How the AP U.S. History exam is constructed



Please note that the College Board has announced that effective the May, 2011 AP U.S. History examination, incorrect answers will not be held against the exam-takers score - thus students will not be penalized for guessing.

Note: The College Board has announced that the 2011 AP U.S. History Exam will be administered on Friday, May 6th, 2010, in the morning session.

Section I - (50 percent of grade) 80 multiple choice questions, 55 minutes

Section II - (50 percent)

            A.  1 DBQ Essay            Total time: 60 minutes      Reading time: 15 minutes

            B.  1 Essay                    Total time: 35 minutes      Reading time:  5 minutes

            C.  1 Essay                    Total time: 35 minutes      Reading time:  5 minutes

"The exam is three hours and five minutes long.  In Section I, students answer 80 multiple-choice questions in 55 minutes.  In Section II, students are given 15 minutes to plan and 45 minutes to write an essay on the document-based question (DBQ), and 70 minutes to answer two essay questions.  Suggested time to be spent on each of the essay questions is 5 minutes of planning and 30 minutes of writing."

Quoted text taken from AP Central website.   

NOTE:  Final scoring of the AP U.S. History exam ranges from a score of 0 to a score of 5.  The point scale is reported as follows:

                      5       extremely well qualified

                      4       well qualified

                      3       qualified

                      2       possibly qualified

                      1       no recommendation

I

n the granting of advanced placement or credit, several colleges honor scores of 3 or higher.  Policies of colleges vary - some automatically give advanced academic standing or credit, while others respond individually to the particular situation.  You should check your colleges of choice to find out what their AP policies are. 

 

The AP U.S. History test is administered 

annually in May.    

 

For more information regarding general curriculum emphasis in testing, access the following link -

http://teacherweb.com/FL/NDHS/Timmerman/apt31.aspx