Justin Morales
For many students like myself, we’ve come to expect a certain user experience when taking a national or state-mandated standardized test: The multiple #2 pencils, dark blue or black pens, and the infamous bubble sheets have become familiar over the years. But this year, the College Board administered an overwhelming majority of their AP exams in a digital or hybrid format, and this significant change has sparked widespread controversy. Some have welcomed the change, while others have been wary of this new, unfamiliar system.
For the 2024-2025 school year, 28 AP exams have transitioned to some online format through the Bluebook App – the same app that administers College Board’s SAT exam. Several social sciences and language-related exams became fully digital. All questions and answers for these exams were presented on the screen, and the long answer portions were to be typed instead of handwritten. Multiple students have found these exams more efficient as they are able to skip the scantron and spend more time writing their essays or reading. Additionally, the lack of handwritten essays makes writing a much faster process and therefore gives test-takers the time and convenience to go back and make revisions.
Additionally, many of the math and science based exams were given a ina hybrid format, meaning some portions of the exam are fully taken using the computer, but other parts involve both the computer and a corresponding booklet for students to write their answers. These exams specifically presented new challenges for the test-takers as some essential resources, like a course reference sheet, were exclusively available in a new, harder to navigate configuration on the computer.
This year, I took two AP exams in this new digital format: the AP Physics 1 exam and the AP Precalculus exam. Both were hybrid assessments and were scheduled for the second week of testing. As someone who took the exams last year and this year, I have experienced both formats, and see the benefits and drawbacks of each. Through my own experience, as well as hearing the range of others’ opinions, I believe the transition was completely unnecessary.
While some of the new features were advantageous, there were various flaws and strange adjustments to the test-taking experience. This made the test feel unfinished, unready, and unnecessarily complicated.
For example, throughout the first week of testing, some exams, like the AP Biology or AP Chemistry exams, did not provide or allow the use of a physical course reference table. As a result, these students were forced to use the electronic reference table, which had an unfamiliar and clunky interface. Many students across the nation believed that these conditions hindered their performance on these exams, so College Board changed their system and permitted the use of paper reference tables throughout the second week of testing. Students who took an exam without a paper reference during week one were allowed to retake their exams if they wished.
As one of the students who was allowed to use a physical reference table on the AP Physics 1 exam, I believe that it was truly essential for my performance, especially as I was already familiar with the table after extensive use in class. I can only imagine how much time was lost as students searched for certain formulas or variables to answer their questions on a foreign digital interface.
While the efforts to mend the situation are commendable, there were definitely opportunities to avoid this situation and better prepare the students for this change. Had the digital reference table been easier to use or similar to ones used in class, students would not have felt blindsided by the sudden change. Alternatively, if the exams were never even changed to digital, then students and their teachers would feel more comfortable and prepared with what testing conditions would have looked like.
But the worst part was that the students were the ones held responsible for a mistake made on the behalf of College Board. Meaning, if you wanted to fix your score, it was up to you to take the makeup exam. This placed additional stress on these students, who had been seeking the relief of the major exam’s end. It’s as if College Board spilled water on your floor, apologized, and asked you to clean it up – but only if it bothers you.
Another technical complication affected the AP Psychology exam. Across the nation, students had trouble logging into Bluebook after a widespread program outage. To ensure the exam remained secure, students at Nyack High School were required to stay as late as 4:30 PM since they had already been seated. However, this mishap, similar to the crashes and glitches that were experienced during the March SAT, was just another example of the unreliable nature of digital exams and the underpreparedness of College Board.
While I did not personally experience any technical issues in taking my tests, these outages heightened the stress for those AP Psychology students (ironic, isn’t it?) and likely affected student performance throughout the exam. In these instances there should have been some sort of back up plan or alternative exam (perhaps on paper?) especially since this was not the first time that Bluebook and College Board had experienced these issues.
The transition from analog to digital was definitely ambitious and a nerve-wracking change for students and teachers alike. The technology is available, but the truth is that they didn’t have to make everything automated or overly complex, especially if there is minimal payout. It’s not like we’re getting the scores any sooner.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” they say, and I feel quite comfortable in saying that “old” paper AP exams fulfilled their purpose sufficiently. These rushed transformations resulted in more problems than they’re worth, and they’re simply trying to make an outdated system seem like a “shiner” outdated system. Exams in their inherent nature are already flawed methods of measuring student progress and success – and making these exams digital was definitely not going to fix that.