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AP Exams
- Thread starter JellyOs
- Start date
So it's been 8-10 years since I took AP exams...just curious to know if anything has changed.
When I took physics, there was 3 versions; a dumbed down no calc version, and then a calc version split into 2 parts: mechanics and E&M. Is it still like that?
Calc was AB and BC, with BC two college semesters worth (basically AB was derivatives and bc was derivatives plus integration, with smatterings of differentials and sum and series in each). Still like that?
Psych / econ / gov / all 3 histories / stats were considered the jokes / easy 5s...still like that?
When I was taking them, it was agreed that chem or the languages were probably the "hardest" to get a 5 in, but that determination was more a general feeling smart people came to when talking to each other. I remember viewing the stats when I took them and the percentages showed that more people (percentage wise) got 5s in calc bc / physics / chem than like, us or world history. I remember, at that time, chalking it up to more stupid people taking the histories than the maths / sciences.
So how the are trends / general smart people feelings on the exams nowadays?
Still the same? Or have things changed (like is us history actually hard now, as opposed to the total joke it was in the past).
When I took physics, there was 3 versions; a dumbed down no calc version, and then a calc version split into 2 parts: mechanics and E&M. Is it still like that?
Calc was AB and BC, with BC two college semesters worth (basically AB was derivatives and bc was derivatives plus integration, with smatterings of differentials and sum and series in each). Still like that?
Psych / econ / gov / all 3 histories / stats were considered the jokes / easy 5s...still like that?
When I was taking them, it was agreed that chem or the languages were probably the "hardest" to get a 5 in, but that determination was more a general feeling smart people came to when talking to each other. I remember viewing the stats when I took them and the percentages showed that more people (percentage wise) got 5s in calc bc / physics / chem than like, us or world history. I remember, at that time, chalking it up to more stupid people taking the histories than the maths / sciences.
So how the are trends / general smart people feelings on the exams nowadays?
Still the same? Or have things changed (like is us history actually hard now, as opposed to the total joke it was in the past).
In general from what my teachers and counselors have told me there's a general progression towards the tests getting harder, especially in certain subjects ( I think they mentioned USH especially, I know bio was super hard last year for lots of people, idk). There's still the same three versions of physics, Calc is the same, and from what I heard psych was not all too easy yesterday. Stats definitely isn't all too much of a joke anymore (i mean, it's easy to pass imo, but very few people get 5s), and the histories are definitely really hard unless you're actually interested in the material. afaik they shifted away from asking really simple generic questions that anyone who read a crash course would know (e.g. what is the declaration of independence) and towards questions about like, trends and periods and how they affected America/Europe.
Tbh a lot might be different from when you took it. They overhaul most of the tests every 4-7 years purely because they become less relevant and they like to shakeitup. But overall I think there's at least been a minor trend towards the tests getting harder.
An interesting note though, I just got out of 6 hours of AP spanish (fun times) and it really wasn't all too bad. Maybe it's just because I have a really good teacher and try fairly hard in that class, but all of the listening parts were cake compared to all the practice ones we'd done - apparently they changed it this year so that in the recordings there's annoying background noise to simulate how it would actually be, but they must have omitted that. This is the first year of the new test, so maybe they were just too cautious on the difficulty, idk.
Aldaron they gave out way fewer 5s for the new AP Bio test last year, so it's probably significantly harder. (Like, around 5% of people who took it got a 5? Maybe there were bad teachers due to it being a transition year.)
I haven't heard APUSH being called a joke very much, Calc is annoying to self-study for but isn't that bad if you've taken the class, and people are apparently actually studying for Stats.
I just did CompSci today and it was a breeze but I don't think anyone's ever found the material difficult.
I took AP Chem last year and got a 5 pretty comfortably (I mean, I was well studied), but this is the first year of a new test, so I guess we'll see. If CollegeBoard's changes to AP Bio amped up the difficulty then it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect a similar increase for AP Chem this year, although I won't have much chance of finding out as my school's AP Chem class is... notorious as the most difficult class on campus (with people coming in to start tests for the class at like 5:30 AM) so we didn't even have it this year due to lack of interest.
I haven't heard APUSH being called a joke very much, Calc is annoying to self-study for but isn't that bad if you've taken the class, and people are apparently actually studying for Stats.
I just did CompSci today and it was a breeze but I don't think anyone's ever found the material difficult.
I took AP Chem last year and got a 5 pretty comfortably (I mean, I was well studied), but this is the first year of a new test, so I guess we'll see. If CollegeBoard's changes to AP Bio amped up the difficulty then it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect a similar increase for AP Chem this year, although I won't have much chance of finding out as my school's AP Chem class is... notorious as the most difficult class on campus (with people coming in to start tests for the class at like 5:30 AM) so we didn't even have it this year due to lack of interest.
I'm embarrassed to say that Physics C: EM looks like second year physics at my college. Though it appears the math and chemistry sections look like high school level stuff.
Taking AP Gov in two days, hasn't opened Study Book in a month *cries*
But I sitll feel like I can solidly get a 4, I just don't want to cram for that 5 because I need to work on a bio project and an English essay lol
But I sitll feel like I can solidly get a 4, I just don't want to cram for that 5 because I need to work on a bio project and an English essay lol
Have the APUSH exam tomorrow and I'm on smogon, shiiiiit. Probably wasn't going to do very well anyway due to a poor teacher but whatevs
Guys is it just me or are AP Gov Exams getting harder every year? Because n class we've taken all the previous ones for practice and this year's was hard as shuckle
Figured I'd go ahead and post my thoughts since the only exam I have left is Macroeconomics and that should be a cakewalk.
Calc BC I thought was challenging but doable. The free responses were a pain, but the multiple choice was alright. I'd say I probably pulled a 4.
English lit multiple choice was a piece of cake, so it depends on how the essays went. I'll predict a 5 since I'm normally a good writer.
Physics C... hoo boy. Mechanics wasn't so bad, but E&M was. I'll predict a 3 or 4 on Mechanics and I'm just hoping I passed E&M.
Govt was the easiest AP test I've ever taken, I'm calling a 5.
Calc BC I thought was challenging but doable. The free responses were a pain, but the multiple choice was alright. I'd say I probably pulled a 4.
English lit multiple choice was a piece of cake, so it depends on how the essays went. I'll predict a 5 since I'm normally a good writer.
Physics C... hoo boy. Mechanics wasn't so bad, but E&M was. I'll predict a 3 or 4 on Mechanics and I'm just hoping I passed E&M.
Govt was the easiest AP test I've ever taken, I'm calling a 5.
if it was hard for everyone the raw scores will show and conversion will still give top people 5s
idk if they just make things harder but they do add hard years in sometimes
also taking C and EM at the same time is RIP i think, I took them separate and got 5s
i heard from my friends that the physics C tests really depended on which form you got. For both EM & Mech for me, the free responses were ridiculously easy, but talking to some friends there was apparently an electron cloud or some shit on the other EM test (and the mechanics free responses were similarly unbalanced)? doesn't sound easy lol.
Took the APUSH exam this morning, MC was a joke was only unsure about 2. DBQ was simple, and struggled a little on the 2nd FRQ, with the first one being pretty solid. Realistically getting a 4 but I wouldn't be surprised if I got a 5
Took AP Chemistry, Calc AB, Lang and Comp, and U.S. History
I had the wonderful experience of being one of the first to take the new Chemistry test (insert sarcasm). In all reality though, I think I did alright. The reduced the number of questions to 60 although I'm pretty sure the questions were more difficult. I was a bit taken back by the fact that there were 7 FRQ's when my teacher told us there were only six but other than that I did okay.
Calc AB was easy. Probably breezed through that.
Lang and Comp was difficult but doable. Really, on the multiple choice, you either know it or you don't. I managed to finish my three essays just in the nick of time (literally one second before the proctor called time).
APUSH, despite my horrible teacher (I've come to the conclusion that she doesn't teach, just steal stuff from the internet. Still like her as a person, just not as a teacher), I am pretty confident. The second essay questions covered the areas I was weak to which sucked but I think I still managed.
Overall, the AP Chemistry test was the hardest for me while Calc AB was easy.
P.S. Also Aldaron, the APUSH test is considered in my school to be the second hardest so there's that.
I had the wonderful experience of being one of the first to take the new Chemistry test (insert sarcasm). In all reality though, I think I did alright. The reduced the number of questions to 60 although I'm pretty sure the questions were more difficult. I was a bit taken back by the fact that there were 7 FRQ's when my teacher told us there were only six but other than that I did okay.
Calc AB was easy. Probably breezed through that.
Lang and Comp was difficult but doable. Really, on the multiple choice, you either know it or you don't. I managed to finish my three essays just in the nick of time (literally one second before the proctor called time).
APUSH, despite my horrible teacher (I've come to the conclusion that she doesn't teach, just steal stuff from the internet. Still like her as a person, just not as a teacher), I am pretty confident. The second essay questions covered the areas I was weak to which sucked but I think I still managed.
Overall, the AP Chemistry test was the hardest for me while Calc AB was easy.
P.S. Also Aldaron, the APUSH test is considered in my school to be the second hardest so there's that.
Took APUSH today, I have a great teacher so I felt really prepared. The MC was pretty simple, the DBQ was really really simple, and then the FRQs were average. Most people picked 2 and 4 but I picked 2 and 5 lol oops. The curve for APUSH is so lenient that it's pretty easy to get a 5.
Btw if anyone wants to calculate their possible AP score, I recommend using this.
Btw if anyone wants to calculate their possible AP score, I recommend using this.
It's a nice calculator, but it probably will have different values from the actual test, considering it uses curves from 2009...
I've heard the curves only change a few points every year, but who knows.
Serious question: has anyone here ever actually heard about anyone who has actually been penalized for talking about the test? In my school no one gives it even three seconds of thought, but I can't exactly speak for the rest of the world.
ap exams were way easy this year imo (physics b, calc ab, government, language). lang was a bit tough because of the sheer quantity of essay writing, and because it's impossible to objectively assess how well I wrote. seems like most ap exams can be cracked even with a bad teacher. for some more in-depth subjects that require a strong understanding of the concepts (thinking like calculus), just put in a little time a couple times a week throughout the year working on grasping concepts, while a lot of social science classes are easy if you have a good memory for facts and good critical thinking skills. a couple weeks with a prep book and you can memorize most things necessary to get a 4 on APUSH or APUSG, and if you're good at putting things together a 5 isn't far off.
also i don't think anyone gives a shit about the nondisclosure stuff. college confidential literally had a google docs sheet with all the SAT questions / answers edited in from memory a few hours after the test.
also i don't think anyone gives a shit about the nondisclosure stuff. college confidential literally had a google docs sheet with all the SAT questions / answers edited in from memory a few hours after the test.
We had a kid get caught posting online during a test by the collegeboard's dragnet internet surveillance, dunno what happened to the scores of everyone in the room though.
