“AoPS? More like A‘fl’oPS.”
This was just one of the several comments that were exchanged when the Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) website crashed during the U.S.A. Biology Olympiads (USABO) Open Exam on February 1st.
Almost 10,000 students nationwide participate in the USABO open exam every year. For the 2024 school year, the open exam had been set for 1 p.m. PST with a five-minute buffering time to ease all testing students into the testing platform, AoPS.
Students were summoned in the middle of their fourth period classes to take the exam. The testing period was set to last until around 2 p.m., meaning that they would not only miss lunch, but also a part of their fifth period classes.
However, in the cafeteria testing room, as the clock slowly approached 12:57, 58, and 59, the approximately 60 NHHS students in the testing room started to realize something was wrong. No one was able to log into the testing platform.
By 1:00 p.m., testing should have officially started. But that didn’t happen.
Students began to frantically refresh their pages or re-check their Wi-Fi connection. But to no avail.
Ironically, despite the original planning of a national open exam months in advance, the computer screens flashed with the message that the AoPS site was under ‘scheduled’ maintenance.
To reduce any further amount of idle waiting, by the time fifth period started, the students were dismissed. From that day, everyone would share a similar sentiment expressed by Manav Desai, one of the seniors who was taking the exam, “It felt like a complete waste of my time.”
Freshman Aditi Mahajan states, “I was missing so much valuable learning time while I was there [in the testing room]. There were so many upcoming tests in my other classes that week that I could have spent my time studying for instead.”
Every year, the incoming freshmen of the HGM program have the option to take either AP Biology or Honors Biology as their science class requirement. With that being said, most of them choose to take the AP Biology course.
One of the benefits of taking a rigorous course is how the content that gets covered often aligns with national academic competitions such as USABO. Furthermore, should students receive a score higher than a set threshold–determined by their teacher–they might be eligible for extra credit.
The complete crash of the testing platform created a plethora of inconveniences for everyone, leading to the question, of ‘what happens now?’ With uncertainty regarding when the exam date would be rescheduled, several students simply carried on with their daily activities until Thursday, February 8th, when all registered test-takers received an email from the USABO Committee.
With little notice, the exam would now take place on February 12th. Less than 4 days from when the email was sent. By that time, preparation for the exam felt almost pointless.
Fortunately, on February 12th, all who were not able to take the exam on the 1st were now able to take the test. It would be safe to say that it is a relief that the exam was over–but not without some strong opinions on the experience.
Ms. Deutsch, the AP Biology teacher and test proctor, expresses, “I am extremely unhappy with the way that the exam was handled this year…It was complete F.U.B.A.R.–Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition.”
Now, students can only hope that next year’s exam will be a more positive experience.
