<p>Hi all,
I'm asking a question for friends. Their son took an AP Chemistry exam and got a 1. This was unexpected, because he was a straight-A chemistry student throughout the year. We suspect there was a mistake in the grading of the exam or reporting of the score. Again, highly praised chemistry student, straight As, other AP scores were fine, etc...</p>
<p>What possible recourse do they have? Is it worthwhile to pay to have the multiple choice rescored? Is there anything else we can do? Is there any way to get a copy of the exam and his answers?</p>
<p>Additionally, what impact would this have on his college acceptances? Is there a way to hide AP scores when applying to schools? (He will probably be looking at the UCs, amongst others.)</p>
<p>TONS of students have this problem, and my answer usually will be, “Oh well.” AP exams are really difficult, especially AP Chemistry. You have to realize that there’s a difference between the class and the test. Just because that student got A’s in the class, doesn’t mean he/she will land a 5 on the AP exam. My brother got A’s in his AP Euro class, and landed a 1 on the exam. It doesn’t matter if you are the smartest kid in that class, the AP exams are tough. You don’t have to submit the scores if you don’t want to, you could, but you won’t get credit for anything. When I took Honors Chemistry Sophomore year, I got A’s on my test and understood the material very well. With the final exam getting closer, I assumed that I will land a B or an A on it. When my score came back on my report card, I got a 79 on the test and landed a B in the class. The final exam kicked my butt, and it was really difficult. I’m taking AP Chemistry this fall, and I expect nothing easy from this class. I can’t assume anything at this point.</p>
<p>How does he think he did on it? Did he think it was easy? Really difficult? I’d go with the opinion of the test taker on this one as to a re-score. I’ve taken tons of chemistry courses in my lifetime and no matter how well I understand the subject the tests sometimes don’t show it.
Don’t worry about the reporting of the exam, that’s up to you.</p>
<p>He doesn’t have much experience with AP exams, so it’s hard for him to judge. </p>
<p>Fantasy, “It doesn’t matter if you are the smartest kid in that class, the AP exams are tough.”
This isn’t helpful. Of course, if you’re the smartest kid in a given class, you should do particularly well, unless your class happens to be significantly weaker than the average AP class/student. APs are not randomly scored. Sure anything can always happen, but it’s highly unlikely.</p>
<p>Some colleges want you to report all AP tests and scores. A 1 doesn’t look that good. Especially considering Chem has a huge curve. </p>
<p>Did he feel like he knew the material? Half of it? All of it? If he felt the test went well then it could be worth looking into. But if he didn’t feel confident then a 1 could be his score.</p>
<p>I would pay for a rescore in the case of an accident, if he actually ended up with a 1, I would cancel the score. It won’t look good to send colleges a score that low.</p>
<p>I think I’d have it rescored. My son got a 3 on AP US History and AP Lang, and he usually gets 4’s and 5’s. He is going to have Lang rescored because he came out of it feeling very confident (ie 4 or 5). He is not going to have US History rescored (at least not now) because he didn’t feel as confident, although he expected a 4. We are also ordering the FR booklets for both exams. One thing to note: unlike what one poster said in the 2007 “rescoring” thread, the overall score CAN conceivably go down if you ask for a rescore. I got that straight from the horse’s mouth (spoke w/ the College Board today). That is something to consider, but if you are fairly certain that you did better than the score you got, it is worthwhile to ask for a rescore. CB told me that most rescores come out just the same. As to you question on whether to report your lower score to the colleges (eg on the Common App), that is a tough one. Some posts in CC imply that nothing matters except whether you will get college credit or not. However, for kids applying to selective school, the credit is NOT the issue; the issue is whether a 2 or 3 will turn that college’s admissions officer off–or whether a 4 or 5 will make them like you more. Some posts in CC have suggested that if you don’t put your AP scores, the college will wonder whether you actually took the test or whether you are hiding a poor score. My son has been debating this very same question because of his two “3”'s.</p>
<p>OP, it would be more helpful if we got the test taker’s view on this. Even if it was his first time taking an AP exam, he must have some idea. How much did he know? Did he not understand any of the FRQs? Did he at least get some points for it? Was he sure on at least half of the MC? His perspective is needed here.</p>
<p>That isn’t always the case. Maybe the kid can’t test well. I can’t test well, thus why I got a 79 on the Chemistry final. Maybe his class was easy and it didn’t prepare him well for the AP exam. Like I said before, getting a good grade in the class doesn’t always mean a good score on the AP exam. We have a AP Stats teacher in my school who doesn’t give out homework, and doesn’t give out tests often, and everyone thinks that he’s the best teacher in the world. My friend said that she got a 2 on the exam. I think the kid himself needs to come on here and explain his side of the story.</p>
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<p>Yeah, I sort of agree with you there, but it is unlikely. I mean you could always have CB re-score it. I highly doubt the CB graders messed up big time here. Maybe the boy bombed the FRQs. The MC is scored by computer so I doubt the computer screwed up. Overall, we all don’t know what happened. Like I said, he can have it re-scored and see if anything changes.</p>
<p>And if he has no idea how well he did because of lack of experience with APs you can take an older version of the test online free then score that yourself. If it’s a 1/2 then chances are rescoring would be a waste of money. If it’s a 3+ then a rescore would be smart.</p>