Hey everyone, so I'm a little confused about how the AP exam curves work. Can anyone explain the process of determining the curves and how they affect our final AP scores? Are they different every year or generally stay the same?
Hey! I can definitely understand how AP exam curves can be confusing. Without going into too much detail, the AP Exam 'curve' you're referring to is actually a process called equating. Equating ensures that scores from different administrations of the same exam are comparable, so it's fair for every student regardless of when they took the test.
The equating process takes the raw score you receive (based on the number of questions you got right) and converts it to a scaled score ranging from 1 to 5. The College Board adjusts these scales slightly each year based on exams' difficulty levels and student performance, but they don't change drastically. It's important to note that the scaled score determines whether you passed the AP exam and, potentially, receive college credit.
In summary, the curve or equating process for AP exams aims to keep scoring fair and consistent across various test administrations. And while the exact scales may slightly change each year, they generally stay within a similar range. Good luck on your exams!
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