 1:29 PM, SeaConquest said:

How has everyone's experiences been?

This was my older DS' first time testing. It went really smoothly testing at home. He is pretty young and finished his class in December, so I am not really optimistic on his test score (especially since I had to leave town for 6 weeks right before the test and I am pretty doubtful that he followed the study schedule I left him -- eyeroll), but the testing itself went well. 

How did it go for your kiddos? 

DS goes on Thursday— we aren’t done yet— and I still have students who test on Friday. The students who have already taken it, both on paper and digitally, felt it went really well. They seemed equally happy whether they took it digitally or on paper. My son is so relieved about both being able to take it at home and being able to type; I hope they keep the digital option in the future! This was so much better than last year— they clearly did a far better job of it. The only downside is that some students are starting at really awful times for the digital exam. If you have to start at midnight (think Saudi Arabia and similar time zones) and need extended time, you will be parked there until 4:30 or 5am, and that’s pretty brutal.

 

[crazyforlatin]

2 hours ago, NittanyJen said:

DS goes on Thursday— we aren’t done yet— and I still have students who test on Friday. The students who have already taken it, both on paper and digitally, felt it went really well. They seemed equally happy whether they took it digitally or on paper. My son is so relieved about both being able to take it at home and being able to type; I hope they keep the digital option in the future! This was so much better than last year— they clearly did a far better job of it. The only downside is that some students are starting at really awful times for the digital exam. If you have to start at midnight (think Saudi Arabia and similar time zones) and need extended time, you will be parked there until 4:30 or 5am, and that’s pretty brutal.

 

I’m really hoping Dd already downloaded whatever needs to be downloaded. She’s taking physics this Wednesday. I really like the option of being home to take the exam. Here’s hoping that our WiFi isn’t too crappy that day. If there is an emergency that day, I’m going to be hopping right over here for help.

[NittanyJen]

20 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

I’m really hoping Dd already downloaded whatever needs to be downloaded. She’s taking physics this Wednesday. I really like the option of being home to take the exam. Here’s hoping that our WiFi isn’t too crappy that day. If there is an emergency that day, I’m going to be hopping right over here for help.

Do know that this year, they can continue the exam even if the wifi breaks down— the exam has downloaded to the local computer, and it will upload after the exam is over. I’m not positive how it works, but there is a window after the end of the exam for it to upload if there was an internet outage (but they will be locked out of messing with it— the exam itself will be locked). I’d certainly be on the phone or have my kid on the phone with the college board after the exam if there was a problem.

Since I teach an AP class, I am not allowed to be anywhere in contact with him during the exam until it uploads— do be aware that if you are listed as his instructor, the same rule applies to you as well— you are not allowed to be anywhere in sight or having any contact with your student, including during breaks, once they check in for the exam.  

 

[NittanyJen]

25 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

I’m really hoping Dd already downloaded whatever needs to be downloaded. She’s taking physics this Wednesday. I really like the option of being home to take the exam. Here’s hoping that our WiFi isn’t too crappy that day. If there is an emergency that day, I’m going to be hopping right over here for help.

And best of luck to your DD on the physics exam!

[kiwik]

I don't think it is reasonable to not allow people to go back to questions.  The first basic rule of test taking is look at the whole test first and plan time.

[crazyforlatin]

21 minutes ago, kiwik said:

I don't think it is reasonable to not allow people to go back to questions.  The first basic rule of test taking is look at the whole test first and plan time.

I mentioned to dd if she skips she won’t be going back to those questions. But as she said, kids plan out by looking at all the questions with answers percolating in the background. So that’s one disadvantage with digital. 

[kokotg]

My two high schoolers did APUSH online last week and both seem to think it went well (it was my 11th grader's 3rd AP history, but my 9th grader's first AP, so he was very nervous). 11th grader has Calc AB and Physics 1 back to back tomorrow--so 7 hours of math, basically. We need to get him some very good snacks. 

[fourisenough]

DD thinks Lit & Psych went fairly well last week. She’ll finish with Stats on Thursday. She’s worried because she thinks her brain has hit the wall and is already in summer mode. I told her to do whatever mind tricks necessary to stay in school mode for a few more days; she also takes her final ACT next Sunday!

[JennyD]

DS took the digital Computer Science A exam last week and is getting ready to take the digital physics exam on Wednesday.  It is a big pain not to be able to go back to questions, but we knew it would be that way ahead of time, and so he has been following that same rule on all practice tests.

 

[kokotg]

1 hour ago, fourisenough said:

DD thinks Lit & Psych went fairly well last week. She’ll finish with Stats on Thursday. She’s worried because she thinks her brain has hit the wall and is already in summer mode. I told her to do whatever mind tricks necessary to stay in school mode for a few more days; she also takes her final ACT next Sunday!

This whole thing where they're a month later has its pros and cons for sure--mine definitely have made use of the extra time to prepare, but we normally would have been all done with school weeks ago (and we start back up beginning of August); it's rough having the school year drag on so long!

[Arcadia]

11 hours ago, kiwik said:

I don't think it is reasonable to not allow people to go back to questions.  

It’s to prevent cheating because no one is proctoring the digital exams at home. 
 

When my kid did a proctored exam (not an AP exam) at home, he had to face his smartphone camera on his work area (videoconferencing mode) and his laptop webcam has to be on. 
DS15 had a community college math test proctored by his teacher through Zoom. All the students had to be login to the class Zoom session and keep their webcams on. 

[kiwik]

5 hours ago, Arcadia said:

It’s to prevent cheating because no one is proctoring the digital exams at home. 
 

When my kid did a proctored exam (not an AP exam) at home, he had to face his smartphone camera on his work area (videoconferencing mode) and his laptop webcam has to be on. 
DS15 had a community college math test proctored by his teacher through Zoom. All the students had to be login to the class Zoom session and keep their webcams on. 

I can see that being the case but it also prevents good test taking skills.  I do tend to forget though that many places are still not having normal school and exams.  I guess they just have to do things as best they can 

[NittanyJen]

53 minutes ago, kiwik said:

I can see that being the case but it also prevents good test taking skills.  I do tend to forget though that many places are still not having normal school and exams.  I guess they just have to do things as best they can 

I actually prefer this. I like that it will test their knowledge instead of their testing strategy and whether they could afford or had access to a good ‘coach.’ I feel that it will be more revealing of the actual subject matter knowledge— see the question, and you either know how to solve it, or you don’t, and you move on— and everyone is in the same boat.

[Roadrunner]

31 minutes ago, NittanyJen said:

I actually prefer this. I like that it will test their knowledge instead of their testing strategy and whether they could afford or had access to a good ‘coach.’ I feel that it will be more revealing of the actual subject matter knowledge— see the question, and you either know how to solve it, or you don’t, and you move on— and everyone is in the same boat.

Only rich districts along with private schools here are offering exams in person, so i am not sure how they will normalize the curve, but those two exams (paper and digital) are really not the same thing anymore.

Having said that I hope digital exams are here to stay. 

[TCB]

My dd took the APUSH exam in person in May. She was extremely nervous about taking it, but she did it and survived, which I was greatly relieved about. Not sure how she did but thankful that she managed to do it. I kept telling her that no matter the outcome, she will have achieved a great deal by having managed to keep her nerve and do it, despite the anxiety. Any future tests will be slightly less nerve wracking having done this one.

[fourisenough]

DD took Stats yesterday. She felt like the MCQ were a little more difficult and the FRQ were a little easier than the digital practice. She’s thrilled to be finished. She says taking the 3rd administration made junior year a month longer than necessary. She’s not wrong! She’ll be super happy when Sunday’s ACT is over!

[Roadrunner]

On 6/8/2021 at 5:32 PM, Roadrunner said:

Only rich districts along with private schools here are offering exams in person, so i am not sure how they will normalize the curve, but those two exams (paper and digital) are really not the same thing anymore.

Having said that I hope digital exams are here to stay. 

I change my mind.

I knew the inability to circle back to problems was going to be the issue but now I know how big of an issue that was. I don’t think I would allow my kid to take a digital exam ever again. There was no ability to pace yourself. 

[crazyforlatin]

51 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I change my mind.

I knew the inability to circle back to problems was going to be the issue but now I know how big of an issue that was. I don’t think I would allow my kid to take a digital exam ever again. There was no ability to pace yourself. 

Dd was ok until she realized she made a mistake after reading a subsequent question and couldn’t go back to revise it. Yeah, that sucks. Also digital SAT does not work well for her because she likes to go faster in certain sections to give herself more time in other sections, but with the digital one she took via Khan - I think it was Khan- that was not possible. Allocating time based on difficulty is probably most important factor for the next test for her.

[madteaparty]

It seemed some online APs were significantly harder (and even different in form) than what DS had been prepping for, but maybe it’s just us!. I for one am absolutely going to veto any further online APs and pay the proctor fee if I have to. The one he took in person seemed fine. 

[Roadrunner]

1 hour ago, madteaparty said:

It seemed some online APs were significantly harder (and even different in form) than what DS had been prepping for, but maybe it’s just us!. I for one am absolutely going to veto any further online APs and pay the proctor fee if I have to. The one he took in person seemed fine. 

Not just you. You know how uneven it was for us in more detail than you care. 😂

Our biggest issues - if you are working through a particularly tough problem, it’s hard to know how representative it is of the exam (especially if it’s the first hour of so if the exam) so it’s unwise to make a decision to skip because there is no way back. Same goes for easy problems - is it easy and should you rush it in case you come up with a tougher section down the line? And if you finish with a bunch of spare time on your hand, no way to double check and catch silly errors. Digital exam is a resounding no for us going forward. 
 

[crazyforlatin]

Did anyone use Khan to study? Dd said it was useless, but I don’t know if it truly was not representative of the test, and we should have used something else, or this was more to do with her not being that great with physics. She went through all the units on Khan for physics. I’m mainly trying to figure what to use for next year. 

[madteaparty]

17 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

Did anyone use Khan to study? Dd said it was useless, but I don’t know if it truly was not representative of the test, and we should have used something else, or this was more to do with her not being that great with physics. She went through all the units on Khan for physics. I’m mainly trying to figure what to use for next year. 

We did not use Khan, we used the AP materials. Online was almost a whole different test as far as I can tell. How they get away with this is baffling.

[Arcadia]

4 hours ago, crazyforlatin said:

Did anyone use Khan to study? Dd said it was useless, but I don’t know if it truly was not representative of the test, and we should have used something else, or this was more to do with her not being that great with physics. She went through all the units on Khan for physics. I’m mainly trying to figure what to use for next year. 

My teens find Khan too piecemeal to be of much help for learning or reviewing. They rather deal with library copies of Barrons or Princeton Review for the MCQs. 

[kokotg]

On 6/11/2021 at 9:04 PM, crazyforlatin said:

Did anyone use Khan to study? Dd said it was useless, but I don’t know if it truly was not representative of the test, and we should have used something else, or this was more to do with her not being that great with physics. She went through all the units on Khan for physics. I’m mainly trying to figure what to use for next year. 

We've used a ton of Khan for some things--world history and APUSH and art history. We haven't used it at all for math or science stuff. 

[JennyD]

DS really liked being able to take the tests from home and thought that for him, the comfort of being in a familiar environment probably outweighed not being able to go back to questions. 

For physics DS used the Princeton Review and Barrons books, along with questions from the AP question bank.  He said that the FRQs on the actual exam were miles easier than the ones he had been practicing -- not sure if that's a good or bad sign.

Regardless of what his scores are, I'm glad we had him prepare for and take these tests this year.  The process was very instructive.

[Samantheia]

DS took two in May at home. They went fine technically, but he felt he made a mistake on the timing. Knowing he could

not go back, he went slower than he would usually on the MCQs and then had to rush at the end of the section to finish. So, obviously less ideal than what he would have normally done which is go quickly through the whole section and then go back to the challenging ones.

[NittanyJen]

On 6/11/2021 at 9:04 PM, crazyforlatin said:

Did anyone use Khan to study? Dd said it was useless, but I don’t know if it truly was not representative of the test, and we should have used something else, or this was more to do with her not being that great with physics. She went through all the units on Khan for physics. I’m mainly trying to figure what to use for next year. 

Khan doesn’t do anything to prepare you for the free-response questions in at least some subjects (I obviously haven’t looked at every subject) and that’s a pretty big issue, because knowing how to answer those, and knowing how they are scored is really important.

[NittanyJen]

On 6/8/2021 at 8:32 PM, Roadrunner said:

Only rich districts along with private schools here are offering exams in person, so i am not sure how they will normalize the curve, but those two exams (paper and digital) are really not the same thing anymore.

Having said that I hope digital exams are here to stay. 

They don’t grade the AP exams on a curve. So the paper exams are graded entirely separately from the digital exams; they are treated as just as much different tests as tests given in a different year would be. They use some type of ‘psychometric equating’ on the difficulty level of questions to equate the difficulty of different questions (and some questions in each test are actually just testing questions for future years, which is one reason they only release questions from one version, and why students get into big trouble for discussing test questions). It is theoretically possible for everyone to score a 5, or everyone to score a 1 on an AP exam (unlikely of course, but possible).

 

[kokotg]

14 hours ago, NittanyJen said:

Khan doesn’t do anything to prepare you for the free-response questions in at least some subjects (I obviously haven’t looked at every subject) and that’s a pretty big issue, because knowing how to answer those, and knowing how they are scored is really important.

For the histories (at least APUSH), they do have test prep specific videos where they go over a sample DBQ, long essay, etc.