This year students have the option to take their AP exams in person or online. The dates reserved for the in-person exams are on May 3rd – 17th, and the online exams are scheduled for May 24th – June 11th. Later in April, students will be able to choose whether to take their AP exams in person or online. Students should take their AP exams in person.

The online AP exams would occur after school has ended. The current LISD calendar states that the last day of school is May 21st, and the online exams would occur between May 24th – June 11th. Many students would be unprepared and unwilling to participate in anything academically related during the beginning of their summer break. 

In their letter to students and parents, LISD warned that if an electronic error occurs in an online exam, they would be unable to help the student. Last year, many students had technological issues when they turned in their essay. This caused them to get either low scores or an opportunity to retake it later in the summer when the student is even more unprepared. 

To prevent cheating online, the College Board decided that online exams will have a feature that will not allow the student to go back on their multiple choice answers. This means that they have to be sure all of their answers are completed/filled in before they move on to the next question, and are ultimately unable to double check their answers at the end. But since the in-person exams are on paper, those students will have the normalcy to flip back and forth within the section, to make sure that they can double check and be comfortable with what they chose.

Some students say they don’t have transportation to the school, but the school bus system is still offered. Others say they would like to take it from the comfort of their home, but the disadvantages of taking the exams online would outweigh temporary comfortability. 

In case a student is quarantined from close contact or the contraction of the coronavirus during the time of their in-person exam, the online exam is still an option. Nevertheless, students should take into consideration the major disadvantages of taking their AP exams online and simply take it in person.