I really really really don’t want to take this AP exam simply because I feel like I won’t be able to do well on the essay portions. I could probably still make a 3 with badly written essays but only if my MC is perfect and I doubt I could score extremely high on that portion of the exam.
Writing essays in a short amount of time is definitely not my strong suit. I took the AP class at my high school just to try and see how difficult the class would be and hopefully, I thought, might make me a better writer. Well the class isn’t THAT difficult but I have hardly learned anything at all. All my teacher does is lecture through slides about some parts of American Lit history and then once in a while he throws prompts in front of us to do as practice for the AP exam, yet he doesn’t critique us how to do well on an essay at all! (I keep making Bs and Cs on the essays we do) If I take this exam I feel like I’ll be throwing $92 out the window for free to college board. I probably have a better chance at the APUSH and AP Environmental Science exams than I do for this certain one but my parents are persuading me to think it over. The deadline is this Friday…can anyone give me an answer of whether I should take it or not and if I decide to can anyone tell me what the exam was like in their experience? Thanks.
Check the websites for the colleges you’re interested in and see what their policies for giving AP credit. I wouldn’t waste your money if they don’t give credit for a 3 on the AP Lang & Comp exam credit. I took this exam last year. Has your teacher talked to your class about preparing for the AP exam? Starting around this time last year, my teacher started heavily preparing us for the AP exam. If you’re thinking of taking the exam, practice, practice, practice!! This is the best thing you can do; practice MC and writing essays. You’ll be more comfortable with writing essays if you practice writing them, especially in the time limits you’re given in the actual exam. Have you (by chance) taken the old SAT with the essay? How did you do on that? If you scored highly, you likely won’t be in too bad of a shape for the AP Lang and Comp exam. I didn’t think that the AP L&C exam was that difficult, but English is one of my stronger subjects. My class used 5 Steps to a 5 as a review book; Cliffnotes is also a good one. However, see if you’ll even get awarded credit for the AP Lang & Comp exam for a 3, and then go from there. IMO, it isn’t that difficult to get at least a 3 on the AP Lang & Comp exam; most people in my grade did well. The exam overall reminded me of the CR and essay sections of the old SAT.
@LionKing2398 I’m mostly looking at state colleges and they do accept 3s. However I’m ambitious to go to the college I prefer but it requires 4s and 5s to be acceptable. I have taken the SAT before and I do ace the writing sections but it’s not as hard as the essays I will be preparing for for this specific exam. My CR is not very strong so will that affect my ability on the multiple choice section? I’m more afraid of the three essays I have to do than the mc part to be honest. Thank you for your viewpoint.
@HappinessXOX In my opinion, I would take the exam if I were you. The essays are opinion based, so you really just need to create a strong thesis and have enough evidence to support it. For the MC questions, practice is the most important thing to keep in mind. You’ll be okay if you know how to efficiently/effectively answer questions (which you said you’re not worried about). My best piece of advice for writing essays is to just write a lot of them. There are 2 main components when writing these essays: time management and quality. If/when you do decide to start preparing/reviewing for the exam, first focus on the quality of your essay(s). Know how to write a strong thesis, and find adequate evidence to back up your viewpoint. Then, when you’re comfortable with writing a strong essay, try to time yourself. Over time, you’ll improve. Don’t let this scare you though- you don’t need to be a perfect essay writer by all means! You just need to know what College Board is looking for in the essays. It’s really not this overwhelming.
By practicing a little each week from now to May/exam time, you’ll be fine. Hope this helps!!
@LionKing2398 Thanks! I have decided that I will take the exam now after thinking it over a bit. My mother said that it’s better to take it and see for $92 than to take the course again when I go to college and pay hundreds. Writing is still not my strong suit but I’ll do what I can to prepare. ^^
I feel your infliction as I am also taking the class. I would take it and continue to practice. With 4 months till the exam, you could bring your score up to a potential 4.
