Central exams are in the heart of Turkish education system since they are used for student selection and placement in transition to higher levels of education. The preparation process for central placement exams, which was already challenging for students and parents, may have become even more exhausting due to the changing educational paradigms during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, using the phenomenological model, this study aims to determine the student and parent views regarding the preparation for the Higher Education Institutions Examination (HEIE) during COVID-19 pandemic period. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 high school seniors in an Anatolian High School in Afyonkarahisar Province during the 2020-2021 academic year, selected with the purposive sampling method, and of their parents, and the obtained data were analysed through content analysis method. Although stress is an ordinary part of the preparation period, new stress sources have formed during the pandemic, according to the findings obtained from this study. It has been seen that both the students and the parents have discussed higher visibility of socio-economic inequalities, limited student life experience, impacts of social isolation due to the implemented health and safety policies as "the cons," and the opportunities to study harder and more autonomously as the "pros." Parents have also evaluated children's being under their supervision during this period as one of the pros.