The AP exams are going digital! This May, the College Board will take another of its flagship standardized tests online as it continues to migrate its products to a digital format. As most readers of this blog know, the College Board made waves last year by transitioning its most popular test, the SAT, from the familiar paper-and-pencil format American high-schoolers have known and dreaded for decades to a digital, online, format. This was the first in a series of moves aimed at modernizing the company’s test and course offerings; digitizing the AP exams is their second.
Parents, students, and educators need not worry, though – the format and content of these tests is not changing at all. The AP US History exam students take this year will have the same sections and numbers of questions it has always had. In fact, in order to maintain that continuity of content and format, some AP exams – namely those involving foreign language, and maths and sciences involving figuring and equations – will still partially or wholly be delivered on paper.
Of the 36 AP exams, these 16 will be transitioning to a fully digital format:
- African American Studies
- Art History
- Comparative Govt. and Politics
- Computer Science A
- Computer Science Principles
- English Language and Composition
- English Literature
- Environmental Science
- European History
- Human Geography
- Latin
- Psychology
- AP Seminar
- US Govt. and Politics
- US History
- World History
These fully-digital tests will be delivered entirely via the Bluebook App, which is the same app on which the College Board now delivers the SAT. Both the multiple choice sections and free-response sections (which include short answer and essay questions) will be delivered and answered on the Bluebook app.
These 12 will be transitioning to a hybrid format:
- Biology
- Calculus AB
- Calculus BC
- Chemistry
- Macroeconomics
- Microeconomics
- Physics 1: Algebra-based
- Physics 2: Algebra-based
- Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
- Physics C: Mechanics
- Precalculus
- Statistics
On these “hybrid” tests, the multiple choice will be digital and the free-response questions will be delivered digitally, while students do their figuring and submit their answers on paper booklets.
And these 8 will be continue to be delivered on paper, not digitally:
- Chinese Language and Culture
- French Language and Culture
- German Language and Culture
- Italian Language and Culture
- Japanese Language and Culture
- Spanish Language and Culture
- Spanish Literature and Culture
- Music Theory
Students taking these digital tests will be able to do so on Mac and Windows laptops, iPads, and their school-issued Chromebooks. Students who have taken the SAT will already be familiar with the College Board’s procedure for delivering its digital tests and will be able to follow the same protocols with their digital AP exams. Students who haven’t taken the SAT and haven’t downloaded the College Board’s Bluebook app should do so and explore the app to get a better feel for it prior to test day.
TIP: You’ll also be able to do short practice tests on Bluebook to get a “feel” for the format and style of each of the tests that will be either entirely or partially administered digitally this year. Simply open and sign in to the Bluebook app and under “Practice and Prepare” click “Test Preview” and then follow the steps to select the AP exam you’d like to preview. See below:
Unfortunately, you won’t find full-length AP exams on the Bluebook app, but you can find them through AP Classroom on the College Board’s website or, alternatively, by searching “AP [enter the subject here] released exam site:collegeboard.org”.
We at First Choice Prep do, of course, recommend actively preparing for these exams if you’re signed up for them. The content knowledge you build while taking your AP courses in school is the most important factor in your success on test day, but learning and perfecting proper test-taking techniques is also imperative. Make sure you’re practicing the multiple-choice sections from previously-administered tests and regularly answering free-response questions to hone your skills and maximize your chances of success on test day. First Choice Prep’s AP exam experts are here to help you should you need it.
Leave a Reply