Hey! I’m currently slogging through AP World History. I’m just wondering how the grading works for this specific AP exam. How do they decide on the final score, and what’s a good score if you're aiming for top colleges?
AP World History exams, like other AP exams, are graded on a scale of 1 to 5. The exam has two sections: multiple-choice questions and free-response questions, which include a document-based question (DBQ), a long essay, and short-answer questions. Each section is worth 50% of your final score.
The multiple-choice section is graded by a computer that counts the number of correct responses, while the free-response section is graded by college and high school AP history teachers during the annual AP Reading.
To ensure fairness, your free-response answers are anonymized and often scored by multiple readers, with any discrepancies resolved by a table leader for consistency. The points from both sections are then combined to determine a composite score, which is then translated to the 5-point AP scale.
Generally, a score of 3 is considered 'passing,' but for top colleges, you'll likely want to aim for a 4 or 5. Keep honing those analytical skills for the essays and practice those multiple-choice questions; it can make a big difference in pushing your score to the top range. Good luck on your exam!
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