The AP US Government exam is 3 hours long and includes multiple choice questions (0:50) and FRQs, or free response questions (2:05).
The AP US Government exam is 3 hours long and includes multiple choice questions (0:50) and FRQs, or free response questions (2:05). Did you know that the CED, or course exam description, is a PDF document released by the College Board and readily available online? (3:10) AP Exams are scored on a 1-5 scale with opportunities for practice are on AP Classroom (3:33).
The Question of the Day asks (5:41) True or False - You will have no idea which Supreme Court cases you need to know for the test.
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Hi and welcome to the APsolute Recap: US Gov Edition. Today’s episode will recap exam structure and an overview of what to expect on the actual day.
Lets Zoom out
The AP US Government exam is 3 hours long - Deep breath! It includes multiple choice questions and FRQs, or free response questions. As students, you’ve taken many tests with multiple choice questions in the past - so what makes an AP exam any different?
Lets Zoom in
The multiple choice questions are designed to test certain skills including: data analysis and inference, content application, and comparison. These 55 multiple choice questions are taken in 80 minutes. You should have more than enough time to do that, so it is important for you to make sure you are reading all parts of the data source provided (ie the axis and key/scale). You should spend between 60-90 seconds on each question.
How do you get to this pacing? Well, practice. It can be really hard to get to a point of answering these questions so quickly. But the more that you practice, the better you will get. Its kind of like baseball. If you’re stepping up to the plate - you’ve taken some practice swings. And you’ve probably swung a bat that has a weight on the end. When you are practicing to take these multiple choice questions, challenge yourself. Try to complete them at first in two minutes, working your way up to 90 seconds, and then to really challenge yourself in those last few weeks leading up to the exam, work on finishing multiple choice questions at a faster pace than necessary. On the day of the exam, you will be allowed to bring in a watch. But this has to be a traditional, non smartphone style watch. Having a watch on your wrist while you are practicing will allow you to feel more comfortable using this as a pacing guide on the day of the exam.
The other 100 minutes of testing will come from free response questions. There are four of them, each worth 12.5% of your FRQ score which is then 50% of your final score. Question1 is a concept application and is worth three points. Although each FRQ is worth 12.5%, the other questions are worth more points. This means that each individual point on question one is worth more! Make sure you take your time here. You will be given an authentic scenario you haven’t previously studied and be asked to describe and explain effects of political institution, behavior or process. You will then be asked to apply that concept to a new situation.
Question 2 is a quantitative analysis, usually of a visual. Question 3 will be your Supreme Court analysis where you will take information about one of the 15 required Supreme Court cases and apply the line of reasoning there to another unknown case.
Finally, Question 4 is an argumentative essay worth 6 points. We will go over how to write a successful essay in a future episode.
I’m going to let you in on a secret. The information that your teachers have, you can have too. The CED, or course exam description, is a PDF document that is released by the College Board and readily available online. I encourage you to download this document. In it, it will have practice questions, layouts of the exam, as well as an overview of all 5 units that you will be expected to study.
How is your exam scored? Well, all AP exams are scored on the same 5 points scale. However, not all percentage correct questions equates to the same score on an exam. What I mean by that is getting half of the information correct on one type of topic may get you a three while on another topic, it may get you a four. The methods of these scorings do change from year to year. However, as a general rule, if you are earning a 5 on an AP exam, this correlates to having an A’s content knowledge in a college level course. A 4 represents being comfortable with the material to earn a B, B+ or A-. Whereas a 3 represents a C, C+ or B- grade.
One of the great innovations of the 2020 school year and the redevelopment of the college board online platforms was launching of AP classroom. If you are signed up to take the exam in May, you’ve already registered through AP classroom. However, it has many more tools than just to sign up. The AP Classroom consists of practice question, called progress checks, that allow you to get instant feedback on how comfortable and how capable, and how ready you are for all of the information coming up for your exam. If you have not yet practiced with any of these questions, I encourage you to speak to your teacher. Ask them to assign them. The purpose of these questions is for practice. They will not count against your grade in class. But this will give you a realistic expectation of what you know and what you don’t. Half of the struggle of preparing for an exam is to figure out what you need to work on. Once you’ve completed your progress checks, you’ll have a better understanding of what you still need to study. That's where the APsolute Recap US Government edition comes in.
To recap.
The government exam consists of two sections. The first, a multiple choice section, is 80 minutes long and contains 55 questions. The second is free response questions. This is 100 minutes long and contains 4 questions. Parts 1 and 2 are equally weighted and will both contribute toward your score. Remember, AP exams are scored on a scale of 1-5.
Coming up next on the Apsolute RecAP US Government Edition: The Articles of Confederation
Today’s question of the day is about exam structure.
True or False - You will have no idea which Supreme Court cases you need to know for the test.