<p>I used REA's book last year and I got a 4 (I KNOW I would have gotten a 5 had we not had that women's rights DBQ...GAH!). Just try to study as much as you can and be able to place events that you memorized/studied to a date (in order to help you recall events for the FRQs). I was also worried about some random FRQ coming up that I didn't know anything about, but, if you actually studied, you'll probably find yourself amazed at some of the details and relevant events you can bring out from the dusty shelves in your brain.</p>
<p>i got a 5 last year and I used REA to review the material and i used princeton review to take the pratice tests
i was definitely unprepared for the DBQ last year but it ended up being okay. just don't get freaked out or overwhelmed if you get a hard essay question because if you mostly know your stuff, it should be fine.</p>
<p>Bring something in that you plan to use, especially slavery. Just have a few specific things for colonial era, post and pre slavery, stuff during civil war, and then modern history be familiar with. It should be pretty easy. They usually have easy essay questions.</p>
<p>can anybody tell me what the formula to find out your score is and then the scale for whats a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5????? PLEASE HELP!!</p>
<p>i got a 5 last year and didnt use any prep book for it b/c my teacher was amazing
to get a 5 in APUSH, know lots of outside info and really focus on some of the major events that are bound to be asked about in the test (i.e. Reconstruction, Revolution Ideology, etc.)
outside info will really help your essay scores and will improve your preformance on the MC
good luck! :)</p>
<p>Supposedly, the US test is relatively easy. I got a 5 last year. </p>
<p>For the essays, I think it is a matter of facts. Obviously, your argument must hold water, but be sure to, as a previous poster stated, "parachute" facts into the essay. I think it is true, due to the minute and subsequently detail oriented nature of US history, that an AP US exam would expect your essays to have more details than a Euro exam. If you do good on multiple choice, that kind of stuff should be sufficient to pull you through an essay.</p>
<p>In response to FMHS1, the scoring rubric is as follows:</p>
<p>Section I: [# correct - (1/4 x #wrong)] x 1.1250 = Multiple Choice Score
Section II: DBQ Score x 4.5 = Essay 1 score
FRQ #1 x 2.75 = Essay 2 score
FRQ #2 x 2.75 = Essay 3 score
(Essay 1 score) + (Essay 2 score) + (Essay 3 score) = Free Response Score
Multiple Choice Score + Free Response Score = COMPOSITE SCORE</p>
<p>Composite Score Range.................AP Grade
114-180..........................................5
92-113...........................................4
74-91.............................................3
42-73.............................................2
0-41............................................1</p>
<p>ty for posting this earlier: <a href="http://www.geocities.com/athens/pantheon/9910/%5B/url%5D">http://www.geocities.com/athens/pantheon/9910/</a></p>
<p>but when now when i try to go on, its bandwith is over =(</p>
<p>if anyone saved the info on their computer, do you mind sending it to me?</p>
<p>my email address is <a href="mailto:qazwsxpenspinner@yahoo.com">qazwsxpenspinner@yahoo.com</a></p>
<p>thank you!</p>
<p>Okay, I just typed up a long post of suggestions for the essays (specifically the DBQ) with explanations as to why, but the site logged me out! So, I'm going to briefly give these tips:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Read and reread the prompt so that you know EVERYTHING the essay should discuss. The DBQ WILL ask you to do multiple things with your essay.</p></li>
<li><p>Then spend a few minutes just glancing at the documents...these will give you some ideas of what you could potentially write about and what outside information you might use.</p></li>
<li><p>Begin writing by IMMEDIATELY addressing ALL the things the prompt asks you to do. That way, any reader will instantly know you understood the prompt, and give you at the very least a score of 4 out of 9. This should only take a few sentences...don't go on and on BSing crap.</p></li>
<li><p>IMMEDIATELY after you address the prompt, USE OUTSIDE INFORMATION! Do NOT write about the documents until you've written using your own personal outside information.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>There are a number of good reasons for this. First of all, you'll probably understand whatever outside information you have better than whatever the documents talk about, so you'll be able to write more and in greater detail about your outside info than the documents.</p>
<p>But MORE IMPORTANTLY, the readers will know right away that you've used outside information. The readers will partially base their grade on your use of the documents AS WELL AS your use of personal information NOT mentioned in the documents. If your DBQ is long enough, the readers will not be able to finish it in their grading time. Therefore, they'll only read the first part of your essay and SEE you did include outside information, THEN scan the rest of your essay to see if you used the documents by searching for the parenthetical citations. If you write some good outside information at the start, and use a lot of parenthetical citations throughout the essay, you'll probably receive a high score.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Use ALL of the documents. Even if you don't totally understand what a document is talking about, just interpret it as best as you can and include whatever your thoughts are. Using all of the documents at some point in your essay will impress the reader, as it shows you thought about all the documents and realized they were relevant in some way. So, use all the documents.</p></li>
<li><p>Don't stress too much over the FRE...last year, I wrote 2 and 3/4 pages for my DBQ, and less and a page for each of the FREs. I got a 5. The DBQ is worth more, so it matters more...and if you start off with some good content in the FREs, then it shouldn't make much of a difference anyways.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I am quite confident following these techniques can allow anyone to pass the essay portion of the exam...last year, I bombed the multiple choice. I didn't answer all the questions, and while taking the test I marked the questions I DID answer and thought I might have gotten wrong...and I marked about a third of them. Granted, all the marked ones probably weren't right...but I didn't do well ont he multiple choice, and somehow managed to get a 5. I credit the DBQ for that, as well as my other 2 essays (which although they were short, were strong).</p>
<p>I hope these tips can help some of you guys out, too. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the tips.</p>
<p>So you're supposed put parenthetical references in your DBQ? Our teacher neglected to specify.</p>
<p>You can put parenthetical references but it's not absolutely necessary. I teach my students to use them.</p>
<p>great post theoddchild! Excellent advice, I feel a bit of confidence now with the DBQ. :D</p>
<p>Also, another question, is the Barrons practice tests easier than the real tests? I just took the MC part B and it didn't seem too hard... got about 20 wrong/unfilled...</p>
<p>Okay, thanks.</p>
<p>So, if you get a 6/9 for all the essays, how many multiple choice q's do you need to get right in order to get a 5?</p>
<p>or to get a 4?</p>
<p>For parenthetical citations...my teacher told me to use them last year. Just like "Doc. A" or "Doc. B" or whatever. I think most people suggest them just so it's clear what's taken from the documents and what's your own personal knowledge.</p>
<p>To answer the classic "what do you need" questions...I don't know for sure, but it sounds like based on the equations posted before, IF you were to get a 6/9 on all the essays exactly, that would equate to 60 points for the essays. You'd then need to score a 54 on multiple choice to get a 5, or a 32 to get a 4.</p>
<p>In short, if you actually manage to get 6/9 on all the essays, you probably will be passing (3 or above) no matter what...</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great suggestions. I was just wondering, how did you structure your DBQ and FRQs? How many paragraphs, whether you started with a thesis paragraph, etc.</p>
<p>Wow... i finally got around to doing some calculations, and i figured out that if you got a 6/9 for all three essays (which is a pretty average/decent score that i feel i can safely get), to get a 5, you need to get 55 m/c correct, and to get a 4, you only need 39 m/c correct. These numbers seem really low, especially for such mediocre essay scores. Can someone please verify my work to see if i got it correct?</p>
<p>If you get 6/9 on all 3, you need like 40 MCs right to get a 5. 15 MCs for a 4.</p>
<p>6/9 actually isnt a mediocre essay score. the average essay scores are around 2 or 3 points. your calculations are correct.</p>