Something interesting on my AP Chem test.

So I took the AP Chemistry test yesterday and something strange happened.

I am quite slow at bubbling in answers on the answer sheet. So last year on another AP test, on the multiple choice I put a line or a mark in each bubble instead of filling it in, so I could get through all the questions without wasting time for bubbling. At the end I went back and filled in the circles completely, and it worked fine.

But this year I did the same thing, and ran out of time before I could go back and bubble all of them in. When she called time and told us to seal the questions booklet, I did so immediately. I had about 5-10 questions left. The proctor took my answer sheet (as she was supposed to), but I tried to save my score by asking her to fill in the ones I marked (haha). She luckily agreed, and after that we had our break. I don’t know if she filled in the rest during the break because I didn’t see, and I didn’t see her fill them in while we did the free response part. But at the end of the test I thanked her, and she said it was fine.

However, my friend was (and is) skeptical. He thinks she didn’t fill in the rest (because she apparently isn’t allowed to, even though her job is to be trusted with the tests) and she lied to me that she did, in order to “make me feel better”. But it doesn’t make sense that she would agree to something and then not follow through without telling me. If she actually isn’t supposed to, then she should’ve explained so, and I would have understood.

If she didn’t fill them in, then is it possible that the scanning machine would pick up on the marks I made? Usually I either filled the circle halfway, or put a clearly visible line through the letter I planned to fill in.

What do you think?

The scanning machine won’t pick up stray marks, it has to be a solid bubble.

You could always ask her if she truthfully filled them in. You’re right–it wouldn’t make sense for her to tell you that she did when she didn’t I think you should dispel what your friend said, after all, he had to have been working on his exam anyway. If he is unsure on whether or not the proctor filled in the bubbles, he shouldn’t have said anything.

Regardless, I hope this is practice for you in terms of future exams. Don’t wait until the end to bubble. Bubble as you go–circle the answers of the page you’re on in the booklet, then fill in the bubbles.