By Vishnu Suresh
With the return of in-person school, exams are also in person again. This also marks the return of AP examinations. College Board’s guidelines and policies are different this year due to the loosening of New York State’s COVID-19 protocols. For some, being in person to take the exams is more stressful than being online, but for others writing on paper will be even more stressful.
Artwork by Shadia Zayer
Students are stressing over the amount of studying they need to do in order to prepare for the upcoming AP exam season.
In the spring of 2020, College Board, the organization handling the AP exams, stated that all exams were going to be virtual. Students were emailed a virtual card specialized for them, so they could take the test. In 2021, the College Board announced the tests were going to be both virtual and in person. The virtual and in-person exams were different from each other to prevent cheating. This year, however, exams are going to be in person for everyone. As previously said, this causes stress for some people taking the exams and is a relief for others.
“I feel like a return to normalcy is what we needed. It’s a step in the right direction. There has been adequate prep given by the school, but a big part about AP classes is having the student do their own work, too,” freshman Alexander Tomalski said.
Students will have to prepare their hardest for this year due to many new topics having to be learned. Every year, more questions are created so students will have to review everything they learned more closely than ever before. Students will have to sign in with their names and grades prior to taking the exams this year to ensure test security. AP tests consist of timed multiple-choice and free-response questions.
“The part of the AP exam that I predict to be the most challenging is multiple choice. Not only are you given a limited amount of time to answer the questions, but they can also trip you up and make you debate between two of the choices,” freshman Tiffany Tso said.
New Hyde Park also gives students the opportunity to review with their teachers at scheduled AP review classes that are either in the morning or after school.
“The school is being very helpful in preparing for the AP exams with the weekly review sessions,” senior Elisa George said.
Overall, students are working hard to handle the stress of the upcoming exam season.