What Happens If I Miss My AP Exam

What Happens If I Miss My AP Exam SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Sometimes life happens, and you end up missing an AP test. Naturally, since the tests are expensive and you want to take them while the material is still fresh in your mind, you may want to make up the exam. In this article, I’ll go over what to do if you know in advance you won’t make the test, what to do in an emergency, how AP late testing works, and situations where you might not be able to make up the test- and what to do about it. What to Do When You Know In Advance You'll Miss the Test There are a variety of reasons that you may find that the exam you signed up for a few months ago conflicts with something you can’t avoid. As soon as you realize you mayhave a conflict with the exam, you will need to get in touch with your school’s AP coordinator to discuss AP late testing. They will let you know if the test can be made up and how, when, and where it will happen. If you do not know who your AP coordinator is, ask someone in the school office or a guidance counselor. Your school may also have some kind of designated process for requesting late testing that someone in the main office can tell you about. For making up tests when you know about the conflict in advance, there are two scenarios: the College Board deems your conflict either "unavoidable" or "avoidable." Unavoidable Conflicts For those conflicts which the College Board deems â€Å"unavoidable,† they will allow you to take the make-up exam for free. Unavoidable conflicts include: You are taking two AP exams that are scheduled for the same time slot, or you are taking three or more AP exams that are scheduled for the same day. Check the 2016 schedule to see if this is you. You have an IB exam, or a state or national exam, the same day. Scheduling issues with the language lab at your school (this would primarily be a problem for foreign language exams). It is a religious holiday. The school is closed for an election or a national holiday. There is an issue with your disability accommodations (that you know about in advance). Sorry I couldn't make my AP exam; I was busy hatching. Avoidable Conflicts For other conflicts, which the College Board views as â€Å"avoidable,† you will be allowed to take the exam later, but you will need to pay a fee of $45. This fee is waived for those who qualify for financial assistance. Avoidable conflicts include: You have an academic event or meet (e.g. a quiz bowl or math team competition). You have a sports meet or game that conflicts with the exam. You have an exam for a class the same day. In this situation it may make more sense to arrange to take the class exam at a different time if you can instead of taking a late AP test. Your school makes a mistake when ordering the exam. (For example, they do not order enough copies for everyone who registered.) In this case your school will likely cover the fee. It is a school holiday (pre-planned, not a national holiday, and not an emergency). You have a family commitment. If you are not sure if your conflict qualifies you to take a late exam, discuss it with your AP coordinator. They will be the one who ultimately coordinates all late testing for your school. You can also call the College Board to discuss scheduling issues at (212) 632-1781 or (877) 274-6474 (the second number is toll-free in USA and Canada). But what if you miss your exam unexpectedly, in spite of your best-laid plans? This fire extinguisher just realized she missed her exam. What to DoWhen Something Unexpected Comes Up There may be situations when you have a sudden emergency and cannot make the exam. In this case,you should let your school’s AP exam coordinator know as soon as possible so they can coordinate your make-up examthe coordinator is the person who will order all late exams for your school, so it is up to them to decide if you will be allowed to take a make-up exam. Should they allowit, they will let you know when, where, and how to take the late exam. The College Board will not charge you for a late exam due to an emergency. Potential emergencies include: An unforeseen issue with your disability accommodations. A bomb scare or fire alarm at your school. A natural disaster. A labor strike at your school. A family tragedy. A serious injury or illness If you just have the sniffles, you may want to just bring a box of tissues. If you have a splitting headache, a sore throat, and can’t talk, consider skipping your exam and going to the doctor (to get a note). Late exams are a pain, but you also don’t want to get a 2 instead of a 4 because you feel light-headed and nauseated the whole time. But what if you miss the exam for a non-emergency reason? Decisions on all make-up exams are up to the school AP exam coordinator. So whether you slept through your alarm, or your little sister threw the entire contents of your backpack into the trash, or you got in a fender bender on your way to school, take your case to the exam coordinator. If they say no, it’s not awesome, but it’s also not the most horrible thing in the world. If they say yes, great! Read on to know what to expect when you make up your test. What Happens When You Make Up the Exam? The College Board has designated late testing dates for AP exams. If you can’t take it the first go-round, you will take it on the designated make-up day. Note that barring some highly unusual circumstances, once you open your AP exam you are no longer eligible for late testing. So unfortunately, if you toss your cookies in the middle of the test, you won’t be able to make it up later. Note that you will be taking an alternate form of the test. This is so that students who take late exams won’t be able to get any information on the exam content from their classmates. Other than that, the experience will be similar to any other AP test. You can check out the AP late testing schedule for 2016 at the College Board. The AP late testing dates for 2016 are May 17, 18, and 19. What IfYou Can’t Make Up the Exam? As mentioned, whether or not you can make up your exam is primarily up to your AP exam coordinator, who requests the make-up exams through the College Board. They may allow you to make up your exam even if you do something like sleep through your alarm or forget about your test and go to your regular class. However, you can’t count on that, so don’t be like this person who went back to her house because she forgot a pen and then decided to try an alternate route to the school (someone will loan you a pen if you forget it!) Pack your bag with everything you need the night before and leave for school early. If worst comes to worst and you miss the exam (and can’t make it up), your hopes and dreams are not dead. You will probably be out the ninety bucks you paid for the exam (although you may be able to negotiate that with your school’s exam coordinator) but it won’t appear on a score report or anything. No one will know you missed the exam, and colleges don’t necessarily expect that you will take the AP exam for every AP-level class you take. If you still want the college credit or the score, you can take the test next year, although you will probably have to put in some serious study time to remember everything. Key Takeaways on Late Testing Missing AP exams happens. As soon as you realize you have a conflict, or an emergency on test day, get in touch with your school’s AP exam coordinator. If you don’t know who that is, it may be in your best interest to find out now! If you are allowed to make up the test, you will take an alternate form a couple of weeks after the regularly scheduled exam.If you can’t make it up, the exam won’t show up on your score report. Go forth and conquer, noble AP adventurers! What's Next? Do you have a conflict with your SAT test date? Here's how to cancel your registration, and a guide to getting an alternative test date for your SAT. What about a conflict with your ACT test date? See our guide to cancelingyour ACT registration. If you're trying to decide between focusing on AP exams or SAT subject tests, see our expert guide on which is more important. 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