AP European History
Exam format, tips and tricks
Part I: Multiple Choice Section
• There are 80 multiple choice questions,
each with 5 possible answers
• You will have 55 minutes to do these
• You will not know the answer to every
question. Some will be on information
that is not in your book and was never
discussed in class. That’s ok.
Part I: Multiple Choice Section
• If you have a question for which you
do not know the answer, Guess!
Part I: Multiple Choice Section
• You are awarded ONE POINT for every
correct answer
• You gain/lose nothing for questions
answered incorrectly
number correct X 1.125 = MC score
Part I: Multiple Choice Section
• 40 questions correct (40)
• 40 X 1.125 = 45 Part I Score
• This is 50 percent of the total test
score
Section IIA: Document Based
Question
• This essay is worth 45% of the Part II score,
27 ½ % of the total exam score
• This is scored on a rubric scale of 1-9. You
have a copy of a generic rubric in your study
guides
• There will be about 12 documents. You must
use at one more than half and analyze at least 3
• Outside information is required for a score
higher than 6
Section IIA: Document Based
Question
• You will have a 15 minute mandatory read time
where you will read the docs, take notes, make
an outline, note analysis and outside info, etc.
• After 15 minutes, you will be told to open the
booklet and to start writing.
• You should spend approximately 45 writing this
essay.
• In reality, you’ll probably spend closer to an
hour
Section IIB: Thematic Essays
• You will have two groups of three essays.
• You must select one essay from each group
• Each essay is worth 27 ½ % of the Part II
score, which is 13.75% of the entire test
each
• They are graded on a 1-9 point scale
Section IIB: Thematic Essays
• You should spend 5 minutes
organizing each essay, and
approximately 30 minutes writing
each one
The final score
• DBQ (out of 9)
__________ X 4.5 = ___________
• Thematic I (out of 9) __________ X 2.75 = ___________
• Thematic II (out of 9) __________ X 2.75 = ____________
• Sum of essay weighted scores
= ____________
• Composite Score
_____________ + _______________ = _________________
Weighted
Weighted
Composite Score
Section I
Section II
(round to nearest whole
number)
The Final Score
45 Multiple choice score (see slide 7)
6 on DBQ (6 X 4.75 = 28.5)
5 on T1
(5 X 2.75 = 13.75)
4 on T2
(4 X 2.75 = 11.00)
Add all weighted Part II scores together and
round to the nearest whole number.
Section II Score = 53.25 = 53
The Final Score
Section I + Section II = _______
45 + 53 = 98
Composite
Range
122-180
AP
Grade
5
College Board
definitions
99-121
66-98
45-65
0-44
4
3
2
1
Well qualified
Extremely well
qualified
Qualified
Possibly qualified
No recommendation
Average
college grade
A
B
C
D
F
___49.5______ +_____60__________ = __110____
Weighted
Weighted
Composite Score
Section I
Section II (round to nearest whole number)
Composite
Range
122-180
AP
Grade
5
99-121
66-98
45-65
0-44
4
3
2
1
College Board
definitions
Extremely well
qualified
Well qualified
Qualified
Possibly qualified
No recommendation
Average
college grade
A
B
C
D
F
A 110 composite score would be a
4
• The nationwide scores on the AP European
Bell Curve
History exam generally
form a bell curve.
• Below is a breakdown of a recent exam.
Score
Extremely well qualified
Number of Percent at
students
Grade
Possibly qualified
5
4
3
2
6,390
11,206
19,451
9,506
11.9
20.9
36.3
17.8
Not recommendation
1
6,958
13.0
Well qualified
Qualified