<p>We pay $83, take a 3.5 hour test, and all we get to see is a single-digit number... why can't we see three double digit numbers in addition (MC, FR, and composite)? It's not like CB only keeps the 1-5 number, since the Siemen's Foundation's scholarship is (potentially) based on composite scores.</p>
<p>Now, truthfully, the only reason I'd want to see this is to prove I got a higher score than other people who got fives (if they ever began feeling too superior =-)). But I'm sure colleges would find it very useful in admissions as well. It seems sort of unfair to have people who got 100% on the Calculus BC test be viewed the same as someone who got 75% or even less.</p>
<p>So is there an actualy reason we don't get to see the score breakup, or does CB just feel like giving me another reason to hate them?</p>
<p>While I acknowledge that it is odd that they would actually keep the composite scores for other means, I would probably chance a guess that it's on a five-point scale for some measure of content validity. I mean, let's say you know fully and completely 90% of any given subject. It just may so happen that every question on the exam fell under your scope, and it just may so happen that there was a particularly large concentration in the 10% you didn't know. It's to ensure a degree of fairness. A "higher" five will generally only happen by chance, because everybody who gets a five probably has around the same mastery of the material, just concentrated in different locations.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree with rpgaction. Some 5s are better at some topics, other 5s other topics. It may just happen that when it pops up that day, your topic of specialty might not be there, or it might.</p>
<p>Personally, i'd think it would hurt us, because colleges will begin looking for a 100, or a high composite score. </p>
<p>If AP scores are graded more like SATIIs, it would hurt more to be only "fairly" good at a subject instead of "extremely" good at a subject. If I'm making any sense.</p>
<p>seriously, people would go crazy if they also release composites because they wouldnt aim for a 5, but a 100%
it really would hurt the students more than anything else and im glad they dont release composites</p>
<p>Not only for the reasons given above, but suppose you found out that you got a 4 on the AP Calculus AB exam, whose cut score for a 5 is typically somewhere between the mid 60's to low 70's.</p>
<p>Now let's suppose you found out your score on the Exam was a 71. You have to be figuring -- and you'd probably be right -- that you missed the cut score for a 5 by a point, at most 2. You could talk to other people to find out exactly where that number was.</p>
<p>The number of reviews that would have to be covered by the College Board for every student who thought, "Don't I deserve just one extra measly point somewhere?" would -- in my estimation -- be approximately half of the people who miss the cut score by a point, if not a higher percentage or a larger distance away.</p>
<p>You've all met (and some of you probably are) the type who absolutely won't leave a teacher alone when you're sitting there at the end of the semester with an 89.7%, and they won't bump (or round) you the extra 0.3% to call that an A-. This is the College Board's technique to avoid discussions like that in the first place, as the only reviews will come from students seriously in denial or from students who somehow have legitmately been mis-scored.</p>
<p>I totally understand. But at the same time, I don't think that happens with SATs. And also, couldn't we at least get our free responses back (without whatever high fee they charge) or get some comments on them? It's like, no matter what I get, I would love to know how they scored my essays.</p>
<p>TheMathProf, if they released the composites, technically, they wouldn't even need a 1-5 score, because a change would increase their score 1% or so, not 20%.</p>
<p>Also, some of you are trying to compare AP tests to the SAT, which is a useless comparison. The SAT tests (or is supposed to test) learning ability not knowledge or the amount you've learned. Thus, people studying for the SAT learn the test, while people studying for the AP tests learn the material. I don't think learning useful information hurts students. (Learning how to take the SAT can.)</p>
<p>Also, many colleges don't accept 5's for credit on subjects. For example, CalTech only accepts a 5 on Physics C or Calc BC for credit. It's quite possible that a 95%+ (which a 5 doesn't indicate) on biology would allow students to get credit for a biology class at a very good unversity.</p>
<p>Further, you argue that colleges will expect 100%. This is similar to saying colleges expect a 2400 on the SAT. Obviously, they don't. They only expect around 94% (plus or minus some) on the SAT. Also, around 17% (plus or minus some) get 5's on AP exams. The top 17% of students on the SAT is about a 2000+. If my 2330 was graded the same as a 2000, I know I would be annoyed.</p>
<p>If you don't know 10% of the material and that's almost all they test, that's your own fault. You shouldn't be exempted from having to take responsibility for not learning something. And I'm not biased on this... I took the Biology test thinking the only thing I knew would compose ~50% of the test and it was barely represented on it. It's my own stupid fault for sleeping during class, and I should have to pay for it (I could quite possibly still get a low 5, but don't deserve it).</p>
<p>I like not knowing composites. . . it's nice not having to really have the smart kids one up eachother with these tests.</p>
<p>However, I took AP Euro without the class and got a 5. I would have liked to get my essays back with my number grades simply to know whether they were good or I made lucky guesses on the MC. Then I can know whether whatever I did last year "worked" and apply it to USH.</p>
<p>i agree with NO composite scores because these tests are for college credit (primarily) and are designed to test your knowledge of a course. every course is taught differently based on the school you attend. For example, if biology teacher from school A focuses on molecular while biology teacher from school B focuses on ecology...well the students will have greater knowledge in the area their teachers focused on. BUT that doesnt mean either should be punished for being taught the course with a different focus. If their is more molecular on the test, that doesnt mean that the ecology students from school B havent matered the material. 5 is mastery of the course... and i think that every school is different and a 5 is appropriate for measuring mastery. plus composites change year to year....a 44 in calc this year (ha if im lucky) might be comprable to a 64 last year, it would just confuse adcoms.</p>
<p>yea,i agree, i would like to see my score just to know how ive done. but then again if i do get a high five i would want it sent!! haha, i think we're ALL better off not knowing. there are plenty of other tests to weed out the "best of the best"...i for one, am going to enjoy the perks of probably being a low five!</p>
<p>Another good reason not to show the composites has to do with what's going through the AP Calculus AB threads lately. The test has been cited as being "impossible" and that "there ought to be a big curve". If there isn't "a big curve", which could be seen from the composites, then many folks would be upset that the College Board screwed them over, even if the curve is completely appropriate given the evidence provided on the exams nationwide.</p>
<p>One compelling reason to provide the breakdown is to verify that everything has been graded. Last year my D got a 2 on APUSH which we believed because of the way the course was taught. When we requested the free response copy (there is a long story which I won't retell here) we discovered they had lost her answers. After many months of phone calls and follow up, they projected a 4 from the MC section. If the breakdown had been reported, it would have saved us and them much grief. </p>
<p>I don't think anything should be withheld to make life easier for the CollegeBoard. The professional educators and statisticians there can and should be open about their methodologies, whether the general client population agrees with or likes them. (To their credit, there is a great deal of information available about scoring, trends, etc. in the documents available on their site if one digs a bit, but not everything that might be of interest.)</p>
<p>At the same time, I also suspect that the extra cost involved in preparing such documents for everybody would make the cost of AP exams less affordable as well.</p>
<p>And the truth is that very few agencies are as open as the College Board is in this regard. It's their system. You pay money to be a part of their system, and they shouldn't be compelled to share any more or any less about their methodologies than required by law.</p>
<p>Does that mean that the College Board might be missing out on ways to improve the experience? Perhaps. But truthfully, there probably would be great expense in defending themselves against what many people believe "should" be.</p>