2020 AP results are out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2 on APWH. Oof.

2 in Physics. Parents of kids with 2s unite!

[Anonymous]

My child got a 3 on his only AP this year (it was his first). He was disappointed but there were only two questions and one was on material that hadn't yet been covered when the schools closed. That was the question he felt he did poorly on.

I really think it doesn't matter. Hopefully he will get some higher scores in 11th or 12th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Physics C E and M 5
Physics C Mech 5
Calc BC -- 4
Env Studies -- 5
Literature -- 2 !! Don't know what happened there -- last year he got a 5 on Lang
Spanish - 4

I know this is tangential but what is the difference among the 4 ap physics classes offerred? which is the “typical” physics class to take for a high achieving but not necessarily stem oriented student?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Physics C E and M 5
Physics C Mech 5
Calc BC -- 4
Env Studies -- 5
Literature -- 2 !! Don't know what happened there -- last year he got a 5 on Lang
Spanish - 4

I know this is tangential but what is the difference among the 4 ap physics classes offerred? which is the “typical” physics class to take for a high achieving but not necessarily stem oriented student?

AP Physics 1 and 2 are algebra based while Mech/E M are calculus. 2 is a little advanced then 1

I would recommend AP Physics 1

[Anonymous]

Calc AB = 4 (good)
APUSH = 3 (eh, ok)
Lang & Comp =1 (Yikes!) Oh well, he got an A in the class and I wouldn't want him skipping freshman comp class in college anyway LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child got a 3 on his only AP this year (it was his first). He was disappointed but there were only two questions and one was on material that hadn't yet been covered when the schools closed. That was the question he felt he did poorly on.

I really think it doesn't matter. Hopefully he will get some higher scores in 11th or 12th.

Don’t get discouraged. My DD scored 2 on first exam as a freshman. A 3 in 10th on APUSH and a 4 AP Lang and 5 AP Calculus B/C. There is hope.

[Anonymous]

PP again the 4 and 5 were this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Physics C E and M 5
Physics C Mech 5
Calc BC -- 4
Env Studies -- 5
Literature -- 2 !! Don't know what happened there -- last year he got a 5 on Lang
Spanish - 4

I know this is tangential but what is the difference among the 4 ap physics classes offerred? which is the “typical” physics class to take for a high achieving but not necessarily stem oriented student?

AP Physics 1 and 2 are algebra based while Mech/E M are calculus. 2 is a little advanced then 1

I would recommend AP Physics 1

To the PP who asked the question - My son just took both AP Physics Mechanics and AP Calculus, just like most of the kids in his cohort. As the PP said, Mechanics is calculus based. During the year, my son seemed to be doing well with calc. but struggled with physics. Midway through the year, I was talking to some parents who advised not taking AP Physics Mechanics at the same time as calc, because you need the calculus foundation for Physics. That advice came too late for my son, but might help other parents. DS just got his scores back and although he got a 5 on calculus, he only got a 2 in physics. He just doesn't know the subject matter. He agrees that it probably would have been better to have taken the class after he had a more solid calculus foundation. It might be ok for some students, but for my A/B with an occasional quarterly C thrown in student, he would have been better off waiting.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, PPs. I am the parent who asked the physics question. My child will take calculus junior year (and so far has been a strong math student) along with physics, so I assume physics 1 will probably be appropriate for him especially since his AP load will be greater next year. I saw the higher percentage of scores of 5 in the physics C exams so would have assumed those were the easier classes, so much appreciate the explanations since the guidance department at my child’s high school does not seem to dispense advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, PPs. I am the parent who asked the physics question. My child will take calculus junior year (and so far has been a strong math student) along with physics, so I assume physics 1 will probably be appropriate for him especially since his AP load will be greater next year. I saw the higher percentage of scores of 5 in the physics C exams so would have assumed those were the easier classes, so much appreciate the explanations since the guidance department at my child’s high school does not seem to dispense advice.

I think this is because by the time you get to Physics C only the strongest students are in that class. Similarly, I believe when I looked at the scores, Calculus BC has a higher % of 5s than Calculus AB. Doesn't mean BC is easier, just that it's more likely to be taken by the best math students.

[Anonymous]

My son took 5 AP exams this year - Calc BC, Macro, Micro, English Lit, Spanish. He did well in the first four (5's and one 4) but upset about his Spanish score of a 3. He's been a strong student in Spanish. I told him not to worry about it since he was planning to continue with Spanish in college (he graduated from high school in May) so he wasn't looking for credit and he has to take a placement test for his school anyway. He seemed to let it go. But this morning he got an email from his Spanish teacher telling him that he should contact the College Board to find out if he can appeal the score (she can only appeal the score if it is a 1 or 2). She listened to his exam (it was oral) and she said it was one of the best from his high school. She asked a friend who is an AP Spanish exam grader to listen as well and she said he should have gotten a 5 or at the very least a 4. Now he's upset again. I told him to just let it go because the College Board won't do anything about it but he's bothered because now he cannot get the Seal of Biliteracy. I don't think there is even a way to appeal a 3 but its up to him if he wants to try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son took 5 AP exams this year - Calc BC, Macro, Micro, English Lit, Spanish. He did well in the first four (5's and one 4) but upset about his Spanish score of a 3. He's been a strong student in Spanish. I told him not to worry about it since he was planning to continue with Spanish in college (he graduated from high school in May) so he wasn't looking for credit and he has to take a placement test for his school anyway. He seemed to let it go. But this morning he got an email from his Spanish teacher telling him that he should contact the College Board to find out if he can appeal the score (she can only appeal the score if it is a 1 or 2). She listened to his exam (it was oral) and she said it was one of the best from his high school. She asked a friend who is an AP Spanish exam grader to listen as well and she said he should have gotten a 5 or at the very least a 4. Now he's upset again. I told him to just let it go because the College Board won't do anything about it but he's bothered because now he cannot get the Seal of Biliteracy. I don't think there is even a way to appeal a 3 but its up to him if he wants to try.

DC score not as expected either. Why didn’t the exam have a written portion? It only tested a few minutes of speaking and was well under an hour.

[Anonymous]

I think that you still get the seal if you scored a three. At least that's what the FCPS World Languages site says, maybe it varies by school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that you still get the seal if you scored a three. At least that's what the FCPS World Languages site says, maybe it varies by school?

I believe it varies by state. Maryland requires at least a 4.

http://marylandpublicschools.org/about/Documents/DCAA/World-Languages/Biliteracy/PurposeandEligibility.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son took 5 AP exams this year - Calc BC, Macro, Micro, English Lit, Spanish. He did well in the first four (5's and one 4) but upset about his Spanish score of a 3. He's been a strong student in Spanish. I told him not to worry about it since he was planning to continue with Spanish in college (he graduated from high school in May) so he wasn't looking for credit and he has to take a placement test for his school anyway. He seemed to let it go. But this morning he got an email from his Spanish teacher telling him that he should contact the College Board to find out if he can appeal the score (she can only appeal the score if it is a 1 or 2). She listened to his exam (it was oral) and she said it was one of the best from his high school. She asked a friend who is an AP Spanish exam grader to listen as well and she said he should have gotten a 5 or at the very least a 4. Now he's upset again. I told him to just let it go because the College Board won't do anything about it but he's bothered because now he cannot get the Seal of Biliteracy. I don't think there is even a way to appeal a 3 but its up to him if he wants to try.

DC score not as expected either. Why didn’t the exam have a written portion? It only tested a few minutes of speaking and was well under an hour.

I was home when my son took the exam, and I could not believe how short it was. IMO, the AP exams were a joke this year but the College Board didn't want to refund the fees. He's taken many other APs over the years and he said that there's no way these exams shortened from ~3 hours to 45 minutes (or less) assessed anyone's mastery of the material. I am happy to wash my hands of the College Board.