The month of May is finally here! The flowers are blooming, and the sun is shining… well, for the most part. The month of May may end the rainy season, but it also marks the beginning of  AP testing.

The first AP test kicks off with Chemistry on May 2nd, followed by Psychology, English, and Seminar. Many students around the world nervously await these tests. One student Laura Izzi said, ¨ I’m very nervous and I wish I started studying sooner, but I am confident that I will do well.¨

Last year the tests were arguably harder than ever due to remote learning and shortened school days. For example, last year’s AP chem had only a 51.3% pass rate with 11.2% of students earning a 5. The AP scores are rated on a scale of 1-5. You must earn a 3 to pass the exam but many students aim higher in order to receive college credits.

One of the most popular classes to take is English Literature. 573,171 people took the exam with 9.9% earning a 5.  United States history is next with 496,573 students taking the test with 11.8% of students earning a 5. The top five most common APs all have below 15% for scoring a 5, so good luck!

A controversy surrounding College Board, the company that runs the AP program, is how much it costs to register for an exam. The fee is $100 per exam so if you plan on taking let’s say 5 exams, it can really add up. However, if you cannot pay for the test, you can apply for a fee waiver. This is very hard to obtain and many do not fit the requirements to apply for a waiver, so start saving!

The College Board also had a scandal pretty recently. On April 1, 2020, the College Board allegedly created an account on Reddit with the intention of posing as a student to find and cancel the scores of other students who intended to cheat/obtain the test before it was officially distributed. The account was later criticized for being a phishing scam, attempting to collect student data of supposedly cheating students.  Before the official tests were released by College Board took place, the subreddit r/APTests2020 was created in which posts by the account included encouragements to cheat during the exam.

Despite these scandals, The College board still has a net worth of $1.2 billion and millions are planning on taking the test this year. Good luck to all of you test-takers out there!