<p>I took five AP exams this year, and all of my actual scores were within 1 point of my predictions, EXCEPT AP Euro. I felt like a 5 when I walked out of the test, but the phone report said I got a 3.</p>
<p>The whole year my strength was in my essays, and I am confident I got a 9 on my DBQ and 7+ on the two FRQs. All of my in-class essays were 8s and 9s (my teacher grades really tough), and I made sure to get every extra point possible in the DBQ on the AP Test.</p>
<p>According to appass.com, these essay scores (9/7/7) would give me a fair 3 without even considering the Multiple-choice score. According to appass.com, I would need to get 36+/80 multiple choice questions right to get a 5. Our teacher gave us an old AP test as our final (that I felt was comparable in difficulty to this year's) and I got 56/80.</p>
<p>I know that the proportion of scores that have errors are statistically low, but I truly feel like I scored much higher than a 3.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that re-counts are expensive-ish, but I’m not sure exactly how much. There are some questions that came to mind when I read this:
*Is there a reason why the MC could have been messed up, like you didn’t erase well or smudged or something?
*For the credits you’ll receive in college, is there a difference between a 3 and a 5? sometimes there isn’t, I think
*Do you have the $ to try to get a rescore?</p>
<p>If you have the $ and you’re 100% positive there was a problem (especially if you know you had a bad pencil or eraser or whatever) I’d say, why not, I guess…? You seem really sure of yourself, so… :)</p>
<p>If you have to money to re-score, and you are this confident, I have no reason to advise against such a thing.</p>
<p>But… even though a 9 on the DBQ seems reasonable (as it is extremely formulaic), don’t you think 7/7 on the other two essays would be expecting too much?</p>
<p>@Everyone: It is 25 dollars for a rescore. If you have that money to spare, you can do it. Also, I would STRONGLY reconsider the 9/7/7. Graders are notoriously known to be more conservative in scoring compared to the average instructor. ESPECIALLY for “holistic” scores, such as the AP Historys and English. The Math & Sciences are easier because they give points for right answers and work, nothing holistic about it.</p>
<p>The reason I feel confident about my 9/7/7 is that my instructor is a grader for collegeboard and has been grading the AP Euro test for years. He constantly told us that he grades our in-class essays much harder than an official grader would be allowed to, and how he has to go easy when he’s grading actual AP essays.</p>
<p>I know 9/7/7 is high, but essay writing is my strength in history, and from looking at sample essays (with scores) and reading scoring rubrics from old exams, I feel that my weakest essay would not be lower than a 7.</p>
<p>Even if what you said is true, you should consider the fact that maybe your essays were received by an even tougher grader or maybe you didn’t do as good as you thought? I would say the latter is the most likely case. I mean, a 9 is really tough to be sure of. I heard that about 1 in 100 essays is a 9. </p>
<p>^ Then, by all means, request a re-score. Keep in mind, however, that even if your FRQs happened to be at fault for your 3, that they will not be regraded. So make sure that you are confident of your 5 before you spend $25.</p>
<p>And more importantly, make sure you blame a low MC score for your 3. Because even if the grader gave your FRQs/DBQs 1/1/1, you will NEVER see those scores increase. Only MC score can go up.</p>
<p>Buy back your FR booklet and have your teacher look over them. If he feels that your essays are indicative of a 3 (or even 4), don’t rescore. But if he is sure that the essays are of 5 quality, definitely rescore. Make sure you ask him to be super strict when he looks them over; you want an honest opinion before you spend $25.</p>
<p>I, like all the other posters, believe that you may be too confident about your essays. Your DBQ, for instance: maybe you thought you understood several documents, but you really didn’t and grouped them egregiously. Maybe the reader couldn’t find your thesis. Maybe your handwriting was somehow illegible. And bam. There goes a core point, forget about all the “extra” points you may have gotten for using all the documents, etc. I mean, essay grading is extremely subjective and unpredictable, especially when graders grade hundreds of essays in a limited period of time. And when you request a rescore, only your MC gets rescored. </p>
<p>Still. Anything is a possibility, and there is a huge discrepancy between thinking you got a solid 5 and in fact getting a 3. If you have the financial means, I say do it. If not, it’s okay - you can always cancel your score, and a 3 is still a pass, it still may get you some college credits. And lastly, I want to leave off with saying at one AP will not make or break you in terms of college admissions. Rescore if it bothers you, but it’s okay if you’re stuck with a 3. Remember to enjoy your summer, and good luck in whatever you decide to do. :)</p>
<p>You may have done something like shifting all your answers down by 1 question, making nearly all your multiple choice wrong. In this case, a rescore will do nothing except give you the same score.</p>
<p>Check to see if the university you will attend next fall (if you are a senior) or are considering attending (if not) actually care about the difference between a 3 and a 5 on that particular test. If there is no difference from the point of view of the university (whether you get the same credit for a 3 or 5, or whether no credit for a 3 or 5), then don’t bother. Even if there is a difference in credit between a 3 and 5, if it makes no difference for your likely major(s), then don’t bother.</p>