I really don’t understand how I got a 1 in chem. I was very organized with study time, and mostly pulled off 4s on practice exams. I am freaking out right now. As a sophomore in high school, I am super worried as to what my future will look like because of these two exams. I am looking on the thread for all people that took their exams and got all fives and am seriously judging myself right now. I feel miserable. Need consolation. How can I tell my parents? This is all just a huge mess.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Can you look at yourself in the mirror and say that you are 100% confident that you did the best you could with studying and preparation? It was your first AP exam. So what, you get no credit. Did you take the class or self study? Its not the end of the world I promise. AP scores carry little to no weight in the admissions process, plus you were a sophomore when you took it. As for your parents, just be honest with them. Own up and tell them what happened. Don’t worry over this its not that big of a deal. AP Chem is an extremely hard AP.
I got 1s and 2s on mine. Don’t feel miserable about it. We aren’t all good test takers. These scores don’t define who you are
AP exam scores don’t factor much if any at all into admissions decisions so don’t feel threatened there. I got got unexpected scores too so don’t feel that bad because we all have bad test days. As far as your parents go…do they have to know? I know that sounds scandalous haha but honestly do they know you;re even taking AP courses. If not, there isn’t any point in telling them and adding salt to the wound. If they do need to know, my tactic is crying lol. I’m sure they’ll understand if you say you tried your best. After all these are college level exam and 2 of the hard ones at that. There have been many many people get into top colleges and ivy universities with falling ap exam scores. In the end they aren’t a big deal at all so don’t worry yourself about them too much.
AP scores are mostly self-reported; you often don’t have to tell colleges you took them.
All that means is that, as a 15 year old high school sophomore, you weren’t ready for college work. No huge deal-- you’re not a college student yet.
At my s’s HS ap Chem is taken as a junior or senior preferably only after taking HS chem. It is not an easy class. So do not freak out. It is not a judgement of your abilities. From my family’s perspective AP classes first and foremost are for getting ready for college. If college credits come from an AP score that is a nice extra but not the primary purpose. Do not be so hard on yourself - you will burn out by freshman year in college.
Just keep it simple and say something like, “Mom, didn’t do nearly as well as I expected on those APs. I really did put in the time to prepare. Good thing no one needs to see them except us.”
You know you worked hard. Your parents likely know that you worked hard. The impact on your future is miniscule. Treat yourself to some ice cream or Doritos (or both) and enjoy the summer.
And BTW, my soph son texted me an hour ago to say that he just failed a summer school Chem test. Not AP chem, but a summer school makeup class! And you know what? I am not the least bit angry or upset; I feel bad for him, as I know he spent a lot of time preparing and he is very disappointed in his score. Your parents want you to succeed but they also want to know when you’re unhappy, worried, disappointed, etc. so they can help (at least I hope they do).
I took AP Chemistry this year as a junior and let me tell you there is no way I could have taken it as a sophomore- especially not as a sophomore who probably didn’t take regular HS chemistry first. Because I did. And although regular HS chemistry doesn’t even come close to AP Chemistry, there were times when you’d start a new chapter and just having a basis of what the hell this was even talking about helped a ton.
So don’t be too hard on yourself!!! You put a lot on yourself to make gov and chemistry your first 2 ap exams. My first ap exam was European History. It’s not really a “light” AP but it’s not brain surgery either. There is no way in hell my first AP could have been chemistry. And most people couldn’t take AP Chemistry their entire high school careers, it’s notorious for being one of the hardest exams next to Calc BC.
There are college students who flunk out of the chemistry courses that this exam was based off of. So what if you’re 15/16 and can’t master college level courseload yet- a lot of college students can’t either. When you step into your first college level chemistry class in a few years ((or gov for that matter which btw is almost always a senior class for a reason)) you’re going to be more prepared for it than you would have if you hadn’t taken AP Chemistry, and that’ll be a godsend then. Believe me, you won’t remember the material that you learned this year by then but you will be familiar with what you’ll be asked to do. And everything will be a heck of a ton easier because of that.
Don’t beat yourself up!!
it’s summer. You did great.
Thanks for all the encouraging replies everybody! I feel a lot better already.
If you were truly expecting 4s and had recieved 4s on practice tests, I would suggest that you order the multiple-choice verification, especially if your free-response answers were mostly correct.
Keep in mind that a 1 is usually worse than a 30% on the overall exam, whereas a 4 is between 60% and 70%. If you actually did get a 1, you need to seriously re-evaluate your study habits. I understand that you’re only a sophomore, but your predicted score should not be so far off from your actual score.
Have you had a similar issue on any other standardized tests or school exams?
It’s not unheard of for College Board to make mistakes on grading exams. If you search the forum, you’ll find that quite a few people have paid to rescore exams they scored 1s and 2s on only to find that College Board had lost their FRQs or not graded the MCQ. So if you had a decent teacher and you were really getting 4s on practices, you might want to pay for a rescore of the Chem exam. A 1 is pretty hard to get.
And if you really have a 1 and 2, don’t worry too much. I know people who have failed AP exams as sophomores and gone on to attend schools like Stanford. Chem, especially, is a difficult course- so just recognize that you need to study more/better.
@Brooddude " I am looking on the thread for all people that took their exams and got all fives and am seriously judging myself right now."
Since these are self reported, most posts are going to be 4s and 5s as they are proud of their scores. The 3s and lower just are not posting at the same rate. Just chaulk it up to a learning experience and try to better on your next AP class.
@Jay1811 I found out that I got a 3 on AP Chem. Last year, I got a 3 on Bio. I really wanted to be a Physician Assistant, but now I feel like I won’t be able to survive the college classes since I can’t even get a 4 or a 5 on the AP science tests and I studied a lot for the AP exams. Do you think I should reconsider going into the medical field?
@Jay1811 ,You’re only seeing 4’s and 5’s because the majority of kids who got 1’s and 2’s and 3’s simply haven’t posted. It’s the beauty of the internet-- it’s entirely possible to show only those things about yourself that you want others to see.
@bjkmom yep exactly the scenario we are talking about.
If I were to believe a third of what I read on this site, my 3 kids and most of the kids I teach each day would be the only kids in the US not applying to Harvard. 