This is a question for all of those taking APUSH this year. I took AP world last year and I got a 5, so I’m hoping this year works out just as well. </p>
I’m wondering about all of your major tests (i.e. “unit” tests). We just took a four chapter, 80 question test and I didn’t do well (along with most everyone else). I thought I did fantastically but apparently the scantron machine thought differently. Last year, our teacher would’ve curved this test at least to the highest score (only one A out of all our APUSH students), but this year there are NO curves. This means my C doesn’t get any boost and my semester grade plummets. Basically, I want to know if any of you get a curve on your tests, or if you only get them when you take practice exams? </p>
It simply seems illogical not to curve the test if it benefits everyone. The actual exam is curved quite a bit so it doesn’t make sense to tear our grades apart with these no-curve tests IMO.</p>
I actually don’t agree with you in that I think it seems very logical to not curve the scores. I mean even though a curve benefits everyone, there are also downsides. What if the highest score is consistently a C? Is that going to help on the exam? No. Even though the actual test is curved that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to put your utmost effort into your class. What if because of the curve your class is just barely prepared enough to score on the cusp of the 4/5 divide or whatnot? Just being given your raw score is most definitely the best preparation.</p>
Last year in my APWH class, I thought it was the hardest class I had ever taken and that the teacher was cruel, even though she’d occasionally curve tests if everybody did bad. Now that I’m in APUSH, the teacher is even stricter, it’s much more college-like, and I look back at my APWH teacher as a goddess. </p>
My APUSH teacher, on the other hand, told us before the first test that 1) It’s naturally the hardest test of all because the content is just plain difficult to learn compared to the rest of the curriculum, and 2) She deliberately designs the first test to be even more difficult in order to show us what tests are going to be like. Her anticipated class mean was 50% (she expected everybody to fail, essentially; she said those exact words). Class average ended up being a 62%. Highest grade was an 82%. I got a 76%. People who are straight-A students (like myself) made Cs, Ds, and even Fs on this test. She said the first test means nothing and that we will improve as the year goes on.</p>
I took my second test this past Friday and got an 80%, the third-highest grade in the class. So obviously, she was right; there is some improvement.</p>
A former student of hers happened to stop by the class to deliver something to her and she asked the student what she made on the first two tests. The student replied, “Fs”. Then she asked what she got on the AP exam. “A 5”. “And how many other people made a 5?”. “None.”
So this girl failed the first two tests, aced the rest, and got a 5 on the AP exam.</p>
My APUSH teacher, and it seems like maybe yours too, is no-BS, “I give you what you need; the rest is up to you” person, so you aren’t going to have your hand held through this class.
All you need to do is find what type of studying works for you and how you can most efficiently grasp the content, and your grades will improve. On your first test with a new teacher, you don’t know what to expect; now you do, and you know what type of questions you’ll have (I don’t know about your teacher, but my teacher’s tests are made up of previous AP exam questions). You’ll improve. You’ll be fine. And you even have a great chance of making a 5 on the AP exam. Don’t worry. ;)</p>
Why? The aforementioned teacher only teaches two sections of APUSH, which is about 50 students. 1 out of 50 is not too bad of a ratio, considering my school has a habit of throwing kids into AP classes when they don’t want them or they aren’t capable of succeeding in them (every student in an AP class, regardless of performance = $$$ in the superintendent’s pocket).</p>
Even with that situation, I would hope more than one person in the class would be smart enough to get a 5. A 2.0% 5-rate is much lower than the national average of 11.0%.</p>
That’s why the 11% is a national average. There are going to be schools/classes/sections that have higher percentages and lower percentages. As you can tell, based off of my descriptions, the teacher I’m referring to is very much like a college professor and very much unlike other high school teachers (including most AP teachers, in my case)… in that you have to be willing and motivated to do well. You can’t just take notes in class and ace the exam; it takes a lot more than that, and very few people are willing to do that.</p>
Well, I guess if only one person gets a 5 every year, then those tests really are easier than they appear. My APH teacher never curved tests, and the class average was almost always in the mid 80’s. I think that’s pretty fair, since the class average on the AP exam was ~4.5 (at a public high school too - no fancy private stuff).</p>
Think of it this way: if only one student a year gets an A on the standardized exam, then why should more then one student get an A in the class?</p>
I see. It does not equate to an A all the time - at ALL colleges. The examples used are Ivy League universities. However, there are still many colleges at which it would be an A. That’s much different than some tier 4 state school, where a 5 would definitely be worth an A. Anyways, why should someone who can’t earn a score high enough on a test to be in the highest scoring bracket earn a grade in the highest grades bracket?</p>
In my class we have chapter “tests” every week that involve 25 MC questions and 5 “IDs” where we write all that we know about random people/events/Acts that my teacher writes on the board. People usually get around C’s or D’s on the tests, although good students if they study can receive middling B’s and occasionally a borderline A (if they did spectacularly) on the tests. He has never curved the actual tests that he gives out, but at the end of the semester he bumps up your grade. If you deserve an A and studied and got your B’s on the tests, he’ll give it to you. If you got C’s and participated and he likes you, you’ll probably still get an A. Most kids get B’s. </p>
I guess it just depends on the teacher and school. He has a really high passing rate, but I come from a private school that breeds AP students consistently. If you’re motivated and working hard, you should be fine, and really well prepared for the AP test.</p>
Not curving tests is normal. Last year when I took APUSH mostly everyone failed (think >60%) on the test, but throughout the year people learned how to adjust to the test formats and questions. Many got 4s and 5s.</p>
Stick with it. It will benefit you on the AP test.</p>
Guys, I don’t mean to bump this thread, but I want to make it clear that I understand how an AP exam works. I took AP World History last year and achieved a 5. I know how the questions work, and I know that the exam is curved. </p>
The point is that these class tests aren’t training us for anything. Having minute details covered doesn’t benefit anyone; the AP will have broad general questions that ask for comparisons and assumptions on events. </p>
If i get a 5 on the exam and have an 83 in this class, what does that say to the college, if anything?</p>
My teacher allows us to rewrite the questions that we got wrong and the right answer along with it. Each question on the test is two points and we get one point back for each question we rewrite. This helps cement the right answer in our head and doesn’t kill our grade. I have a 97 in the class. But we’ll see how that changes as we take more tests… haha.</p>
