Mark up your test booklet.
You may be used to having teachers tell you not to write in
your books. But during AP tests, it's to your advantage to mark
up your test booklet. Label diagrams, cross out wrong answer
choices, and write down key information, acronyms, and mnemonic
devices in the margins. Remember to spell out the concept the
first time you use an acronym or mnemonic device.
Answer the easy questions first.
On the multiple choice sections, easy questions are worth just
as many points as hard questions. Your goal is to answer as many
questions correctly as possible—whether they're easy or hard. And
if you run out of time, you'll want to be sure you have gotten to
all the questions that could earn you points.
The trick, then, is to make two passes through the question
set. The first time through, answer all the questions you find
easy. Circle the harder questions in your test booklet so you can
come back to them later. Early in the exam, you're better off
acing three or four easy questions than you are struggling
through a tough one. The second time through is the time for
that. Go back and attack the harder questions you circled in the
first pass.
Guess intelligently and with caution.
Don't guess randomly: It could have a negative effect on your
score. You lose one-fourth of a point for each wrong answer but
no points for a blank answer. So if you know virtually nothing
about a topic and would be guessing from all five answer choices,
leave the question blank. But if you can rule out a few answer
choices as being clearly wrong, it's in your best interest to
guess. By eliminating one or preferably two answer choices as
clearly wrong, you improve your odds of guessing correctly.
Be careful with your answer grid.
Naturally, your score will be based on the answers that appear
on your answer grid. So be careful! Even if you have aced every
question, you'll be out of luck if you've marked your answers
incorrectly on the answer grid. Keep track of the spaces in
relation to the questions—particularly if you skip around. Also,
if you do change an answer, be sure to erase your previous answer
cleanly. Stray pencil marks may be misinterpreted by AP scoring
machines, so keep your answer sheet clean!
Tips for free-response questions
- Read the free-response questions twice, then organize your
answer based on the structure of the question.
- Keep track of time—you don't want to craft a perfect answer
for one question only to find you have no time left to answer
the others.
- Answer free response questions directly and
explicitly.
- Be careful with the factual statements you make—most of the
time, small factual errors won't hurt your score, but in some
cases they can be fatal.
- Prepare a quick outline and a list of key terms.