AP Basics
What is an AP Exam?
An AP exam is a 3 hour exam that tests for college level mastery of a subject. There are over 30 AP exams in subjects ranging from Calculus to Chinese. Exams are scored from 1-5. Exams are a mixture of multiple choice and free response questions. Free response questions include essays, math problems, etc.
AP exams have several uses. Many colleges give credit for exams, generally for a score of 4 or 5. So if you get a 5 on the AP calculus exam, many colleges will give you a credit for that class.
What are the benefits of getting a High Score on an AP exam?
Save tens of thousands of dollars in tuition. You can save a year or more of your time and money.
Get into a more competitive college, or make you a candidate for a merit scholarship (including full ride scholarships, making college free).
Stand out to employers (depending on the industry), whether or not you go to college.'
Are AP Exams Run By the Government?
No. The College Board is a private company that has competitors, including the International Baccalaureate program, ACT, and other companies.
Like many large companies, the College Board manages to get some government subsidies, such as states paying testing fees for poorer students.
How do you Prepare for an AP Exam?
AP Exams do not require any formal class in the subject. The pages of this site will walk you through how to effectively and independently study for every subject with free or affordable resources.
Is Preparation Easier inside of a Private or Public School Class?
No. School classes make preparing for an AP exam much, much harder.
AP courses in schools tend to be pointlessly difficult, and full of nonsense busywork. Students in AP courses waste hours on oral reports with visual aids, unnecessary papers, and other frou-frou nonsense.
With at-home training, you can be more efficient.
Are AP Exams Politically Biased?
Yes, of course they are. We have never seen an unbiased history book, ever. Similarly, the AP exams in the humanities have some level of political bias. History AP exams will have the greatest political bias. The calculus and physics exams will have very little bias.
That said, the bias within the AP history exams, while certainly present, is much lower than what you would see inside the curriculum of a public or private school.
Do AP Exams Teach Evolution?
The Biology exam does, and the Environmental Science exam also alludes to it.
When do you Take the Exam?
AP Exams are given in May. There is a 2-week period during which exams are offered. You can take many exams each year.
However, note that some exams will be offered at the same time as others, so be sure to verify what conflicts there will be as you devise your academic plans. We can also help you with this planning.
Where do you Take the Exam?
Homeschoolers take the exam at a local school, just as with the SAT. To set up details, call 888-225-5427.
You do not need to do the nonsensical AP course audit or submit any of the nonsense forms they ask for. That is only needed if you want to use their specific resources, which are mostly useless.
Using third party training resources is about a million times more effective than using what the college board offers. The exam creators will not teach you how to demolish their own exams.
Awards
Based on your score, you can get various awards. Many people put these awards on their resumes (both college resumes and work resumes), and they can carry significant weight.
AP Scholar – Awarded to students who score 3 or higher on at least three AP exams.
AP Scholar with Honor – Awarded to students who have averaged a minimum of 3.25 on the AP exams they take and score 3 or higher on at least four of those exams.
AP Scholar with Distinction – Awarded to students who average a minimum of 3.5 on all their AP exams and score 3 or higher on at least five of these exams.
State AP Scholar – Awarded to one male and one female student in each state. The student must have a score of 3 or higher on the more AP exams than anyone else, as well as the highest average score on all the exams they take.
National AP Scholar – Awarded to students who average at least a score of 4 in all the AP exams they take and score 4 or higher on at least 8 of these exams.
International AP Scholar – Awarded to one male and one female student attending a school outside the United States or Canada with the greatest average score on the highest number of AP exams. A minimum score of 3 is mandatory.