<p>My high school offers 12 AP courses. Out of those 12 courses, this year (and many previous years), only 3 of those courses (psych, stats, and english lang.) had more than 1 person recieve a 5 on the AP exam. So, are they really this difficult, or is my school just really dumb?</p>
<p>They’re pretty easy if you study. They really depend on the work you put into it, maybe your teachers just aren’t preparing students well, and the students aren’t studying enough on their own.</p>
<p>Well there is only a 50-60% passing rate. If you actually work hard (read the textbook, prepbook, take multiple practice exams, etc.) then you will probably do fine. They’re not that hard but your teacher has a lot to do with it, ie if you don’t finish your textbook then it’ll be more difficult. The most difficult thing about beginning AP is the questions. Instead of a regular highschool class where it’s mostly simple questions like “Thomas Jefferson was A) a president B) a farmer C) a pop star or D) yo mamma” they ask you much more complex questions so that’s why it’s important to take practice tests.</p>
<p>Robodl95 - Jefferson was both A and B, so…:P</p>
<p>Your school seems to be pretty lazy and/or dumb. AP is difficult, but not insanely difficult.</p>
<p>I didn’t think the APs were all that hard; those I didn’t do well on, I had expected not to do well on. As for the rest, some studying is sufficient, though having a skilled teacher prepping you for the tests is always extremely beneficial.</p>
<p>^Agree with the skilled teacher thing</p>
<p>I find that it takes both a good teacher and a good student. Some really smart kids can self start and still do well but it sure helps if the teacher is covering the material well. I looks like and it is true that about 50% to 60% get a passing grade of 3 but that doesn’t get you college credit at many colleges. It takes a 4 or 5 to get credit and only about 25% to 35% get those. I also saw that it seems like the tests with the most amount of students taking them are harder to get a 5. I thought it was odd that the highest amount of 5’s were for the Calculas BC and one of the lowest was for English literature. </p>
<p>[Score</a> Distributions](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/ap/scores/distributions]Score”>AP Program Results – Reports | College Board)</p>
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<p>The smaller, more self-selective testing population of Calculus BC is a major factor in this disparity.</p>
<p>In my school, all the teachers SUCK, but almost everyone gets a ~4-5 on all exams. Is it they are easy? No, of course not, but the kids work REALLY hard. If you studied, the exam is just a chance to show it :)</p>
<p>You can do it!</p>
<p>A huge part of it is how good your teacher is. The rest is how committed you are to the class and preparing for the exam in the months before hand.</p>