I took the AP Computer Science A Exam during Administration 2 in the 2020-2021 school year. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, CollegeBoard offered three separate administrations for each AP Exam. For AP CS A, Administration 1 was in-person, and Admins 2 and 3 were online.
My experience with the exam was smooth! I opened the 2021 Digital AP Exams app at noon, in preparation for my exam at 1 pm. I finished the multiple-choice section about 6 minutes early, without any issues. The biggest difference between in-person AP Exams and online ones is that you’re not allowed to go back to previously answered questions online. It was an inconvenience, but I didn’t feel like it negatively affected me.
After the first section, I had a 20-minute break — which turned into a 26-minute break since I finished the multiple choice early. After the break, I began the Free Response questions. The FRQ section consists of 4 FRQs, and you are given 90 minutes. Since it was online, you were not allowed to go back to a previous FRQ after submitting it. The experience went smoothly, and I finished 20 minutes early. Overall, I felt very confident and prepared; a lot of it was because of Ascende’s Spring AP CS A Review and Test Prep Course. I am happy to report that I got a 5 on the exam!