Should there be a score of 6 on the AP scoring scale?

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
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<p>What do you guys think about adding a score of 6 to the AP scaling system? I was recently thinking about it, it sounds like a great idea. Right now, typically, you could get about a 60-65% on the exam and end up with a 5. That deviation is too large and doesn't distinguish the true top from the herd. If you split it up half and half, a score of 5 would be awarded for ~60-80% and a 6 would be awarded for ~80-100%. So you could still do B- performance and get a 6. I certainly would like to think that getting an 80% correct is doable but even more that a distinguishable amount of students do get 80%+ correct. </p>

<p>Any thoughts?</p>

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<p>No, because we’re not having a scenario where the plurality of students are getting 5s.</p>

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<p>No, because then less colleges would give credit for 3’s and 4’s, or a score of 4 would become like a 3 and a score of 5 would become like a 4.</p>

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<p>Yes, but only if you get above 100%. The trick is finding the hidden extra credit question and answering it right. Trust me, it’s there.</p>

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<p>There would be a very small amount of students who would get 6s. As I stated in my “new AP courses” thread, you underestimate the ease of getting an 80% scaled score. Losing random FRQ points and the guessing penalty can add up. However, that exclusivity would make the 6 prestigious. I don’t think it would be very applicable to college credit.</p>

<p>I mean, it’s entirely possible to get a 6 in a math or science, but it would be very, very hard in most subjects, and I think it would drive College Confidential overachievers crazy.</p>

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<p>This would be a great synthesis question to ask on the AP Language test, haha.</p>

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<p>Is “distinguishing the true top from the herd” really necessary, though? I see no point in that, other than to possibly promote elitism, maybe? The whole point is for college credit anyway, and if colleges that accept 5s are willing to accept ~65-75% on exams, so be it.</p>

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<p>If it was 80%, I know I would’ve had it in in APUSH, APUSG, and AP Chem. But those probably are easier ones to get “6” on though. If you understand the basics of each, they’re pretty rudimentary.</p>

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<p>Getting a 5 is not a “plurality” right now only because of the way the teaching system is. Simply because there aren’t many getting 5’s right now doesn’t mean those getting 6’s will be a minutely small number. The moment the scale of 6 is added, teachers will adjust. That is the way the world works. As well, the average is so low because you have to consider joke and/or inexperienced teachers. Joke teachers are the worst, but inexperienced teachers just need time. But either one, they produce horrible scores of students and its not an accurate description. </p>

<p>Again, the moment 6 is added, teachers will automatically adjust. The only one I see as being difficult to obtain a 6 on would be the 2 Physics C examinations. Other than that, 6’s should not be difficult.</p>

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<p>is it because you’re so damn smart that you want to be the smartest student in the nation, and go around laughing at people “oh hey what did you get on ap calculus and ap chemistry? oh only a 5? LOL DUMBASS I GOT A 6”</p>

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<p>No, it’s simply because a 5 has too large a deviation. It doesn’t really distinguish anyone in the group. The range a 5 has is almost equal to the range of 1-4 put together!</p>

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<p>Like how they’ve added A* to A levels? </p>

<p>I don’t think it would be that bad. But if it were just to make a tiny differentiation as explained, I think it would be better to make it like a 5* or a 5b while a normal 5 is a 5a. 6 is such a different number.</p>

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<p>I don’t know why it would be so necessary to add a 6 to the scoring scale just for the sole purpose of being “distinguished” from other 5 scorers. It’s like wanting to get an A+ to distinguish yourself from other people who got As. I don’t see any point to it.

I doubt it. Most teachers have a hard time just getting most of their students to pass, I don’t see how adding a 6 to the AP scoring scale is going to change that.</p>

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<p>I say if you get 100% you get “6”, or “5+” or something special.</p>

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<p>As I originally stated, it is raising the bar of expectancy. Many elite universities don’t encourage using AP scores not because they want money, though it may be true for some, but because they know the material isn’t comparable. I myself know the material isn’t comparable. I have taken seen Biology and Physics exams at a local MEDIOCRE university and it is not the same. I have also taken a Calculus exam at the same university, and it was most CERTAINLY not the same. You would be surprised, depending on where you go. The calculus exam problems are VERY different. They are extremely complicated, not necessarily difficult, but complicated. They don’t clean up nicely or anything like the AP exam. It’s not what we’re used to. The level between high and college is still distinguishable even in AP settings. The AP Biology exam is by far THE worst in how in depth it goes, at least for AP’s in the math/sciences. The Biology exam I saw goes much farther in depth. They learn about major steps and functions of every cycle, for instance the Kreb’s cycle. We only need to learn the general 6 steps, if even that. They have to learn every single step which can go up to 20+, I’m not sure of the exact number.</p>

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<p>I think the system is fine how it is. The precision of the metric corresponds to its function (i.e., college credit).</p>

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<p>All I know is that as far the depth of exploring a subject, AP does not require the same rigors as would be required of a student in an average university. The only one AP exam that actually qualifies students well, if not more than well, is AP Physics C. The rigors for that exam actually teach students college physics well, probably even better than some universities teach that subject. But for every other AP course I’ve taken and seen exams for the same class at a university, the rigors simply are not comparable.</p>

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<p>C/P’d from another topic, so some comments might not make sense.</p>

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<p>An 80%+ is not doable for most of the nation >_> considering it is a year’s worth of information and can be completely random subjects that you havent ever looked at.
there would be like less than 5% getting 6s which is ridiculous. you’re completely underestimating the ap tests…
teacher’s will adjust to what? they’re not going to change their teaching methods if we change it to a 6. it’s not like they’re teaching badly because it’s not the hardest it could be to get a 5.</p>

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<p>Again, like I said, a 5 in many subjects simply is not satisfactory of true college performance. I have seen biology, chemistry, physics, and calculus college exams, and all but the exception of physics were MUCH farther in depth than is required by the AP curriculum.</p>

<p>The amount of students TODAY, with the given 1-5 scale, not as many would get 6’s obviously, as they only know of a 5. However, for students whom have YET to take the course/exam, achieving a 6 to them would be like achieving a 5 to us since it is new to them. </p>

<p>Again, GETTING 80% IS NOT DIFFICULT. My tests that we are required to take in our AP classes LITERALLY ARE AP EXAMS. However, they are not graded AP style, so ON OUR AP EXAM-TEST, if we get an 83%, WE HAVE GOTTEN A C in the class! Even though it is actually a 5 (or 6 if they were to add it). If we got an 89% on our “AP Exam”-test, then we would have gotten a B, even though it is a 5 (or 6 if they were to add it). It is simply a matter of the teacher, I am not underestimating the AP tests? I have taken them, how can I “under” estimate them, as if I don’t know what they are like? How would I “estimate” them at all, if I have already taken them to know, and therefore don’t need to estimate.</p>

<p>Do you think students with high GPA’s and high class rank would really settle for getting an 89% B (which is a 5, or 6 if they added it)? No, students with high GPA’s and high class rank will make sure they give A-performance, and WHATEVER THEY GET ON THEIR tests is a very accurate estimate of what they will get on their AP exam.</p>

<p>In my Calculus BC and Physics C classes, our tests were ACTUAL AP exam questions. I try my best to make sure I stay an A student, so in the class I need to make sure I get A’s on all my tests which I do. Therefore, I’m pretty confident that in this year’s Calculus BC and Physics C exam I got at LEAST 90%. On my Physics C, there’s a slight chance I may be in the 80% range, but THAT IS STILL A “6!”</p>