When taking an AP class, every student has the option to take an AP test. This is what gives students the opportunity to earn college credit; taking the class alone doesn’t earn you the credit. AP tests were held the week of May 2 - May 6 this year. They required students to study for hours on the days and weeks leading up to them, and now all students have left to do is wait for the results. Two students - Kayla Jepperson and Summer Cohen - each took a different test and have given their opinions on how things generally played out and what they each had to risk.
Kayla Jepperson took the AP Chemistry test. She was very stressed about the test and how she would do on it. Chemistry in general can be very difficult for some people, so going into this class, she knew she would need to dedicate a lot of time outside of school to learn the subjects. She admitted that it is very important to her that she passes the test, as she wants to have the credit under her belt before she goes to college. When asked if she thinks she passed the test, Jepperson answered, “I definitely failed. Everything I thought I knew left my brain.” This seems to be the general consensus on this year’s AP Chemistry exam. Along with this, she stated she feels like she could have done better, and that the teacher prepared everyone well, she just didn’t do what she needed to in order to do as well as she wanted to.
Summer Cohen took the AP Literature and Composition test. Contrary to Jepperson’s feelings leading up to the exam, Cohen felt as if it were any other exam up until the final days before it. She also isn’t too worried about whether she’s passed or not, stating, “They don’t affect my GPA directly, and I can always make up credits in college.” Even so, she believes she did well on th exam, and that the practice quizzes provided to her and class discussions prior to the exam date helped her prepare.
Timing on a lot of testing being handed out to students has been questioned by students and teachers alike for some time now. When asked if they felt the timed aspect of the AP tests affected their scores at all, both Jepperson and Cohen agreed timing is something that prevents scorers from seeing a lot of students’ true understanding and knowledge of the topics they’ve learned, due to the pressure it puts on them.
Now that they’re over, everyone who’s taken an AP test has time to think and reflect for the time being. Some are incredibly anxious and view this as something that could greatly affect their future, while others are completely ok with the results coming back one way or the other.