AP Exam scores of 3 are equivalent to grades of B-, C+, and C in college. The multiple-choice section is scored by computer.

What Is a Perfect AP Score and What Does It Signify? If you earn a perfect score on an AP exam, that means that you received every point possible on the exam . In other words, you answered every multiple-choice question correctly and scored the maximum amount of points on every free-response question.

An AP® score of 3 is a respectable score. The College Board designates a 3 to be “qualified”. That means that you understood and executed the material to the point that you could pass the college class. While you did not receive the highest grade in the class, you did pass.

AP exams are scored on a scale of 1 to 5. A score of 5, meaning the student is extremely well qualified to receive college credit for that course, is the highest score. A score of 4 means the student is well qualified and a score of 3 indicates that the student is qualified.

Now for the bad news: Although the College Board defines a 2 as “possibly qualified” to receive college credit, almost no college will accept a score of 2. In fact, most selective colleges will not accept a 3 for college credit. In the majority of cases, a student who scores a 4 or 5 will receive college credit.

A score of 3 or higher is generally considered good, because that means you passed the exam! A 4 is considered very good, and a 5 is especially impressive since it is the highest score. Also keep in mind that every college sets its own policy about AP credit.

If you are caught cheating on an AP exam they will nullify the grade, whatever grade you made on that exam. Depending on how motivated college board is they can also not let you take other exams and notify your high school and give colleges that information somehow.

United States History, Biology, English Literature, Calculus BC, Physics C, and Chemistry are often named as the hardest AP classes and tests.

The easiest AP classes to self-study are: Computer Science Principles, Psychology and Environmental Science. These are also rated as the easiest and least time-consuming AP classes overall, so you should be OK.

As a general rule, the classes with the least amount of material to learn before the AP® exam in May tend to be the easiest. The classes with this reputation are AP® US Government, AP® Psychology, AP® Human Geography, and AP® Environmental Science.

Will Colleges Look at AP Scores for Admissions? Typically, AP scores don’t go on your college application. Because they don’t count towards your GPA or become a part of your transcript, there isn’t actually any place on the application where they are required.

Basically, nothing happens if you fail an AP exam. Whether you get a passing or failing AP exam grade, you can still go to college. Colleges do not take a look at the AP exam as the only a criterion for accepting or rejecting a student.

AP classes affect GPA as well — regular classes usually weight an A in a class as a 4.0. But many high schools and colleges give AP classes an additional point. So it’s possible to have a 5.0 GPA credit from an AP class. Schools often weight honors classes higher than regular classes as well.

Many students ask me whether the AP Language test or the AP Literature test is harder. Different students may find different tests harder, but in general, the AP Literature test is harder.

Neither course is strictly easier, but there’s a reason why language usually comes first- it’s more foundational. The skills you learn there will help you write essays in other courses like AP Lit. Literature requires a lot more critical thinking in order to analyze the texts.

Yes! They focus on different skills. AP lang is about rhetoric rather than literature. At my university (and many other schools) AP lang gets you out of ENGL101 or the freshman year writing course.

In terms of college credit, most colleges use AP Lang and AP Lit to cover the same English requirement, so if you have a 5 on one, it’s probably not worth it to take the other one.

AP Lang is a difficult course, regardless of how good you are at English. Lots of writing (not too bad; you shouldn’t be in an AP humanity sort of class if you’re afraid of writing). I find that it just is a complex subject, personally. Bottom line, it’s the study of rhetoric.