The Accolade

VIRAL IMPACT ON SAT, ACT: Pandemic spurs ‘test-optional,’ ‘test-blind’ trend in college admissions

Kyuwon Han, Opinion Editor • April 3, 2025

This is one of a series of five-year, COVID-19 pandemic anniversary articles The Accolade’s Spotlight team has expanded from its original print version that appeared in the Monday, March 24, issue. Science...

Sunny Hills strikes gold for a second straight year

Kaylynn Park, Copy Editor • March 12, 2025

It’s an award that not many have heard about. Instead of an Oscar-like, gold-plated statue or a wooden “CIF” sports plaque that winners can hoist up in the air and celebrate with, this commendation...

CANCELED: 2024 AP scores face an increase in voided tests with an unspecified number of SH students affected

Alexxa Berumen, Editor-in-Chief • September 22, 2024

The College Board has noticed a slight increase in cheating on some Advanced Placement [AP] exams from last semester and has notified suspected violators — including an unspecified number of Sunny Hills...

2022 Sunny Hills Advanced Placement exams yield higher passing rate averages despite fewer students taking them

Giselle Suastegui, Feature Editor • September 27, 2022

After returning to a full, in-person Advanced Placement testing environment for the first time in three years, the number of Sunny Hills students who passed with a 3 or higher improved 8% compared to the...

Majority opt for home setting for Advanced Placement test

Yeihn Lee, Staff Reporter • April 30, 2021

Upon finding out that the College Board will offer students online and on-campus testing options for the 2021 Advanced Placement [AP] exams, normally only in May, many students lean toward taking them...

Despite my online WiFi issues earlier in May, the College Board has convinced me to take the 2021 AP tests — whether they’re home or school assigned

Elijah Jhee, Managing Editor • December 6, 2020

11:50 a.m. I let out a sigh of relief as I took my fingers off the keyboard. The piercing white background of the College Board website blankly stared back at me. After 50 arduous minutes of anxiety-driven...

Relief, frustration, confusion among student reactions to cancellation of SAT testing locations, California public universities’ decision to not require scores on college applications

Lauren Jung, Guest Columnist • November 19, 2020

With COVID-19 positive cases still being reported in much of Southern California, the College Board has yet to reopen any of its SAT or SAT subject testing locations, forcing students -- especially seniors...

Sunny Hills students, teachers finding College Board’s not budging much on their appeals regarding low scores from modified online exams

Kate Yang, Editor-in-Chief • October 2, 2020

This is the second of a two-part series focusing on the May 2020 Advanced Placement [AP] scores released earlier this summer. In response to the coronavirus pandemic that shut down testing locations worldwide,...

‘We killed it:’ Sunny Hills principal cites College Board report showing more than three-fourths of students passed their May 2020 Advanced Placement exams — the highest passing percentage over the past four years

Kate Yang, Editor-in-Chief • September 26, 2020

This is the first of a two-part series focusing on the May 2020 Advanced Placement scores released earlier this summer. In response to the coronavirus pandemic that shut down testing locations worldwide,...

Many find modified, online AP exam easier to take, though a few plan to take makeup tests in June after experiencing technical issues with submitting their responses

Elijah Jhee, Managing Editor • May 29, 2020

The online modified Advancement Placement [AP] exams were much easier for many Sunny Hills students who took them throughout most of this month, but some experienced technical difficulties and have opted...

May 11: Chapman University, don’t expect me to receive 4s or higher on all my AP tests

Michelle Buckley, Editor-in-Chief • May 21, 2020

LIVING UNDER THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS This is part of a series of columns from The Accolade staff about their various experiences during the school closure because of the coronavirus pandemic. If you...

Editorial: 45-minute, free-response Advanced Placement tests definitely worth taking

Krishna Thaker, Special Sections Editor • May 12, 2020

In light of the coronavirus outbreak, schools have adapted to alternative methods of education by switching to online learning, which has been hard for many Sunny Hills students. Concerns over cheating...