2020 was a new year for everyone. The thought of doing work from home was so foreign for us students, but we all were able to adapt to this virtual format of school. Assignments we would usually do at school — like labs, projects, and tests — were all able to be done at home. And with that, the final exam for many Advanced Placement classes, the AP test, could be taken from home. However, last year’s AP exams did not properly test all material covered in prior years due to the abbreviated pace of remote learning. This led to shorter and easier tests for people to take at home, which colleges didn’t like. Many colleges felt as if the credits they were giving for a high score on these tests were undeserved. They lose money if students were only tested on half the material they were supposed to learn.

This year, College Board promised that the test will be more similar to the pre-pandemic version. But because COVID is still a concern, they will again allow an online version of the test. The test will cover the same material as the pen and paper one, but will be structured differently and with no backtracking, or going back to questions on a test allowed. Senior Ben Kim thinks that the test would be much harder online. “Because we have the advantage to not be proctored, the test will most probably be a lot harder as there’s a risk of kids cheating,” he says. “I prefer the testing environment at school anyway so I’ll be there.”

Kim is in the majority. 62.7% of EBHS students will be taking their tests at school. 46.2% of surveyed students feel their stress level will change due to pandemic testing revisions. On the other hand, 53.8% of students think APs will induce the same stress as they did in years prior. With the big day only months away, we will truly know how different the tests are while students are taking them.