One common theme amongst many high school students is a hatred for tests. More specifically: AP exams. Due to the rigor of Advanced Placement classes, more commonly known as AP classes, homework piles up leaving little time for studying. AP classes are offered as a way for students to pay for and gain college credits in high school, depending on if they get a high enough score. This adds to the stress of APs, because students now worry about getting a score they can submit to colleges. On top of that, this year, APs will look very different, being administered on the computer.
In the past, AP exams have been taken on paper. Typically, students come into school on their designated test day, report to their testing location, and get seated with their pen and pencils ready. Students would take the time allotted to them to take the physical exam, being able to underline and mark up whatever they needed, wherever they wanted, to go back to at any point in the test and quickly find answers they needed. Multiple choice questions were answered on physical scantron bubble sheets, and free response questions were filled out in a booklet. Many students prefer this because of the ease of the test. It is straightforward with no distracting buttons or timers, and it is how many students grew up taking tests, so it is most comfortable.
However, starting with the 2025 AP exams, many will be taken online. Specifically, 16 exams will be fully virtual and 12 will be hybrid digital (multiple choice will be taken online and free response will be on paper). The application to be used is Bluebook, which many students are familiar with, since it is the application used for the PSAT and SAT. Bluebook is very easy to navigate, and even has many built in tools that are helpful to students, including a timer showing how long is left, a highlighter, an option eliminator, and a calculator. Even so, many students and teachers are not looking forward to testing online. For starters, the timer can be stressful, constantly seeing how much time is left and worrying about that, rather than focusing fully on the test. Also, generally, students tend to have a more difficult time focusing on computers. On paper, many people find it much easier to pay attention versus working virtually, with so much going on on the screen. In regards to reading and comprehension on computers, it is very easy to get lost and have a difficult time finding parts of the passage because of not being able to physically underline. And simply, students currently in high school did not grow up taking tests virtually, so having something so new thrown at them can be disorienting.
The world of test taking has been drastically changed in recent years, with the evolution of new online applications leading the way for virtual tests. Most noticeably, 28 AP exams will be virtual in 2025, a huge change for students who are so used to taking exams on paper. Many students are unhappy with this sudden change, and it is going to be an obstacle that will simply need to be overcome by AP students.
