AP Tier List (different)

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
21

<p>Foreign Languages (for non-native speakers):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Japanese 5
French 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Spanish 6</p>

<p>Sciences (each physics exam is counted separately):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Physics C E&M 6</p>

<p>Easiest:
Environmental Science 5 (percentage of 5's is the least among the sciences)
Biology 1
Math:</p>

<p>Hardest:
BC Calculus 6</p>

<p>Easiest:
Statistics 6</p>

<p>Social Studies (includes economics as 2 separate exams):</p>

<p>Hardest:
U.S. Government and Politics: 4
European History: 2</p>

<p>Easiest:
World History 1
Human Geography: 4
U.S. Government and Politics: 1</p>

<p>Art (drawing, 2D, 3D, history, music theory):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Music Theory 6</p>

<p>Easiest:
Art History 6</p>

<p>English (only language and literature here)</p>

<p>Hardest:
Language 4
Literature 2</p>

<p>Easiest:
Literature 4
Language 2</p>

<p>ALL AP EXAMS</p>

<p>Hardest:
Physics C E&M: 2
Langauge 2
Calculus BC 1
Literature 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Human Geography 6</p>

22

<p>I self-taught myself Physics C, and I thought was harder than both. I haven't gotten my late C scores yet though, so Im not really sure yet though.</p>

23

<p>I'm really surprised that all of you are saying that Spanish is the easiest language AP. At my school, this definitely doesn't seem to be the case...but perhaps that's due to teaching, as opposed to the actual test. But I would think with so many native Spanish speakers in this country, it would be tough for non-natives anywhere.</p>

24

<p>Foreign Language:</p>

<p>Spanish being a Romance language is far easier than the East Asian languages. I don't see how Japanese can be considered tougher than Mandarin though. The difficulty of Japanese lies in its Kanji. Mandarin is all Kanji.</p>

<p>Math:</p>

<p>How is Statistics easier than Calculus AB, or even BC for that matter? Not that Statistics is difficult, but Calculus AB is a joke with the best 5-percentage every year (even higher than Psychology). You can skip half of the FRQs of BC or more and still receive a 5. Not only are the curves better or the test easier, but Calculus is the most shallow and easiest to understand subject.</p>

<p>Science:</p>

<p>Physics C: E&M is the obvious choice. I'd like to know people's opinion on whether Physics B or Chemistry is more difficult.</p>

25

<p>I forgot in my earlier post to say "chem". I think chem is harder than the physics C's. Not to say I did well on them...</p>

26

<p>
[quote]
I don't see how Japanese can be considered tougher than Mandarin though. The difficulty of Japanese lies in its Kanji. Mandarin is all Kanji.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Although Chinese is all kanji, there's hardly any grammar to it. There's really no tenses in Chinese, as we convey the actions done in the past or the actions in the future through the addition of characters which indicate time. If you want to say that you did something in the past, the verbs don't require any change - rather, you just add a character to the end of the sentence. The structure is similar for future tense.</p>

<p>For Japanese, non-Chinese speakers have to learn how to write kanji (we already know 90% of Japanese kanji - we just need to know how to pronounce them in Japanese, rather than Chinese) and assimilate all of the grammar that is contained in Japanese. Japanese actually have tenses that require changes in the verb structure, and those need to be memorized. Japanese also categorizes its verbs into three categories, and the verb changes are different for each type of verb - the categories need to be memorized too (although there is a rough pattern). This all doesn't even touch on the "forms" of Japanese - common (-ru form), general (-masu form), and keigo (for elders) form. In short, Japanese is very complex and there's also an article on Wikipedia that talks about how Japanese is the hardest language to learn for a native Romance language speaker.</p>

<p>I think Spanish is generally easier to learn than other languages if one has a solid grasp on English is just because the numerous overlaps in grammar and vocabulary between the two languages. You don't have to learn a whole new grammar system nor an entirely foreign system of writing for Spanish.</p>

27

<p>Foreign Languages (for non-native speakers):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Japanese 6
French 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Spanish 7</p>

<p>Sciences (each physics exam is counted separately):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Physics C E&M 7</p>

<p>Easiest:
Environmental Science 6
Biology 1
Math:</p>

<p>Hardest:
BC Calculus 7</p>

<p>Easiest:
Statistics 7</p>

<p>Social Studies (includes economics as 2 separate exams):</p>

<p>Hardest:
U.S. Government and Politics: 5
European History: 2</p>

<p>Easiest:
World History 1
Human Geography: 5
U.S. Government and Politics: 1</p>

<p>Art (drawing, 2D, 3D, history, music theory):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Music Theory 6
Studio Art (in general) 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Art History 6
Music Theory 1</p>

<p>English (only language and literature here)</p>

<p>Hardest:
Language 5
Literature 2</p>

<p>Easiest:
Literature 5
Language 2</p>

<p>ALL AP EXAMS</p>

<p>Hardest:
Physics C E&M: 3
Langauge 2
Calculus BC 1
Literature 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Human Geography 7</p>

28

<p>Oh... I get it... you say which was hardest based on your experience...</p>

<p>Foreign Languages (for non-native speakers):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Japanese 6
French 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Spanish 8</p>

<p>Sciences (each physics exam is counted separately):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Physics C E&M 7</p>

<p>Easiest:
Environmental Science 6
Biology 1
Math:</p>

<p>Hardest:
BC Calculus 8</p>

<p>Easiest:
Statistics 7</p>

<p>Social Studies (includes economics as 2 separate exams):</p>

<p>Hardest:
U.S. Government and Politics: 5
European History: 2
U.S. History: 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
World History 1
Human Geography: 5
U.S. Government and Politics: 1
European History: 1</p>

<p>Art (drawing, 2D, 3D, history, music theory):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Music Theory 6
Studio Art (in general) 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Art History 6
Music Theory 1</p>

<p>English (only language and literature here)</p>

<p>Hardest:
Language 5
Literature 2</p>

<p>Easiest:
Literature 6
Language 2</p>

<p>ALL AP EXAMS</p>

<p>Hardest:
Physics C E&M: 3
Langauge 2
Calculus BC 1
Literature 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Human Geography 7</p>

29

<p>@littleathiest</p>

<p>No, you just messed up the list. Please update it to have a choice for every single category. You didn't put a hardest language for instance.</p>

<p>You have to give an opinion even if you didn't take the class. I haven't taken lang or lit but I know lang is harder.</p>

30

<p>And for people who are criticizing other people's opinions, like Apostophe, please stop. </p>

<p>Just because you think it's easy doesn't make it easy to another person. </p>

<p>And all my scores were based on the difficulty of the subject, not on the chance of getting a 5.</p>

31

<p>What the hell -- how can you give an opinion of how difficult an exam is if you have never taken it?</p>

<p>"Just because you think it's easy doesn't make it easy to another person."</p>

<p>That too sort of makes this thread pointless...</p>

32

<p>I only took 9 exams, so my answers aren't very comprehensive..I'm completely skipping some of them</p>

<p>Foreign Languages (for non-native speakers):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Japanese 6
French 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
German 1
Spanish 8</p>

<p>Sciences (each physics exam is counted separately):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Physics C E&M 7
Physics B 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Chem 1
Environmental Science 6
Biology 1
Math:</p>

<p>Hardest:
BC Calculus 8
AB Calculus 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Statistics 7
BC Calculus 1</p>

<p>Social Studies (includes economics as 2 separate exams):</p>

<p>Hardest:
U.S. Government and Politics: 5
European History: 2
U.S. History: 2</p>

<p>Easiest:
World History 1
Human Geography: 5
U.S. Government and Politics: 2
European History: 1</p>

<p>Art (drawing, 2D, 3D, history, music theory):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Music Theory 6
Studio Art (in general) 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Art History 6
Music Theory 1</p>

<p>English (only language and literature here)</p>

<p>Hardest:
Language 6
Literature 2</p>

<p>Easiest:
Literature 7
Language 2</p>

<p>ALL AP EXAMS</p>

<p>Hardest:
Physics C E&M: 3
Langauge 2
Calculus BC 1
Literature 1
Physics B 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Human Geography 7
Environmental Science 1</p>

33

<p>@kyledavid80</p>

<p>It's pretty obvious when you see how other people are doing in that class. In that case, this list is completely useless. How would you know Spanish is the easiest language if you've only taken that language test? See? Just keep on adding to the list.</p>

34

<p>"only 9". i find it annoying when kids talk about how they have taken 15 APs. honestly, its not fair, my school made it so i could only get in 7, and thats still a lot.</p>

<p>Foreign Languages (for non-native speakers):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Japanese 7
French 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
German 1
Spanish 9</p>

<p>Sciences (each physics exam is counted separately):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Physics C E&M 7
Physics C Mech 1
Physics B 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Chem 1
Environmental Science 7
Biology 1</p>

<p>Math:</p>

<p>Hardest:
BC Calculus 9
AB Calculus 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Statistics 8
BC Calculus 1</p>

<p>Social Studies (includes economics as 2 separate exams):</p>

<p>Hardest:
U.S. Government and Politics: 5
European History: 3
U.S. History: 2</p>

<p>Easiest:
World History 1
Human Geography: 6
U.S. Government and Politics: 2
European History: 1</p>

<p>Art (drawing, 2D, 3D, history, music theory):</p>

<p>Hardest:
Music Theory 6
Studio Art (in general) 2</p>

<p>Easiest:
Art History 7
Music Theory 1</p>

<p>English (only language and literature here)</p>

<p>Hardest:
Language 6
Literature 3</p>

<p>Easiest:
Literature 7
Language 3</p>

<p>ALL AP EXAMS</p>

<p>Hardest:
Physics C E&M: 3
Langauge 2
Calculus BC 1
Literature 1
Physics B 1
European History 1</p>

<p>Easiest:
Human Geography 8
Environmental Science 1</p>

35

<p>I dont know why people think the language exam is harder than the lit one. They are pretty similar except lit also has poetry which i find harder than prose to analyze in a 40 minute period.<br>
The euro class at my school is the hardest one, and ive checked out the format of the exam, so i know its pretty hard. I'm sure human geography is not too difficult either, but i found us gov pretty darn easy. thats partly because that class is known to be a joke in my school and all the people who usually never take APs take it, which makes me sad because poly sci is one of my interests. if there were more intellectual people in the class, it would have lended itself to more interesting conversations.<br>
The only AP exam i crammed for turned out to be US gov because i hadnt really done enough to keep the information in me long term. I just read a lot from an AP study book which turned out to be way too detailed for the exam (barrons, go fig). when i took the multiple choice, i finished like 20 minutes early. the questions were too basic and also i knew answers just from us the previous year. it also doesnt have any essays to really "prove" anything like in us history or euro history, but just has short answer where you splurt out knowledge. i just kept writing for the whole time because it doesnt matter what you write as long as part of it is right. i'm shocked that only 8% of people get 5s. the mean grade is 2.74.
even less get 5s on english lit and lang but i feel like those are harder just cause im a mathy/science person and making up explanations to poems and prose esp for lit, it seems more pointless and u can say mostly anything sometimes.</p>

36

<p>christalena2,</p>

<p>I was just offering my opinion and point of view.</p>

<p>Japanese students at my school consider it to be difficult because of the heavy Kanji memorization. They don't complain about anything else. Even kids that have lived in Japan for most of their lives had no clue about some of the Kanji used, but the Chinese school students did. That was the basis of my opinion. The highest scores in that class are the Chinese school kids that take the Chinese Language SAT II. I figured that meant something, but maybe that class is going beyond what the AP scope calls for.</p>

<p>As for the math, calculus AB is considered easier than Pre-Calculus or possibly even Algebra 2 Honors. Compared to those two classes (Algebra 2 especially), Calculus covers the least materia and Alg2 is meant for Freshmen and Sophomoresl. I'm just wondering why Statistics is considered easier than Calculus. While both are considered two of the easier AP exams, Statistics will actually require a little reading, memorizing, and writing. Many students consider it to be tougher than Calculus, and some of our best math students consider Statistics to be even tougher than Physics B.</p>

<p>For the science, I'm just curious about the debate between Physics B and Chemistry.</p>

37

<p>I didnt take either of them, but I know physics B is non calculus based because i took physics C mech which was and even I did not find physics C very hard. I took honors chem sophomore year and looked at the FRQ for the chem exam from 2006, and i think overall the chem is harder because i think both require a similar amount of info but chem needs more math</p>

38

<p>some schools do not allow you to take calc based physics until you take algebra based. I think it would've been easier to use calc for a lot of the stuff I did, and yes, I did think the physics b exam was hard, but that was my own fault. I did not study the night befoer, nor did I do most of my homework second semester. Hooray for being a second semester senior who is maxed out on ap credits for their school of choice.</p>

<p>I didn't mean "only 9" as in " oh my god, I'm such an underachiever, blah blah bla", I meant it as I can't give opinions on a lot of sections because of that.</p>

39

<p>yes i kno, but its still amazing how schools often let kids take APs in sophomore year and even sometimes freshman year ive seen. im sure there are many kids who could do well in them, but still.
actually i wish i had had ap chem instead of honors chem.</p>

40

<p>bump word ba</p>