2020 AP results are out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every exam I checked had a higher distribution of 5s than in 2019.

So?

So ... exams were easier this year, certainly less material covered, and will mean less to colleges and, if there is another year like this, by time these frosh and sophs apply, colleges may weight APs even less when deciding to give credit or use to move past basic survey class requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every exam I checked had a higher distribution of 5s than in 2019.

So?

So ... exams were easier this year, certainly less material covered, and will mean less to colleges and, if there is another year like this, by time these frosh and sophs apply, colleges may weight APs even less when deciding to give credit or use to move past basic survey class requirements.

Where us your evidence that exams were “easier?”

Shorter doesn’t make them easier. Time limits basically require you have a mastery of the material to do well in the DBQ format in a short time.

Factor in the adaptability skills required for students to take these after being prepped for a different way all year and I think you may be drawing incorrect conclusions.

And colleges will accept the results. At least the ones that still accepted them before all of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My twins were both done with Spanish Lang in 15-20 minutes. I was also shocked at the length.

Same. 20 mins. It only tested them on speaking which is harder for non native speakers and for practicing. No writing. This doesn’t seem fair.

[Anonymous]

Psych - 3
Human Geo - 5
US Gov/Comp Gov - 4

He has pre registration counseling next week, so he should have a good idea of this along with DE classes and previous APs is enough for him to entire as a Sophomore. This will open up options to either complete BA/MA program in 4 years or BA in 3 years and on to law school.

[Anonymous]

Freshman DC got a 5 in APUSH and 4 in Physics 1. Pretty good for first experience with AP exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Freshman DC got a 5 in APUSH and 4 in Physics 1. Pretty good for first experience with AP exams.

Where can you take APUSH and Physics freshman year? Congrats on the scores.

[Anonymous]

I have a rising junior who took just one AP class but earned a 5 on the test (AP US Gov).

We are relieved not just because she worked her butt off to be prepared for the test, but because with so much up in the air about SATs/ACTs over the next year (and more?), high AP scores will presumably be more valuable than ever in the college admissions process. If kids don't have ACT or SAT scores to submit because they weren't able to take the test (more likely with rising seniors than rising juniors like my child), good APs will be all the more useful as HS-independent indicators of academic strength.

[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.

With that feedback from the 2 teachers, and it affecting a certification/seal he was hoping to achieve, it’s worth him finding out if he can. His teacher was so adament about his performance on the test that she pursued having a fellow teacher listen to it as well. And now is urging him to try to appeal. She’s not just saying “oh well”. So that means she thinks he has a strong case and it’s worth pursuing. Worst case, he still has the score he has now, right? Why not appeal, with that urging from 2 teachers?

[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

My kid bombed their exams. They are usually a 4/5 kid.

4s on Econ & Env Science
3 on the other econ
2s on Gov (normally the best subject) and Lit.

I am mildly peeved at them. They should have had all 4s and 5s based on the subjects. Oh well.

[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

My kid bombed their exams. They are usually a 4/5 kid.

4s on Econ & Env Science
3 on the other econ
2s on Gov (normally the best subject) and Lit.

I am mildly peeved at them. They should have had all 4s and 5s based on the subjects. Oh well.

But given the format, it's a complete crap shot. I have nothing but admiration for my kid after last year.

[Anonymous]

Anyone not get a score ? For AP govt my son got a code 1 and it states he’d have the score by August 1st ??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:10th grader got a 5 on APHUG.

Only 11.6% got a 5 and it had the highest % of students with a 1 (which was also true last year). I’m very proud of him, and I would never say this if this forum weren’t anonymous, but I had been very worried because he popped out of the room after 15 minutes and announced he was done with the first question and it was “really easy.” I know this sounds like a humble brag, but I do wonder if the score distribution is the result of APHUG being common for younger students to take and/or more kids of varying abilities take because it sounds easy?

This subject matter is my kid’s strength, and, fwiw, I don’t think he’ll even bother taking AP Calculus, but I just find this fascinating.

I don’t even know which class this is! Geography? Anyway is great about your son! Did he like the class?

Yes -- Human Geography. He really enjoyed the class, but he's the kind of kid who reads political history for fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:10th grader got a 5 on APHUG.

Only 11.6% got a 5 and it had the highest % of students with a 1 (which was also true last year). I’m very proud of him, and I would never say this if this forum weren’t anonymous, but I had been very worried because he popped out of the room after 15 minutes and announced he was done with the first question and it was “really easy.” I know this sounds like a humble brag, but I do wonder if the score distribution is the result of APHUG being common for younger students to take and/or more kids of varying abilities take because it sounds easy?

This subject matter is my kid’s strength, and, fwiw, I don’t think he’ll even bother taking AP Calculus, but I just find this fascinating.

I don’t even know which class this is! Geography? Anyway is great about your son! Did he like the class?

Yes -- Human Geography. He really enjoyed the class, but he's the kind of kid who reads political history for fun.

Congrats on a good score, but given the fact that no top college gives any credit or placement whatsoever for AP Human Geography because it is not considered a real or legitimate core academic subject, why did your kid bother to take and pay for a useless test?

Top colleges only award placement o credit for scores of 5 in about half of the AP tests that are offered. People should stop paying College Board to take useless tests like Psychology, Computer Science Principles, Physics 1 (only Physics C matters to top colleges), Comparative Govt, etc. Please take a look at the college's web site to see what exams credit is given for before throwing your money away. And at the top privates, only a score of 5 matters; public colleges will give credit for scores of 3 and 4 because they are happy to process students to graduate faster as their classes are oversubscribed to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Pp, WUSTL gives credit and/or higher class placement for computer sci principles, comparative gov, physics 1, psychology ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp, WUSTL gives credit and/or higher class placement for computer sci principles, comparative gov, physics 1, psychology ...

WUSTL isn't a top college. Of course, the cutoff for "top" college is somewhat arbitrary and subject to personal opinion, but as the trust fund thread has discussed, WUSTL is often regarded as an expensive bridesmaid to the real elite schools.