AP World History - Didn't Fill In Bubbles

Test Preparation AP History & Social Sciences
1

Hello! I’m a student in New York who took the APWH course as a sophomore over the past year and the exam in May a few months ago. When I took the exam, I made a huge mistake. I went through Part 1 thinking that I would be able to go back during Part 2, and ended up not filling in ANY bubbles. They were all done in the question booklet, and I completed my three essays. I took the exam seriously and thought it went well, save for the fact that I didn’t fill in the bubbles. I was horrified by this at first, but I actually laughed it off, thinking CollegeBoard would be reasonable. My teacher isn’t a huge fan of CB, so he told me that I shouldn’t expect much. He offered me his support, but there truly wasn’t much he could do; he told me to expect a 2 with good essays and a 3 with perfection.

Of course, I contacted CB about this, as did a guidance counselor who offered me her help, though neither of us had gotten a response. Just this morning, I received a 1. It seemed seeing the actual number gave me a reality check. I’ve been obsessing for the past 3 hours since I woke up about this, and I’m just really upset at myself. Moreover, I can’t tell whether the essays I wrote truly deserved a low score or if they simply didn’t bother to read them. As crazy as it sounds, I expected a 2 at the very least. I’ve contacted them again, but I don’t know what to expect anymore.

I finished the APWH course in school with an overall average of 91, whereas my regents (NY standardized final exam) score was a 98. I’m far from being an outstanding student, but I put a lot of effort into the class, and I’m just devastated.

I wanted to post this just to get it off my chest, but I was also wondering if anyone had advice as to what I should do. Over my 3 hours of obsession, I’ve seen very useful topics around College Confidential, so I figured I should ask.

Should I try to get a manual rescore of the multiple choice for $30? Should I retake the exam next year for $92? Or should I just forget about it and take it as a mistake I’ll hopefully never make again? If I do decide to accept the 1, how will this affect college?

I’m just so nervous about the consequences of this mistake, I don’t know what to do.

2

What’s this going to do? You didn’t fill in the bubbles, so a rescore isn’t going to help. Your teacher told you that a 2 (which is not that much better than a 1) was realistically the best you could do. At this point, accept it and move on. Reporting AP scores is voluntary on the college application, so just don’t report the one. No big deal.

3

@skieurope Ah, I wasn’t sure how the rescore would work; yeah I didn’t think it would help. So is it only the final college that I decide to choose to attend that sees all of my AP scores, including the 1? Would seeing this affect me in any way?

Thank you so much for your quick response.

4

Yes, you only send the official AP score report to the college you will be attending. The score report goes to the registrar’s office for credit/placement processing, and the clerk there will not care that you got a 1. Admissions will likely not see it, and even if they did, they also would not care.

5

@skieurope That’s what I figured, thanks. What do you think about a retake though? From your responses, I’m guessing you’re adamant that I should just move on with life, so I guess a retake would probably be a bad idea?

6

I don’t know what your schedule is like for next year, but typically, junior year is the most challenging academically. If you’re taking AP classes, you’ll need to prep for those exams. Additionally, you’ll be taking PSAT/SAT exams and, since you are from NY, I assume you will have some Regents exams. So typically, there’s not much time to go back and review material from a year ago. That’s why I say just move on.