<p>Anyone else feeling like the CB is increasing the difficulty of the tests this year? Oui/Non?</p>
<p>I have only taken the AP Calculus BC exam but yes I do think Calc was fairly difficult. However, during the previous years the tests were in my opinion too easy and collegeboard has been severely criticized. IB programs from what I understand are much more difficult in scope and it is only fair for everyone that AP exams approach that level of difficulty.</p>
<p>word.......</p>
<p>But the overall greater trend since College Board started is that these tests have gotten easier and easier over the decades, at least that's what I've noticed from taking practice tests and input from my teachers.</p>
<p>No, I felt that the AP US Gov test was much easier than past exams that I had taken for the class.</p>
<p>well now people are preparing more, but i haven't noticed an increase in difficulty (maybe i'll feel differently after next week lol)</p>
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No, I felt that the AP US Gov test was much easier than past exams that I had taken for the class.
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<p>Ditto. The US Govt exam was really easy this year.</p>
<p>I've taken AP Poli Sci, AP Spanish, and AP English so far this year, and I felt all three were fairly easy. I did hear that the AP Calc tests were more difficult than last year's though.</p>
<p>The Comp Gov exam was basically a joke. The MC were bordering on difficult but anyone who pays attention to politics at all could have done quite well on the FR section w/out having prepared for the test. Calc AB on the other hand was quite a bit harder than exams of years past.</p>
<p>US Gov. was laughably easy and Lit wasn't too bad at all. CalcAB was the only one I've taken that seemed like a definite increase in difficultly from past years. They basically changed the entire FR section this year.</p>
<p>if they're intentionally increasing the difficulty, perhaps in order to gain respect as a tough testing company, will they still be lenient on the curve-setting (as it seems, concerning AB calc, most people are expecting them to be)? Also, is it possible that the college board wanted to test on other aspects of calculus that should (most likely) have been taught but weren't focused on as much as the topics normally covered in the frq's? Most classes spend a considerable amount of time preparing for the test itself, which usually centers around taking and analyzing old ap tests. thoughts?</p>
<p>Thats possible. CB may have just gotten sick of students scoring so highly because they were just memorizing the format from previously FR sections. I know my class spent a month going over the old exams, because if you dominate the FR you don't have to do all that well on the MC.</p>
<p>I have heard last year's Euro exam was harder, and of course the new format for Chem this year will make that harder. Calc was much harder compared to previous years.</p>
<p>In our class, we pretty much did all the FRQ's in the past 5 years. Of course, the stuff this year was nothing like what was in the past years. Especially one obscure topic that our class spent 15 minutes out of the whole year going through. (most other things that were expected on the FRQ's, we spent a whole day to two going over, and then reviewed those extensively for the midterms/finals)</p>
<p>so what are everybody's predictions on the cut-off settings for calc ab?</p>
<p>low-mid 60. -64? for calc ab 5 cutoff</p>
<p>It's possible that a lot of you this year's test harder than any of the practice tests you've done because you know that it's more important than they were. That's been known to happen, as well.</p>
<p>But anyways, about the IB thing. IB exams are much more difficult, but I personally don't think that AP should approach something like that. IB courses are taught differently than AP courses are, and they tend to give students a really broad picture of what they're studying. For examply, when studying economy, a student learns the fundamentals of the science, as well as current economic issues in countries around the world. Also, each IB subject has at least 2 separate exams, that each test different things. Obviously, this has its setbacks. IB exams aren't held in the space of two weeks, but rather three weeks to a month. I don't think that the Collegeboard has the necessary funds for something like this. Either way, AP exams probably are turning more difficult because they have more competition, with the growing amount of IB schools across the US, but the two programs shouldn't be compared. The teaching methods are pretty different, as is just about everything else.</p>
<p>LOL. My friends totally think that they're getting progressively easier.</p>
<p>last years euro exam wasnt hard..</p>
<p>the US hist exam was extremely easy this year</p>
<p>I thought this year's APUSH test was harder than the released one, but it's probably just CB choosing to cover cultural stuff instead of actual historical themes and events.</p>
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the US hist exam was extremely easy this year
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<p>Really? I thought it was harder than the 2001 exam. This year, there was alot less focus on political and economic history. Most of the people in my school walked out of testing scared. lol</p>