After the College Board changed the format of multiple AP exams and classes for the 2024-25 school year, many students are stuck wondering how the change affects them.
One of the biggest changes was done to the AP Physics curriculum. The College Board offers four different AP classes and exams in the subject. Historically, the two calculus based exams, AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, have been structured very differently from their respective algebra based exams. However, this is no longer the case.
Both calculus based physics exams have been allotted just under twice as much time for the multiple choice sections and just over twice as much time for the free response sections. This huge increase in time only comes with a very small increase in the number of questions, five multiple choice and one free response.
The aim of this change was to have the calculus based exams match closer the time allotted for the algebra based exams.
With how rushed the exam felt in past years, some students wonder if the change is fair. “Speed was the most difficult part of the AP Physics C: Mechanics exam last year. Almost nobody finished all of the exam in the given time,” said former AP Physics student Aayush Despande. “The exam would have been much easier if I had taken it under the effect of these changes,” he expressed.
The College Board’s calculus based physics courses aren’t the only ones that have changed. The Board has removed the fluids unit from the AP Physics 2 algebra based course and moved it to the AP Physics 1 course. “AP 1 was already a very fast paced course, and having a whole other unit included in it seems like it would make the course much more difficult,” said former AP Physics 1 student Grant Yuska.
Additionally, the College Board’s changes aren’t limited to their physics courses. The College Board lowered the requirements to earn certain points on the free response sections of some of their history courses such as European History, World History and United States History. Many of these courses have seen a decrease in the number of documents required to reference or cite.
Much of these changes are part of a larger trend over the past few years where the AP scores have been increasing due to alterations in the curriculum and exams. The College Board has been “recalibrating” many exams over recent years. Obviously, the scores of previous students are not being recalculated according to these changes, which could ultimately leave their scores worth less.
