Kind of a weird question, but with the stress of AP season, it crossed my mind. Can you actually get a zero on an AP exam if you completely bomb it, or is there a minimum score they give? Not that I'm planning to, but just curious about what safety nets (if any) the College Board might have.
Hi there! Definitely not a weird question—it's good to understand all aspects of the AP exams, especially when stress is running high. To answer your question directly, no, you can't score a literal zero on an AP test; the scores range from 1 to 5. Even if you were to leave the entire test blank, you’d still get a 1. Now, to earn that score of 1, it means the test taker demonstrates no understanding of the material. But in reality, just by attending the classes and being exposed to the content, it's highly unlikely that any student would have zero knowledge.
The College Board has structured the scoring so that there’s a baseline score, which reflects the range of college readiness. By showing even a little understanding, students can earn partial credit on the multiple-choice and free-response sections, so bombing completely is actually pretty difficult. Good luck on your exams; you're probably more prepared than you think!
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