Do you want your AP exams to go digital?

The digitalization of the SATs gave us a preview of what to expect for many AP classes whose exams will be digital this year and in the coming years. However, the digital AP exams will be slightly different from the digital SAT. The only change will be how the test is taken but no changes in the format or questions will take place.

Though that is the only difference it brings a lot of changes. Using computers eliminates the use of paper for these exams which has significant positive impacts on the environment. Additionally, there may be fewer visual problems on a computer than on paper because images will be in color and text can be read clearly. This is a benefit to both students and teachers who grade the exams. Students with messy handwriting won’t have to worry about their words being illegible to their graders and the teachers won’t have to deal with decoding the handwriting of the students.

However, there are many drawbacks to the digitization of AP exams. Students such as Noor Zahidi a senior taking AP Computer Science Principles who has to answer 70 mc questions for the first part of the exam may have trouble with such a long screen time. She explains that having to look at a screen for 2 hours reading and clicking answers takes a toll on performance. This is a problem that others in classes with long sections of MC have to deal with. Katerina Pappas a junior feels disappointed that students don’t have a choice between paper and digital exams. As an AP psychology student, she has to answer 75 MC questions in 90 minutes in the first section of her exam. She straight out criticizes the digital exams by saying “How are children supposed to focus without a physical paper?!”.

So far opinions on the 2025 digital AP exams are not great but maybe that will change once students take the test and understand the new format. I don’t like the idea of digital exams either as my AP Human Geography exam will also be online but as the world moves more into a digital age it is only natural that schools will follow along.