Hello, I am a rising sophomore who finished AP World this past year. I had a teacher with one of the highest pass rates in the country, and I was only one of 4 students that made an A for the class. On countless practice tests and essays, I passed with flying colors. On exam day, I knew 95% of the test and felt very comfortable about both the multiple choice and the essays. I left the room confident I had made a 4, and probably a 5. I went to check my test score this week, though, and it was a 3. I was shocked, angry, and as disappointed in myself as I’ve ever been. I had poured my heart and soul into this class, doing every homework assignment (2-4 per night) and every extra credit assignment. This got me to thinking how I could’ve possibly gotten a 3 on the test considering I was so confident. Then I remembered something. On my test answer sheet, there was a smudge that probably covered a total of 10 questions, maybe more. I asked the proctor if she thought it would affect the answers, and she said no (she was a normal English teacher at the school, not some expert that deals with administering tests every day). I didn’t think anything of it until today. I would be willing to bet that this smudge messed up the scoring of a good bit of questions (10 questions would be 14% of the multiple choice test). I am going to order the “recalculation of the scoring by hand” option. I hope this bumps it up to a 4, as I don’t think that’s enough questions to bump it to a 5. Nonetheless, if the score comes back and it’s the same, I need advice on the next step. I know you may not believe me considering I got a 3 on the exam, but I know world history. I could write an essay on any topic you threw me and get at least a 6/7 consistently. So, let’s say the score comes back and it’s still a 3. I have seen people post on CC about “retaking” an AP test, but I had no clue about this option. I have a few questions about the retake. When do you retake it? If you score the same or lower on the retake, will it replace the first score and does it have an asterisk or something classifying it as a retake? And finally, how much money does it cost? Thanks to everyone who read this far, and I hope you can help me with my questions.
In the likely event that there was no grading error large enough to affect your score, take the time to realize that AP test standards may be significantly higher than what you may have encountered in high school.
AP tests are supposed to test knowledge of college frosh level material. It appears that you took the course and AP test as a high school frosh. While you may know the material very well by high school frosh standards, that level of knowledge may be just ok by college frosh standards (i.e. only worthy of a 3 score rather than a 5 score).
While the difference between your course grade and AP test score implies that the course was taught at a lower standard than an AP course should be, your school probably teaches it at a lower standard because it offers the course to high school frosh, rather than juniors or seniors who are much more likely to be able to handle a course taught to college frosh standards. So do not be too let down by the AP score you got as a high school frosh.
On the other hand, if your get A grades in junior and senior year AP courses, but still get low AP test scores, you may want to be worried about the quality of the AP courses at your high school.
Definitely get your point, and as a side note, this course is for HS sophomores in Florida because you don’t take social studies your freshman year (ridiculous, I know). With that being said, the course quality is top notch. I mentioned that the teacher has one of the top 25 pass rates in the country. I talked to peers from other county schools and even schools in other states, and I definitely got the feeling that my teacher prepared us 10 times better than theirs did. They all said they did about an essay every third week or so, and that homework was comparable to an honors course (usually 1 assignment per night or every other night). We did at least an essay each week. When I say we had 2-4 assignments each night, I mean it. Whether it was a project made by him or a 5 page article w/ attached questions we read on Commodore Perry, he prepared us as well as anyone could hope for. And if that isn’t enough evidence, we took multiple AP exams from previous years in a setting identical to the real test setting. I got a 4 on one and a 5 on the other. Regardless, I know a “bad test day” can happen, but that’s where I’m the most confused. I felt way more confident walking out of the actual test than I did the practice tests (which counted as our semester exam grade, so we took it seriously). I am expecting maybe a 20% chance or so that the score bumps up after the recount, so I’m not getting my hopes up. Nonetheless, I am still confused on the retake process, as I would definitely be interested in that. If you know anything about it, please help!!! Thanks for the reply! @ucbalumnus
That is an extremely high volume of assignments… seems like high school busywork taken to an extreme degree. When you get to college, you are likely to find far fewer, but larger, assignments, and the expectation that you will do the readings on your own, without having daily assignments or the instructor watching you to keep you from falling behind.
On those AP tests, perhaps the actual AP test grading has higher standards on the free response questions than your teacher used to score your practice tries on the old ones.
Well, the teacher has been an official free response grader multiple times. He’s one of only a small number that gets invited each year to do so. And, most nights were 2 lengthy assignments, although there were times when he gave 4 smaller ones. Usually the assignments consisted of a study guide and some outside reading with attached questions. Being the only AP class my school offers sophomore year, I had plenty of time to do the work so it was okay. I still have those questions about the retake, could someone PLEASE answer them? Thanks. @ucbalumnus
Well, you have a much better chance of getting your score changed than most other people, since you did remember that smudge. I’m not sure how dark this smudge was, so I’m not sure if it would actually affect your score, though. You may be making this smudge out for more than it actually is, though. Maybe this smudge never even existed, but it’s just an imaginary reason for getting a 3 subconsciously made up by you? If money isn’t an issue go for it, though. If money is an issue, think of the kind of colleges you would like to go to and ask yourself if a 4 would get you college credit vs a 3. If it does, go for it, but if it doesn’t don’t do it. As for retaking the exam, the test is only offered once a year. In all the retake topics you see, they are talking retaking it next year, which would mean having to pay for it again and preparing for it again. To me, it just seems like a huge waste. Hopefully that was helpful, and I wish you luck.
Thanks so much for the info! And yes, I know the smudge definitely did exist, as I wouldn’t have asked the proctor about it otherwise, hahahaha. So how much money is it to take the retake and if you don’t do as good or get the same grade, does the first grade prevail? Thanks again! @Sizzleracn
@tigerrocks13 Like I said, there is no actual retake. You would just have to take it again next year, so it would cost the same amount that it costed this year ($87), I think. A rescore is like $50 I think. I wouldn’t retake it. A 3 is definitely not a bad score, but you should definitely get a rescore if you have the money. If this smudge did affect the scantron’s ability to read the answers, a rescore will definitely make a difference. Don’t be surprised if you still end up with a 3, though… And if you do retake it and get the same score, you can send whatever one you want.
I think any mention of a retake you’ve read about refers to students taking the same exam one year later. Each AP exam is only administered one time in May (excluding the make-up for student’s who were absent that day).
So yes, you can sign up for and take the AP World exam again next year. Your online score report will still show that you scored a 3 on the exam in 2015, and then show whatever grade you get in 2016.
I think retaking AP exams is probably unusual… I wouldn’t recommend doing it. A 3 isn’t a terrible score and won’t keep you out of any schools. Also, you’ll have to prepare all over again, and what if your score goes down or stays the same? Just move on, and try to do your best on whatever other AP exams you take next year.
Edit: sorry I was typing this before the above comments were made. I would just like to clarify one thing: you don’t really “send” AP scores to the colleges you’re applying to (you only need to send AP scores to the college you’re attending after you’ve been accepted and have taken your senior AP exams if you want credit). You self report your scores on the common app - so you can choose to report whichever ones you want. So if you retake and get a 4 or a 5, I guess you can (and should) just report the higher score and I don’t see how a college would know that you took it twice (though it does ask the year you took it), unless they’re listed on your school transcript. The section says “Best Scores”, so there would be no reason to report the 3 assuming you improve.
Also, you said you’re a rising sophomore in this thread and a rising junior in an earlier one?
Oh, I just realized that. Definitely a rising junior not sophomore, hahahaha. Thank you guys for the info. Very helpful!