<p>So I was looking at the results statistics for the various AP exams. For some reason I thought 20% each were 5 through 1. But in fact there's a huge difference among the exams. Example:
BC Calculus:
5 - 47.6%
4 - 15.9%
3 - 16.7%
2 - 5.9%
1 - 13.9%
AB Calculus:
5 - 21.4%
4 - 16.4%
3 - 18.5%
2 - 10.7%
1 - 33.1% (!!)
Question - shouldn't my son be trying to take BC Calculus senior year? If half the kids get "5"s? The material is only slightly more involved. I don't get it.
U.S. History:
5 - 11.1%
4 - 20.8%
3 - 21.0%
2 - 26.7%
1 - 20.5%
Question - My son is taking this junior year, so it will show up on his college applications. Isn't this incredibly risky if only 11.1% of the test takers get a 5? Do colleges consider this in the applications?</p>
<p>First of all, AP score does not really matter for college application. Even if it does, the schools are well aware of the score distribution. Calc AB vs BC is in a way similar to Math1 vs Math2 in SAT2. The one that has less material is harder to score higher. In a way, it is far to balance the grades with the difficulty of the test. Nevertheless, it would be difficult to compare subjects in different cores.</p>
<p>The BC test will be taken by more of the top math kids, so therefore the higher score. You either are or aren’t one of those kids, it’s not that the test is any easier. The courses your child takes and the grades they get are far more important than the scores for purposes of getting in elite schools. Getting an A in AB would be better than getting a B in BC.</p>
<p>I recall seeing somewhere that for all AP tests, by far the most common score is “1”. There are a ton of kids taking APs that shouldn’t, and from less than ideal teachers. Some schools require all students to take some AP tests, at others, it’s a contest to see how many APs they can get their kids to sign up for, and at others still, if you sign up for the class, you have to take the AP test, the school even pays for it. It all has to do with how either Newsweek or US News ranks high schools, and some schools are trying to manipulate those rankings because it directly affects property values.</p>
<p>I know our HS gets dinged because one ranking uses state Algebra I scores - and only the weakest kids take Algebra I in our HS, everyone else takes it in 7th or 8th grade, where it doesn’t count. As a result, one ranks our HS substandard, another makes it one of the Top 50 non-magnet HS in the nation. Drives real estate agents crazy.</p>
<p>Regarding calculus AB versus BC, the students who take BC are generally self-selected better students in math. This is similar to the situation of the SAT subject tests in math level 1 and 2, where the self-selected better students in math take level 2.</p>
<p>A concrete way of thinking about it is if you imagine all of the A students in algebra/geometry/trigonometry took calculus BC (both the class and test), while the B students in algebra/geometry/trigonometry took calculus AB. In that case, it makes sense that the BC students did better in the class and the test than the AB students, even though the BC class and test cover more material and are harder.</p>
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<p>Actually, the BC material is significantly more involved; AB covers about ~60% of the BC class.</p>
<p>^^ Correct. AB is basically Calc I. Depending how it is taught, BC is either Calc II or Calc I & II. </p>
<p>BC includes AB and is equivalent to Calc 1 & 2. You will also get a subscore on AB in the BC exam although most schools would not use the subscore for credit or anything.</p>
<p>Agreed like above posters, BC is self-selective: only the best will take it. The same exists in some SAT subject tests (esp. languages), where the average score on Korean or Spanish might be like 750.</p>
<p>Note that some courses are taken at different grade levels in different schools. US history could be a sophomore level course at one school and a senior level one at another. That can also affect scores.</p>
<p>I do think the percent of such low scores is disturbing. The curve is already pretty lenient on many of these exams. Schools shouldn’t be pushing students into taking AP classes or AP exams when it’s doubtful they will be successful. </p>
<p>By that logic, your son should take the AP Chinese exam, where the score distribution is:</p>
<p>5 - 69.7
4 - 14.6
3 - 10.7
2 - 2.3
1 - 2.8</p>
<p>The numbers are skewed, however, because 84% of the test-takers last year were native- or heritage-speakers. The non-heritage speaker score distribution was:</p>
<p>5 - 26.5
4 - 20.6
3 - 30.5
2 - 9.7
1 - 12.6</p>
<p>Here’s a great website. I feel sorry for the kids taking AP Bio!</p>
<p><a href=“2012 AP Exam Score Distributions”>2012 AP Exam Score Distributions;
<p>Last year was the first year for the radically redesigned AP Bio syllabus. Hopefully the students this year were better prepared.</p>
<p>Nice list of results. For all the humblebragging about “I got only seven 5’s and three 4’s, will this ruin my Ivy chances?”, that we see on CC, you can see that the odds of someone getting even that high are remote. If you have a mix of 3s, 4s, and 5s for most of your APs, you’re doing just fine. AP scores (usually) have little to do with admissions - taking the class and doing well through the year does.</p>