What's a 5??

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

<p>I am wondering what percentage correct on an AP exam is approximately a 5.</p>

<p>Is above 70% for sure a 5?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Depends on the exam... 70% is PROBABLY a 5. I'm sure there are some exams for which a 70% is a 4, but never lower than that, I think.</p>

3

<p>Actually, for some, it's like 60% I think. But those are like the Ap sciences.</p>

4

<p>thanks, so when i do a practice test, and i score above 75%, should i feel confident about getting a 5 on the real AP exam?</p>

5

<p>well alot hangs on the FR, but yea like 60 out of 80 is usually pretty good</p>

6

<p>For AP Physics C: E&M, it is far less than 70% for a 5. For AP English Language, it is over 70%.</p>

7

<p>@ MCow, what do you mean by 60 out of 80?</p>

8

<p>I am taking/self-studying Calc BC, Biology, Psychology, and both Macro and Micro Economics. So what's the percentage needed for a 5 in those subjects?
Thanks!</p>

9

<p>Calc BC - about 65% to be safe</p>

<p>Bio - less than 60% usually. </p>

<p>dont know the others. try searching.</p>

10

<p>For calc BC you needed >63% to get a five last year...</p>

11

<p>
[Quote]
@ MCow, what do you mean by 60 out of 80?

[/quote]

I was giving an example since a lot of tests hover around 80 q's on MC</p>

12

<p>@MCow, ahhh, I see.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone.</p>

13

<p>for bio you can fail and get a 5, its almost ridiculous.</p>

14

<p>There actually is no set percentage that will guarantee you a 5 for any single test. It isn't decided until after all the tests are scored. Therefore, your score is based on those of all test takers. The College Board wants to keep a percentage of students who gets 5s, 4s, 3s etc. so they set a cutoff based on that. For that reason, on a particularly easy test, it'll be harder to get a 5 because more people will be doing well. The curve that people speak of is because if a test is really difficult, it is unlikely that many people did well so the cutoffs will be lower.</p>

15

<p>US History - I'd say about 75%. It seems pretty hard to get a 5...only 11% did last year.
US Government - 80% maybe. It's not a lot of material.
Chem - I'd say about 60% MC and 75% FRQ.</p>

<p>And yeah, since the sciences are technically the hardest -- with the most material, concepts, math, etc. -- they get the most generous grading scale.</p>

16

<p>From the AP Bulletin: </p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/student/testing/ap/AP-bulletin.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/student/testing/ap/AP-bulletin.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>(page 13) </p>

<p>
[quote]
The AP Program periodically conducts college grade comparability studies in all AP subjects. These studies compare the performance of AP students with that of college students in comparable college courses. In general, the AP composite score cut points (the multiple-choice and free-response sections combined) are set so that the lowest composite score for an AP grade of 5 is equivalent to the average score for college students earning grades of A. The lowest composite scores for AP grades of 4, 3, and 2 are equivalent to the average scores for students with college grades of B, C, and D, respectively.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>So what a 5 is in each subject is the average level of A students in lots of different colleges taking a comparable course. Some colleges have lower standards than others.</p>

17

<p>I think that bulletin is about right. The General Chemistry and General Biology courses at the top universities aren't impossible and are definitely not that much harder than an AP course. The disparity in standards, I believe, is more apparent in 200 level courses.</p>