***AP Biology 2015 Thread***

@mzr1998 , it depends on which two FRQs. Numbers 1 and 2 are worth more points than 3-8. Also, it depends on how well you did on the MC that you didn’t skip. In theory, it is possible, but there is no guarantee. I think that this year’s exam was harder for people in general. I’m pretty sure the cutoffs for all the converted scores are going to be lower based on average student performance.

@skieurope is the curve like a set curve prior to everyone taking the exam or does it depend on the performance of the students… in other words, does student performance cause the curve or is the curve already set?

What do you mean by each

From official practice exams (all for the redesigned test):

2014 practice:
1=0-30
2=31-51
3=52-71
4=72-91
5=92-120

2013 practice:
1=0-29
2=30-53
3=54-74
4=75-92
5=93-120

@Matt846 , how are there 120 total points? I thought 69 MC + 41 FRQ is 110 total? Am I missing something?

@Matt846 Where did you get that? Cliff’s is really different. Are you sure that isn’t the old one?

The test wasn’t as horrible as I expected. The MC was fine, just lots and lots of reading and analyzing. The grid-ins weren’t really math. The FR wasn’t awful, but I felt really pressed for time! I didn’t really need the extra 15 minutes for AP Chem, but I really could have used it for this test!

I think I did moderately well on the multiple choice. Some of the free response questions were a bit obscure, but I guess I may have did a little better on the free response than the MC.

About the curve, they scale down the MC and scale up the free response. So it is out of 120.

Okay to be honest, this test was a joke. It was difficult only in regards to the time constraints - I finished a bit early on MC, but I tend to write a lot so the FRQs were hard to finish in time (still did though, barely). The MC is mostly general concepts and being able to read/understand/interpret graphs and paragraphs. I didn’t read a review book, missed three weeks in a one-semester course because of a car crash, and bs-ed my way through 100% of the labs. All I did to “study” was watch a crap-ton of Bozemanscience and CrashCourse videos at 1.5 speed and take a few notes on them the night before. I put the notes on flash cards and took the flashcards to study at the testing center. It made even the FRQs a breeze. Short on time? WATCH THE VIDEOS. If you don’t understand the first time (respiration was hard for me to understand) then watch a video from a different provider. Easy peasy.
There was hardly any math on this test, which was nice but weird. Still learn chi-square and inheritance probability and water potential etc though, you never know what’s gonna be on next year’s.

@ChemFire08 What do you mean by scale down MC and scale up FRQ?

@tim322 They’re online. They’re definitely the collegeboard official practice exams

@parisbarca77 That’s the composite score used for scoring the practice tests after the MC and FRQs have been weighted. I assume the percentages on the actual exam for a 1-5 score are similar even if the max composite score on the real exam is different from the practice exam (I have no idea if it actually is).

The 2014 practice is weighted

MC- 58x1.0344
Q1- 10x1.5
Q2- 10x1.5
Q3- 4x1.4285
Q4- 4x1.4285
Q5- 4x1.4285
Q6- 3x1.4285
Q7- 3x1.4285
Q8- 3x1.4285

I haven’t actually run the numbers to see if it adds up to 120

How on earth was this test just a joke? There were some free response questions that were a bit difficult. And the cutoff for ap biology is pretty harsh now since they redid the whole curriculum.

@parisbarca77 They multiply the free response scores by a greater factor than the multiple choice. So in truth, your free response is more important than your MC toward your raw points.

@ChemFire085 Thanks for that. Well, I guess I just pray now. My MC was fantastic. My FRQ sucked…a lot.

@ChemFire085 , you think I could get a 5 with 60/69 on MC and 29/41 frq??

The practice only uses 53 multiple choice and 5 grid-ins because College Board actually removes 10 of the questions and 1 of the grid-ins (at least that’s what my bio teacher said)

Can everyone just agree that the MC was relatively easy but really felt time pressured on the FRQ? (this might just be me lol)

@bobobobo214 opposite for me

I didnt realize we had 8 frqs

yeah it was hard to finish on the multiple choice because of all the reading but on the frqs, I know I made stupid mistakes but overall I didn’t find it that difficult to finish