AP Exam Information
The Advanced Placement test in US History is designed to test the college-level readiness of students in this subject. This particular exam stresses the development of historical thinking skills while learning about the past. Thinking skills used by historians are aligned with contemporary scholarly perspectives on US History and then, within this framework, learning objectives are organized into seven major themes. These represent the major historical understandings that colleges and universities want AP students to have developed in order to receive credit for an introductory college US History course.
The AP Exam will:
The AP US History Exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes long and includes a 100-minute multiple choice/short answer section and a 95-minute free response section. Each section is divided into 2 parts:
The multiple-choice section:
The free-response (written) section:
The AP Exam will:
- measure student proficiency in the four emphasized historical thinking skills
- measure student proficiency across the seven emphasized thematic learning objectives
- have only questions (both multiple choice and free-response) that are rooted in these specified learning objectives
- only assess students on the material that is presented on the AP US History concept outline
The AP US History Exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes long and includes a 100-minute multiple choice/short answer section and a 95-minute free response section. Each section is divided into 2 parts:
- Section 1 includes 55 multiple choice questions (55 minutes) and 3 short-answer questions (45 minutes)
- Section II includes one Document-Based Question (60 minutes) and one long essay question (35 minutes)
The multiple-choice section:
- questions will be written about the learning objectives and the required historical concepts for the course
The free-response (written) section:
- essay questions will be written about the learning objectives for the course and students have the flexibility to use examples of their own choosing
AP Exam Scoring |
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Scores on the free-response questions are weighted and combined with the results of the computer-scored multiple-choice questions and this raw score is converted into an AP score ranging from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). Scoring a 5 on the AP Exam is equivalent to earning an A in an introductory college course. Scoring a 4 is equivalent to an A-, B+ or B. AP Exam scores of 3 are equivalent to earning a college grade of B-, C+ and C.
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Short Answer Questions (SAQ) |
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- 3 Questions | 40 Minutes | 20% of Exam Score
- Analyze historians' interpretations, historical sources, and propositions about history
- Questions provide opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know best
- Some questions include texts, images, graphs, or maps
- Students choose between two options for the final required short-answer question, each one focusing on a different time period
- Question 1 (required): periods 3-8
- Question 2 (required): periods 3-8
- Students choose between Question 3, periods 1-5, and Question 4, periods 6-9
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Long Essay Questions (LEQ) |
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- 1 Question | 40 Minutes | 15% of Exam Score
- Explain and analyze significant issues in U.S. history
- Develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence
- The question choices focus on the same theme and skill, but students choose from three options, each focusing on a different range of time periods:
- Option 1: periods 1-3
- Option 2: periods 4-6
- Option 3: periods 7-9
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Document-Based Questions (DBQ) |
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- 1 Question | 60 Minutes (includes 15-minute reading period) | 25% of Exam Score
- Assess written, quantitative, or visual materials as historical evidence
- Develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence
- The document-based question focuses on topics from periods 3 to 8
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Helpful Writing Hints |
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