What are AP exams?

Created by the Collegeboard (the entity that also administers SATs and PSATs), AP exams are used to gauge your knowledge, at the first-year university level, in a variety of subjects. There are 37 courses and exams to choose from, which seeks to broaden your horizons beyond that of the highschool level. Officially, AP exams are designed for motivated students that have a passion for the subject, but most students write AP exams for pragmatic reasons shown below. Nevertheless, it is important to have passion for the knowledge and interest in the subject so that studying for this exam would not become a burdensome, onerous, task. Otherwise, the enjoyment in gaining of knowledge would not be lost. AP exams are written in May.

Why write AP exams?

AP exams can save you a lot of money in university by giving you university credits. Although each exam costs $80-$100, the price for the university credits otherwise is usually much higher (at the range of $300-$600, depending on the exam). Also, these credits can give you some “down time” in university and thereby alleviate stress, or, if you choose, allow you to expand your horizons further by taking more electives.

The AP exams themselves are a challenge and a test of knowledge. If you score unsatisfactorily on the exam, you can cancel your score for a fee, although the score report will say “score cancelled” for that particular exam. A course is helpful in preparing for the exam, but many students self study the materials and write the exam – be sure to check with your school officials if you wish to attempt that, however, as some schools do not allow students that are not registered in a course to take the exam. In Canada in particular, finding a test center for self-studied students poses a formidable challenge.

Having AP exams in your academic record shows motivation and intellectual curiosity to colleges, so writing APs are helpful in the admissions process. The problem-solving and writing skills developed in those AP courses would also prepare you for university level work.

Exam Scoring:

The AP exams are scored on a scale from 1-5, with 1 acknowledging your ability to write your name on the exam paper, and 5 being fully competent in the exam materials. For each exam, about 20% of all students get a 5, and since the raw scores are not used in anything other than the Siemen’s award in the US, achieving perfection in the exam record is not extremely difficult. However, this also means that having 30 exams (the record number of AP exams taken by a single student, according to Collegeboard) may seem a lot better than having 6 exams, even if the person writing the 6 exams has achieved a perfect raw score in all of them, while the person writing 30 is merely on the borderline for 5s.

The raw score needed for a 5 varies by exam, but it is generally 55-70%. This allows for someone to not study everything in the course and still get a 5. A friend of mine who achieved a score of 5 for both AP Physics C Mechanics and Physics C Electricity & Magnetism had only taken the regular Physics B course, which, as opposed to C, has no calculus component and does not go into a number of important theorems. He started studying for Physics C the day before. That is not to say that he finished the entire course in one day (he did leave a full written question blank), but simply that he has studied sufficiently to cover more than 55% of the material.

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