the ap exam

THE AP EXAM

The exam is 3 hours and 5 minutes in length and consists of two sections: a 55-minute multiple-choice section and a 130-minute free-response section.

TOTAL TEST BREAKDOWN

50%

22%

14%

14%

Multiple Choice The DBQ

FRQ 1 FRQ 2

Multiple Choice BreakdownPeriod Covered

20%

45%

35%

Pre-Columbian to 17891790 to 19141915 to the present

Multiple Choice Breakdown:Material Covered

35%

40%

15%

10%

Political institutions, behavior, and pub-lic policySocial change, and cultural and intellec-tual developmentsDiplomacy and international relationsEconomic developments

Multiple Choice Breakdown:How many questions?

• The 80 questions that appear in the multiple-choice section of the exam are designed to measure what students know of the subject matter commonly covered in introductory college courses in U.S. history

• You have 55 minutes for this section!

Multiple Choice Breakdown:How many do I need to get right?

• The difficulty of the multiple-choice section is deliberately set at such a level that a student

has to answer about 60 % of the questions

correctly to receive a grade of 3.• So out of 80 questions --- you need to get at

least 48 right (more is better, of course!)

Multiple Choice Breakdown:

Should I guess? YES• Points are not deducted for incorrect answers,

and no points are awarded for unanswered questions.

• Because points are not deducted for incorrect answers, students are encouraged to answer all multiple-choice questions.

• LEAVE NO BLANK ANSWERS ALWAYS GUESS!!!!

Free-Response Section

• The free-response section of the exam consists of three parts.

Free-Response Section

• Part A includes a document-based essay question (DBQ) that must be answered by all students.

• ABOUT THE DBQ…

Free-Response Section:The DBQ

• The DBQ begins with a 15 minute mandatory reading period. SUGGESTED (and I SUGGEST you do) is 45 minutes to write your essay for the DBQ

• The DBQ is scored on a 1-to-9 scale.

SAMPLE

SAMPLE

Free-Response Section• Parts B and C each include two standard essay

questions. Students must choose one essayquestion from each part.

Free Response Summary

• THE DBQ is important! BUT it only counts for 22% of your total grade. The other two essays combined count for 28%.

• What this means is you cannot spend all your time on the DBQ!! To get a passing score you must write adequately (not great) on the essays. You are better off getting three scores of 5-7 than two 7’s and a 1!!!

Online Resources

www.youtube.comSeriously, this is a good resource!

Check out Mr. Wallace AP US History Exam Chapters 2-5 Review Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAo1tdZdsz8

Online ResourcesAnother good youtube resource is

apushistoryguru (just type that into your search)

Online Resources• http://www.course-notes.org/• http://www.apnotes.net/• http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/memb

ers/exam/exam_questions/2089.html• http://mrkash.com/united.htm• http://www.apstudent.com/• http://www.ushistory.org/us/

Online ResourcesGood Practice Quizzes!http://www.historyteacher.net/USQuizMainPage.htmhttp://www.advancedplacementhistory.com/US%20quizzes.htmlhttp://www.orange.k12.oh.us/teachers/ohs/Tjordan/pages/unittestquestions.html

Online ResourcesGood summary review of Presidents:Presidents of the United States (POTUS) Good site for primary sources:http://www.digitalhistory2.uh.edu/http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/content/american-legal-history.html

Online ResourcesSupreme Court Caseshttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/landmark.htmlhttp://www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark.aspx

I hope this was helpful!Mr. Meadows