<p>The goal of AP tests is to determine if you have the ideas of that introductory course. That is a yes or no question. If all colleges were of equal difficulty, they would only hand out passes and fails. The 5 point system is because there are “harder” colleges. There is no ultra-college so far above all others it would only bestow credit from a six. Because of this limited variability, there is not a 6.</p>
<p>That’s the technical reason in case anyone was wondering :)</p>
<p>Micro, Macro, and Chinese are already 80%</p>
<p>and no, because then i would have to study way too much and then get disappointed with a 5</p>
<p>Dear EngineerHead,
Let me address that all-too-eloquent rebuttal chronologically.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Foolish? Really? You decided to insult my intelligence on a college preparatory forum?</p></li>
<li><p>Those next… three elli…pses plagued… sentences also are nonsense. Attempting to convey sarcasm online is hardly the best way to make another’s remarks look nonsensical.</p></li>
<li><p>Again, mark my words? Really? Are we going to have a shoot-out on the dusty road outside the saloon at high noon tomorrow?</p></li>
<li><p>Colleges aren’t going to give anymore for a 6 than they would for a 5, so basically you’re just telling everyone to work harder for no reward, simply because you believe that you are capable of doing so. Don’t try to argue that you would be advocating for this if your average AP score were hovering around 3.</p></li>
<li><p>Maturity is not screwing other people over in the name of an ego.</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>Foolish does not remark upon your intelligence, foolish marks upon your willingness to easily assume that which is not assumable.</p></li>
<li><p>Sorry, I guess you’re the one with the big ego, huh? I don’t need to hear your smart antics, this point is useless - you noticed the sarcasm and received the point.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, mark my words as they have not been marked upon by your eyes as of yet. Mark that the purpose is to increase rigors and standards, and therefore by marking it you don’t have to waste your time punching out “are you actually so insecure that a top 7% score is inadequate for shielding your ego.” If it were already marked, no one would have to waste their time reading that, and you wouldn’t have to waste your time typing it.</p></li>
<li><p>Some schools are considering going 5 only, and restricting credit for specific majors regardless of score since they deem A FIVE IS NOT SATISFACTORY if it is going to be your field of study.</p></li>
<li><p>Sorry, I did not realize that CollegeBoard was going to heed my advice! I better get this idea patented soon… and sell it to them! No online sarcasm intended.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The point of having a 5 is to show mastery in materials and to ultimately get college credit. The goal is not to show elitism, since getting a low five and a high five both shows that you understood the material extremely well. However, collegeboard should tell you how you scored on the exam, ie. 155/180 if you did so. That way, you would personally know if you squeezed by passing or aced it completely, without colleges knowing it, so you would have the only proof of it. Or to mention how you ranged, high/middle/low of your score individually. It would be nice distinguishing how well a certain individual did on an exam, but it is unnecessary since the goal is college credit, not for bragging rights. I honestly believe that I aced USH with a very, very high five, though I have no proof to assure myself of how well I actually did.</p>
<p>
That is the best counter point yet, and truly the most valid one yet (if anything the only valid one I have personally seen). I never thought about it that way (or knew that, rather).</p>
<p>Engineer, it sounds to me that you dont agree with the way Collegeboard tests us in each subject…therefore asking them to add a 6 to the possible scores will not change the tests at all, you will simply have to study the “broad, surface-level” material even more. Rather than going more in depth like you said, you will simply have to memorize more crap.
And colleges care very little about your test-taking abilities…
If you want to rise above all the other 5’s…start a non-profit event in your city and make the news and that will set you apart:) not reading textbooks 24/7</p>
<p>upennster, this is why you need to mark my words and read carefully. Because of one fallacious statement, now everyone is going on a frenzy discussing how to be “set apart” or “bragging rights” or “elitism.”</p>
<p>EngineerHead,</p>
<p>Aside from your abhorrent grammar, I’m glad that you’re game.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>And what, may I ask, have I assumed which was not supported (Other than, of course, an understanding that two arbitrary cutoff points don’t make a non-arbitrary cutoff point)?</p></li>
<li><p>If you were trying to make a… point which… mitigated the… validity of mine, it would help if I didn’t have to read your mind. I received the sarcasm but failed to see the point. Enlighten me.</p></li>
<li><p>Top 7% isn’t good enough for you? If it isn’t, I’ll walk away from this secure in my point.</p></li>
<li><p>Many schools are 5 only. Many schools take no AP scores at all. Do you honestly think that a school which currently takes none will decide to stoop back down to the College Board’s level because they turned out a shiny new number? Maybe they’ll also assume that being president of National honor Society means that you shouldn’t have to sign an honor code.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t know why you’d advocate for something if you didn’t ideally wish for it to happen. Again, I’ll walk away if you do.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The one thing that I would like to point out in light of this discussion is that the exam is TAILORED so that 9% or less get a 5, because a 5 is a top score. Generally, the standards will be the same, but if an exam is particularly harder than the previous year’s exam - i.e. the 2008 AP Bio exam - they will adjust the curve accordingly on a bell curve. So it’s not like lots of people are getting 5s and only some of them are qualified. Few are getting 5s, and whether they are low %s or high 5s, they are still indicative that the student has mastered the material.</p>
<p>I’ve read through the thread and I understand why you’re saying you want to add a 6, but I’m going to respectfully disagree. The way the system works now, simplly adding a 6 would be equivalent to saying “ohhh, look, I’m in the top 2% of students instead of the top 9%!” and IMHO it would be kind of pointless.</p>
<p>Also, if a 6 was added to the scale, the College Board would just scale it so it works with the bell curve again - meaning that a certain percentage of people would always get a 6. Now, they make the national average score between 2 and 2.5; if the scale was up to 6, they would just make the average score a 3, and tailor the scale accordingly. They couldn’t introduce a 6 score for people who got, for example, only 80% or above on the exam. It would ruin the curving system that their entire grading principle is based upon.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that I agree that curving is necessarily the best way that they should do it (although God knows I appreciate it from time to time!). But I think that, as it is a system set in stone and won’t be changing soon, discussing “adding a 6” wouldn’t really do <em>that</em> much to distinguish top testtakers because it’s unrealistic to expect the CB to break their system.</p>
<p>with an average of about 10% of entire ap test takers getting a 5, your already in the top 10 percentile. What more do you want?? a top 2 percentile? Jeez</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Isn’t it more like 20%?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, I agree.</p>
<p>Well, It depends on the test. anywhere from 10-20%
Although it’s usually meant to be placed at 10%</p>
<p>silverturtle - not really. Ordinarily, the Collegeboard adjusts the curve each year so that the number of test takers receving a 5 is around 9%, or slightly less. It may be slightly more on certain tests, but theoretically, the easier the test is for everyone, the better you have to do to get a 5, because they want to maintain the bell curve and keep the top 10% within the 5 range.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You assumed that my purpose was to distinguish myself as an elitist and/or boost my ego.</p></li>
<li><p>
Why play dumb? Does point 2 need to continue debate, as I’m sure at this point, you are simply debating this point for the sake of debating. As… wel… l… writing in… this ma…nne…r is…n’t … exactly what I … was doing?
Please point me to where the two may be comparable. The two hardly represent each other.</p></li>
<li><p>The top, as of now, are representative of the curve, a curve which is largely affected by all the factors which I have previously mentioned (i.e. students who go to sleep during exam). I would put my money on it that if they added 6, but did NOT curve around it so that the new 6 simply became the old 5, rigors would increase and the numbers of students achieving the 6 would increase over time. I know for a fact that 1/3 of my Calc BC class can obtain a 6 (1/3 have A’s). Technically, more could since a 6 would cover the students who got a B in the class as well (80%). That’s hardly top 7%.</p></li>
<li><p>Maybe, Harvard has argued similar points.</p></li>
<li><p>I didn’t say I don’t wish for it to happen, you keep twisting my words. You must read carefully, and only keep my words as they were in their original context.</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>Given the lack of reward for this improvement in status, am I so wrong to assume it is only for the improvement in status? </p></li>
<li><p>If I were playing dumb, I wouldn’t ask again. What was your point? I’m quite curious at this point.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m glad that your calc class is gifted enough to have that many at your hypothetical (and arbitrary) cutoff point for 6. Calculus is one the most self-selecting courses offered, with about 45% earning 5s. The 7% figure I refer to is for the English and some history exams. You can have a classroom full of kids getting 5s on AP English Language, but that won’t change the fact that nationally, it’s still 7%. </p></li>
<li><p>You applied sarcasm to the College Board using your idea, therefore implying that you’d rather they not use your idea? Also, if I have to read informational writing carefully, then the writing isn’t clear. Or have you seen signs saying, “oh, this is definitely not the best way to find a way to leave the building,” written entirely in red font?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Let me reiterate my point. There is no reward that is going to fall from the sky for a 6. If you think that the kids who currently work extremely hard to get their 5s need to spend less time in the world and more time reading books, then you, sir, and a sadist.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Due to the lack of reward for an “elite” score of 6, isn’t it illogical to assume that it is for the improvement of “elite” status?</p></li>
<li><p>You essentially questioned, “Why, so you can be recognized as elite?” For which I essentially answered, “No, I’m not even accepting the credit anyway.”</p></li>
<li><p>My cutoff point for 6 was simply a divide down the middle of a minutely widened range of 5. My consistent point here is not that my calculus class is elite, what is with you and this whole being gifted and better than everyone deal? - “Nationally” is your key word. Subtract the classes where the teachers truly shouldn’t even be teaching the class, and it would go up. As well, I will further specify, as of now, that this is specifically/more useful for AP’s in the maths & sciences, as well as other facts-based exams.</p></li>
<li><p>Be tedious about the words, don’t selectively choose which words you will absorb. Reread it and tell me whether you still stand that my sarcasm easily inferred that I did not wish for them to implement the idea. I don’t exactly get your last point analogy. I’m not providing emergency instructions which need to be delivered as short and as concise as possible, which need to be free of sarcasm and jokes, which need to be free of wordy-ness and explanation. You also don’t see “This direction is the best path to follow for the most secure and speedy escape from the building, however if this path is not possible to follow, take this alternate route B… etc.”</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Based off your answer to 2, I honestly do not see your motivation. It’s like working harder and better than all your co-workers, and then declining to take a raise. If that’s your philosophy in life, there is no point in me even trying to reconcile. I bid thee fare well.</p>
<p>You don’t know why I don’t want to accept the credit, you’re filled with assumptions.</p>
<p>Running off of your analogy, the correct analogy should be: It’s like working better than your co-workers and declining a raise because you’re going to switch jobs. Also, don’t forget the other thousands of workers whom are in a similar position, where their boss will only offer them a raise if they perform better than all their coworkers. </p>
<p>Anyway, we’re straying away from the topic, I was hoping this thread would be particularly for those who wanted to debate the topic specific.</p>