My DD21 just got her AP scores today… she was totally shocked by her AP Lang score, a 3. She is one of the handful of students who
got an A in her class, and her teacher had already shared a glowing recommendation he wrote for her college applications. She goes to
a very competitive HS where more
than half the students receive a 4 or a 5, and he considers her his top student. Her teacher is completely shocked by her score and is submitting a petition for a rescore. He has seen her essay and cannot comprehend how she didn’t get a 5. He also noted:
“Also, I visited a site that is a teachers’ forum about this year’s AP exam. Many teachers were appalled by the seemingly random assigning of scores this year. A good number of teachers said their strongest students–ones they expected to score a 5–received a 2. Conversely, they said many students who they were concerned would fail the exam cored a 4 or 5. It’s never been this way in the past; more than 80 percent of the time, I can guess the student’s exact score before it is released. Not so this year.”
My Daughter is in the same situation. She’s scored 5’s on all ten of her other tests, yet scored a 3 on the AP Chem test. She was shocked, as she consistently got high 5’s on all practice exams and an A+ in the course. Now she’s not sure what to do, regarding reporting the score, especially since she is wanting to go into the STEM field at a T20 college.
@Engineer9 My daughter is also interested in Stem, and ironically asked her English teacher for a recommendation as MIT requires one from a non-stem instructor. He had already written and shared with her the recommendation on Monday, fully expecting her to get a 5, and stating she was one of the most talented writers he has taught. This 3 makes no sense. He has read her essay and all his other students’ ones so he can compare (the College Board shared the students’ tests with the teachers this year). Has your daughter asked her Chem teacher about their thoughts?
@skieurope well her teacher thinks it is as he can compare her essay to her classmates. She has an A in his class (one of the handful he gives out every year), and has expressed her AP essay in his opinion deserves a 5. He has been an English teacher for decades…
@skieurope Her AP teachers words…“ Well over 50 percent of my students scored a 4 or 5, and this essay is better than almost all of them. I’m not sure what the AP graders were thinking. Once I figure out how to petition this score, I’ll do it. This essay was very comparable with my daughter’s essay, and she received a 5; it simply doesn’t make any sense”
The abbreviated format likely made the test less reliable and more prone to score shifts. I do not think selective colleges care much about this year’s tests.
@roycroftmom that may be the case I hope, since she is applying to selective schools, but it still affects getting college credit. How can a 45 minute test replace a 3 hour one in assessing someone’s readiness anyway??
Highly selective schools are usually the most stingy with giving AP credit. I would bet many schools will get even more restrictive going forward since so much of the school year was on line and they want their college students succeeding.
I get you are disappointed but I would move on. College Board is not going to change the score. Chock it up to another opportunity to teach resiliency after disappointment. (Which feels like we’ve all had lots of practice with this year).
English credit at a top school is useless anyway as few exempt the freshman writing requirements. As for this years format - the alternative was cancelling exams. Nobody would have been happy with that. Time to move on.
@skieurope maybe they should have cancelled and returned everyone’s registration fees. Colleges are unlikely to give credit for her other 5 scores anyway. Ridiculous.
The option may have been “available” but in reality it wasn’t an option for her. Her English teacher is going to have to incorporate this score into his recommendation letter (which he had written and shared with her before the
AP scores came out). He was absolutely certain she was getting a 5, and wrote that she was one of the most talented and committed students he has taught. This score does not jive with his glowing recommendation of her, so I guess he will have to talk about that now.
The teacher shouldn’t mention the AP score at all. There is no need for that to be in the LOR at all.
Don’t report the score and colleges won’t even know she took the test.
Again, I think you need to take a deep breath and move on. There are going to be plenty of times in college that your D is going to think she got a grade she didn’t deserve, especially if she goes to a competitive college where she’ll be graded on a curve. .
@momofsenior1 this is not simply her thinking that. Her experienced teacher thinks her essay was not scored consistently. He has access to all his students’ essays so he can compare.