AP Exams—Online vs. In-Person

Many high school students have been seriously struggling with online schooling as is, now with AP exams coming up, the stress level in high school students has increased. Although the College Board and most high schools have been decidedly lenient with testing and school work policies, the anxiety and nervousness that students experience before or during an AP exam hardly lessen.
Before the occurrence of COVID-19, all AP exams and other tests were in person. Students had plenty of time during school and at home to study and practice before the testing days arrived. During online learning, the attention span and time management skills of students have drastically declined. The decline in time management skills in high school students has caused many of them to lose their capability to keep track of upcoming assignments, due dates and testing dates, which prevent them from finishing assignments on time and studying for tests, Therefore, bringing down their overall grades and GPA. While some students are still highly capable of keeping track of time and assignment due dates, most students have been impacted negatively by online schooling.
It is very appreciable that teachers and other faculty staff are trying to sympathize and show an understanding of how students are being affected during this time. During AP testing, the support and encouragement from staff, friends, and family is highly appreciated and takes a great deal of stress off of students.
In-person learning was a better environment for students to learn and engage in classes. Especially during testing in school, students had easy access to help from teachers and tutors. Now, it’s harder to get a hold of teachers and other staff, even more for students who have poor or no internet at all. Moreover, working online is extremely difficult for those who have ADHD or symptoms similar to those of it. In an actual classroom, we had almost no choice but to pay attention to what the teacher was instructing. Our working from home makes it too easy for us to just fall right back asleep, or close our laptops and miss the deadlines for assignments. Students are very accustomed to having someone keep them in check. Now students are having to re-accommodate to keep themselves accountable.
There are only a limited amount of upsides to online schooling, when it comes to testing online I don’t think there are any positives. I am wishing the best to anyone taking exams online, and also hoping that this pandemic ends soon.