College & Academic Resources
Amid this crisis, colleges and educational organizations are aware of closures of secondary schools in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Throughout March colleges have reached out to us to let us know that they will be flexible with deposits, applications, transcripts and test dates. Please see below for any information regarding specific topics. More information will be added once we are updated. Please check back regularly.
SAT - May 2 & June 6 Test Date
Collegeboard has released information regarding their upcoming test dates that some students may have already registered for.
At this time the May 2 & June 6 SAT dates are cancelled. Those who registered will be contacted by email with more information from Collegeboard. In response, Collegeboard has added another test date in September 2020.
Transcripts for Colleges
If seniors have already applied to colleges, their first quarter transcripts and mid-year transcripts have already been sent electronically through Common App, Coalition, SENDEdu or emailed directly to college admissions offices. At this time, colleges should not need another transcript until graduation when student's final transcripts are finalized. However, if students receive emails from colleges please forward or email Ms. Costa with questions. Final transcripts will be sent out after the first week of June.
ACT - Future Test dates
ACT is working with individual testing centers to determine if they will be able to hold their June 13 test date. According to their website, they will notify students during the week of May 26, about test center closures and cancellations for the June 13 test date. However, they are planning on still hosting the July 18 test date.
MCAS Testing
As of right now, testing has been postponed. More information and guidance will be provided by the US Department of Education and Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education once it becomes available. For updates, visit here.
Most scholarships require a piece of the application filled out by a counselor and an official transcript. Since we are not able to be in the school there are alternative options to provide that information. Please email kcosta@bcahs.com if you need an electronic copy of your transcript or if you have other questions.
AP Testing
Collegeboard has determined that students will take their AP tests in the comfort of their own homes. If you are an AP student you will/or have been contacted by your AP teacher or counselor regarding next steps.
Please see below that includes information taken directly from Collegeboard:
Exam Length, Structure, and Format
The exams will only include topics and skills most AP teachers and students have already covered in class by early March. We know that some students have lost more class time than others, and we want to be fair to all students.
Like many college-level exams, this year’s AP Exams will be open book/open note. Get tips for taking open book/open note exams.
Most exams will have one or two free-response questions, and each question is timed separately. Students will need to write and submit their responses within the allotted time for each question.
For most subjects, the exams will be 45 minutes long, and include an additional 5 minutes for uploading. Students will need to access the online testing system 30 minutes early to get set up.
Students will be able to take exams on any device they have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. They will be able to either type and upload their responses or write responses by hand and submit a photo via their cell phone.
Students taking AP world language and culture exams will complete two spoken tasks consistent with free-response questions three and four on the current AP Exam; written responses will not be required. We'll provide more details in the coming weeks to help students prepare.
Online Review Classes
Collegeboard began offering free live AP review courses, delivered by AP teachers from across the country. The courses have been viewed more than 3.2 million times since they became available. On-demand lessons are now available for Art and Design, AP Capstone™, and Computer Science Principles.
If you would like more information please visit the Collegeboard website for more information.
Exam Dates
Most AP teachers and students we surveyed prefer to test earlier, while the content is still fresh.
Exams will be given from May 11–22.
Makeup test dates will be available for each subject from June 1–5.
Students can take exams at home or in schools, if they reopen.
Each subject's exam will be taken on the same day at the same time, worldwide.
Exam Scores and College Credit
As usual, students' work will be scored by our network of college faculty and AP teachers, and will be reported on a 1–5 scale. We anticipate releasing scores as close to the usual July timeframe as possible.
We're confident that the vast majority of higher ed institutions will award college credit as they have in the past. We've spoken with hundreds of institutions across the country that support our solution for this year's AP Exams.
College Updates
Each college and university will be reaching out to prospective students by email with updates about their deposits and new admissions information due to COVID-19. Please check your emails frequently. Click here for a running list of colleges with new deposit dates, this is not an extensive list so if you do not see your college on the list please reach out directly to their admissions office.
