# AP scores question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-scores-question/153074
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 5, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-scores-question/153074 "2003-02-05T23:45:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-scores-question/153074/1 "2003-02-05T23:45:00Z")
How are the AP exams scored?
IIRC, in the movie _Stand and Deliver_, a score of ‘5’ is described as a perfect score. Is this accurate, or is a ‘5’ merely mean the testee is in the top (whatever)% of that year’s test takers?
I got a ‘5’ on the Computer Science AB exam in the late 80’s. Somehow I doubt that I got every question right.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-scores-question/153074/2 "2003-02-05T23:46:52Z")
5 is not a perfect score, it’s merely the best grade you can get. Same thing as getting an A on the more familiarly used grading system.
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### Author:  [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-scores-question/153074/3 "2003-02-05T23:52:14Z")
In the Calculus AB test, getting at least 5/7 of the exam questions right gives you a 5. For the English tests, the individual essays get grades, and they use some kind of algorithm to figure out how much weight essays and multiple choice questions get ( I think essays are about 2/3 of the total score). Those are just the ones that I took, but I would guess the Comp Sci test would go something along the Calculus lines.
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### Author:  [@hobbes730](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobbes730)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-scores-question/153074/4 "2003-02-05T23:56:43Z")
For all tests (except art) a five is the best you can do. However, rarely does this mean you got anywhere near a perfect score. On some tests you can get every single multiple choice question wrong and still get a 4 or 5 just by writing freaking good free responses (essays).
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### Author:  [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-scores-question/153074/5 "2003-02-05T23:58:18Z")
God bless AP/IB.
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### Author:  [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-scores-question/153074/6 "2003-02-06T00:23:17Z")
So, in general, how poorly can one do and still get a passing score (usually 3 or above)?
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### Author:  [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2003, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-scores-question/153074/7 "2003-02-06T01:14:48Z")
I would think the scoring levels would change each year depending upon the difficulty of the test.
In my day, you had to get a 3 to get any kind of credit. I got a 5 on the test I studied my ass off (Amer. History) and got a 3 on the one I just walked into cold (Eng. Comp.)
From my experience with the test, if you only do well on the multiple choice part (as I did with the English test), you can get a 3.
However, I have that sort of intelligence that standardized tests love to measure. God bless the SATs!
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### Author:  [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-scores-question/153074/8 "2003-02-06T01:31:05Z")
3 is passing for AP. This does not change, since the scale does not change. It isn’t a bell curve…
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### Author:  [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-scores-question/153074/9 "2003-02-06T01:52:44Z")
My “5” on the English exam got me out of two years of English in college, so I’m thankful for the scoring no matter what form it took.