AP United States History
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Advanced Placement United States History (AP US History, APUS or APUSH) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program.
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[edit] Course
This course is for students desiring a freshman college-level course in United States history. The course is a survey of the nation's history from 1492 to the present using a college-level textbook such as The American Pageant, used by 40 percent of all AP US History classes, Out of Many, and Alan Brinkley's American History: A Survey, as well as Gary B. Nash's The American People, Eric Foner's Give Me Liberty The National Experience, A People and a Nation, The Enduring Vision, and Edward L. Ayers' American Passages, among others. Students may use supplemental materials, such as review books, to prepare for the examination. Students are also required to write college-level essays and participate in class discussion in preparation for the exam. No high school or college course is required to take the AP test, however.
[edit] Exam
The AP US History exam lasts 3 hours and 5 minutes and is comprised of two parts. Part I consists of 80 multiple choice questions with each question containing five choices. Students have 55 minutes to complete this part of the exam. The questions cover American History from the colonial era to modern times (from 1607 until nearly the present day.) In addition to traditional-style questions, there are often a few political cartoons, maps, and charts to interpret. The questions in this part tend to flow from easier questions to harder ones.
Part II of the exam is the free-response section, composed of a document-based question (DBQ) and two thematic essays, commonly called free-response questions. Part II begins with the DBQ, which provides an essay prompt and anywhere from nine to thirteen primary sources (documents) related to the prompt. Students are expected to write an essay responding to the prompt in which they utilize the documents in addition to outside information. The remainder of Part II consists of four essay prompts--two are from the pre-Civil War period and two are from the post-Civil War period. Students must write two essays: one from each set. There is a mandatory fifteen-minute reading period for students to read the prompts and the documents, take notes, and brainstorm, however they may not begin writing the essay until this period has ended. They then have 115 minutes to write the three essays. It is recommended that students spend 45 minutes on the DBQ and 35 minutes on each essay, since the DBQ counts for more points than either essay, but the only timing enforced is the full 115 minute period. [1]
[edit] Cheating
The exam is heavily monitored to prevent illicit activity and cheating. Proctors are present during all exams and cell phones and electronic devices are banned from the testing rooms. Students are not allowed to discuss multiple choice questions with anyone at any time and may only discuss essay questions 48 hours after the exam.
[edit] Scoring
The multiple-choice section of the exam accounts for 50% of the final score, as does the free-response portion. For the former, each multiple-choice question answered correctly earns 1.125 points. Those answered incorrectly subtract 1/4 of a point, while questions omitted do not affect the multiple-choice score. A perfect score on the multiple-choice section is 90. As for the free-response, the DBQ is worth 45% of the section's total value, while the two thematic essays are each worth 27.5% (55% combined). [2]
[edit] Grade distribution
In the 2007 administration, 311,000 students took the exam from 10,465 schools. The mean score was a 2.74. This exam was the most widely taken AP exam in 2007.[3]
The grade distribution for 2007 was:
| Score | Percent |
|---|---|
| 5 | 11.0% |
| 4 | 19.9% |
| 3 | 22.2% |
| 2 | 26.1% |
| 1 | 20.8% |
[edit] Popularity
The AP United States History Test is the most popular AP exam, with over 300,000 test-takers per year over the last several years. To put this into perspective, more than 1 in every 1000 American residents takes the test every May. [4]
[edit] Composite score range
The College Board has released information on the composite score range (out of 180) required to obtain each grade:[5]
| Final Score | Range (2001) | Range (2002) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 114-180 | 115-180 |
| 4 | 92-113 | 94-114 |
| 3 | 74-91 | 76-93 |
| 2 | 42-73 | 46-75 |
| 1 | 0-41 | 0-45 |
[edit] References
- ^ AP: U.S. History
- ^ AP: U.S. History
- ^ Grade Distribution Report from collegeboard.com
- ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/us.html CIA - The World Factbook
- ^ AP: The Grade-Setting Process. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
