All free-response question (FRQ) sections from the May 2024 AP Computer Science A, AP Microeconomics, AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, and some of the AP United States Government and Politics exams were lost during transit from MHS to CollegeBoard, Assistant Principal Jennifer Hutchison said.
137 AP Computer Science A, 62 AP Microeconomics, 36 AP Environmental Science FRQs, 169 AP Statistics, and 48 AP United States Government and Politics FRQs were lost, Hutchison said. “364 students (were affected),” Hutchison said. “That is important because some of those students were missing two or three exams.”
A contact from CollegeBoard that MHS could give students who were affected the op- tion to either retake the FRQ(s) their claim at this point and settled with UPS,” Hutchison said. Hutchison’s contact from CollegeBoard has been extremely helpful and responsive, Hutchison said. “But they’re a business,” Hutchison said. “To them, it was, ‘We’ll do an investigation, but at a certain point, we just have to move forward.’ And so that’s what we did.”
CollegeBoard claimed the FRQs were never picked up, Hutchison said. However, Hutchison has a receipt and also checked to make sure they were picked up, she added.
Regarding what happened to the FRQs, “UPS said they did not know,” Hutchison said. “I had to fight to get them to look at their hubs, where it (the FRQs) would have gone.” UPS has an overgoods department, where any package lost in transit is sent, Hutchison said.
UPS told Hutchison that the FRQs likely went into their local overgoods department and that when it was not inquired about, it would have been disposed of, she added. “When I asked what they meant – disposed of – whether that meant disposed of or destroyed, they said ‘disposed of’ again,” Hutchison said.
“When I asked for further details, they said they were not able to disclose details of what that means or how it’s done.”
Hutchison does not think that CollegeBoard will do anything differently regarding the AP exams in the future, she said. The exams becoming digital isn’t because the FRQs were lost, she added.
“I don’t believe UPS is doing anything differently,” Hutchison said. “We have a claim with UPS, but in all honesty, they’re not re- turning calls anymore.”
After the make-up exams from Sept. 20-21, Hutchison took pic- tures of the wrapped-up boxed with the FRQ sections when it was in the office for UPS pickup, Hutchison said.
“I emailed them (College Board) last week and was told they try to get it done three to four weeks after it is received,” Hutchison said in an email. “Four weeks will be middle of this week (Oct. 14 to Oct. 20). I am hopeful that it will be sooner but cannot guarantee (it).”
The FRQ section of his AP Computer Science A exam was lost, Senior Darren Lam said.
“I chose to take the projected score because it’s really hard to retake the FRQ section for some- thing that you have not been thinking about for a summer,” Lam said. “It’s just a bit annoying because a lot of schools don’t take projected scores.”
Lam was satisfied with the school’s response, he said. He got a five on his projected score, he added.
“But I know a bunch of people that got fours (on the projected score),” Lam said. “And they knew they could’ve gotten a five because they did perfectly fine on the FRQ exam. If they didn’t lose the FRQ, they would have gotten a five.”
The seniors last year were the ones most affected by the lost AP FRQs, Lam said.
“Some of their college acceptances depended on what (score) they got,” Lam said. “It also messes up their planning for their college classes.” The FRQ section of his AP Computer Science A exam was lost, Senior Shawn Lee said. He took the option to receive a projected score, he added. “I did not know exactly how the projected score would affect me,” Lee said. “I now know the con- sequences of taking a projected score because some colleges will not take that score.”
Accepting the projected score will definitely affect some parts of his college admission, and he might have to change what classes to take in college, like redoing Computer Science A, Lee said.
“For now, there are no changes in my future plans,” Lee said.
Hutchison is proud of MHS’s students and teachers within the AP programs, Hutchison said. “Students, their families, and the teachers had every right to feel all the feelings they did,” Hutchison said. “But they pushed forward and figured out what was going to work for them.”