Exam

The AP U.S. History exam lasts 3 hours and 15 minutes and

consists of two sections; additionally, each section is
divided into two parts. Section I, part A includes 55
multiple choice questions with each question containing
four choices. The multiple choice questions cover
American History from just before European contact with
Native Americans to the present day. Moreover, section I,
part B includes four short-answer questions. The first two
questions are required, but students choose between the
third and fourth questions. In total, students are given 95
minutes (55 for the multiple choice section and 40 for three
short-answer questions) to complete section I.
Section II of the exam is the free-response section, in which
examinees write two essays. Section II, part A, is a
document-based question (DBQ), which provides an essay
prompt and seven short primary sources or excerpts related
to the prompt. Students are expected to write an essay
responding to the prompt in which they utilize the sources
in addition to outside information. Section II, part B,
provides two thematic essay prompts. Students must
respond to only one of the two essay prompts.
Each thematic essay question on the AP exam may address
any one of four possible historical thinking skills: patterns
of continuity and change over time, comparison, causation,
or periodization. Both of the essay questions will address
the same historical thinking skill. In addition, neither
essay's time frame will be exclusively before 1607 (the
founding of Jamestown) or after 1980 (President Reagan's
election). There is a mandatory fifteen-minute reading
period for students to read the essay prompts, take notes,
and brainstorm; they may not begin to write the essays until
this period has ended. Students will then have 85 minutes
to write the two essays; 45 minutes are recommended for
the DBQ and 40 minutes for the thematic essay, but
students are free to work on the two essays as they see fit.[4]
In May 2011, the AP U.S. History Test was taken by
402,947 students worldwide,[5] making it second in terms of
number of examinees, behind the AP English Language and
Composition exam.[6]
Scoring
The AP U.S. History exam is divided into two sections.
Section one consists of the multiple choice and short
answer questions, while section two consists of the
document-based question (DBQ) and a long essay question.
Section one is worth 60% of the total AP exam score, with
40% of the total exam score derived from the student's
performance on the multiple choice section and 20% of the
total exam score derived from the student's performance on
the short answer questions. The remaining 40% of the total
exam score is derived from section two; the document-
based question is worth 25% of the total exam score, while
the long essay question is worth 15% of the total exam
score.[4]
Grade distribution
The score distributions since 2007 were:
Scor 200 200 200 201 201 201 201 201 201 201
2011
e 7 8 9 0 2 3 4 5[7] 6[8] 7[9]
11.1 8.5 11.0 11.0 11.0 11.8 10.6 11.0 9.3 11.7 10.
5
% % % % % % % % % % 9%
19.9 18.2 19.3 18.8 20.8 21.4 21.5 21.3 17.8 17.9 17.
4
% % % % % % % % % % 9%
22.2 21.4 22.1 22.9 21.0 21.7 21.8 20.1 23.6 22.5 22.
3
% % % % % % % % % % 6%
26.2 25.4 25.2 25.9 26.7 26.5 27.2 28.0 25.0 23.4 23.
2
% % % % % % % % % % 5%
20.6 26.5 22.2 21.4 20.5 18.6 18.9 19.6 24.3 24.5 25.
1
% % % % % % % % % % 1%
Mea
2.75 2.57 2.72 2.72 2.75 2.81 2.77 2.76 2.63 2.69
n
Num
ber
333, 346, 360, 387, 406, 427, 442, 462, 469, 489,
of
562 641 173 416 086 796 890 766 689 281
Stud
ents
Composite score range
The College Board has released information on the
composite score range (out of 180) required to obtain each
grade:[10][11]
Final Range Range Range Range
Score (1996) (2001) (2002) (2006)
5 117-180 114-180 115-180 106-180
4 96-116 92-113 94-114 85-105
3 79-95 74-91 76-93 68-84
 2 42-73 46-75 47-67 47-67
1 0-50 0-41 0-45 0-46
Note: The above composite score cut points reflect the pre-
2011 grading formula which deducted 0.25 points for every
incorrect multiple choice answer.