AP World History
Multiple Choice Exam
General Facts
• The Advanced Placement World History exam
consists of two equally weighted sections.
• Section one is the Multiple Choice section with
70 questions that must be completed in 55
minutes.
• Section Two is a Free Response or essay
section consisting of three essays that must be
written in 120 minutes after a 10 minute reading
period.
– There is one Document Based Question (DBQ), one
Change over Time (COT) and one Comparative essay
(COMP).
Facts
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Multiple choice is 50% of the total score
70 questions in 55 minutes
1 point if correct, .25 off if incorrect
Each year the College Board uses a sliding
scale and changes the number of correct
questions and overall score needed to make
each of the 5 broad marks.
• Set a goal to get 35 points
– This will probably get you a 3 or higher
Coverage
• The multiple choice questions will cover the
curriculum as outlined in the course description
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Unit 1 Foundations (8000 BCE – 600 CE) (19-20%)
Unit 2 Post Classical (600 – 1450) (22%)
Unit 3 World Network (1450 – 1750) (19-20%)
Unit 4 Industrialization (1750 – 1914) (19-20%)
Unit 5 Modern Era (1914 – Present)(19-20%)
• Questions will go in chronological order from
1 – 35, then repeat for 36-70.
• Many questions will be also be cross period and
compare different civilizations, or how they
changed over time.
Strategies
• In order to receive a score high enough to earn
college credit, you do not have to answer all the
questions correctly.
• Some questions are designed for most students
to miss. They range from 10 – 90% correct
• Many students don’t show what they know
because they don’t know how to work the
questions
– Get rid of bad answers
– Find correct answer in short period of time.
How to Show What you Know
• Remember
– Do not spend to much time on any one
question.
– Finishing is not the goal accuracy is.
– 4 out of 5 answers you read are wrong.
– If you do not know the answer right away, or if
the question looks too difficult, skip it and
come back to it later.
Guessing
• Loose ¼ point for wrong answer
• Smart guesses can increase your score
• Try to eliminate at least two incorrect
answers.
• If you can, the odds are in your favor.
Skipping
• Skipping saves you time
– 70 questions in 55 minutes
• Use the whole time, more time for harder questions
• Look for the easy questions first
– Don’t spend too long deliberating
• Don’t answer harder questions first time through
– Skip to get to the questions you know
– Come back later to make a good guess or leave blank
Finishing is the goal
• Find the pace you work efficiently without
sacrificing accuracy
– Don’t dawdle or zip through
• You set the pace
– 70 questions in 55 minutes is a good pace if
you can maintain accuracy.
• Remember you will go back to check the
questions you skip later.
Four out of Five are Bad
• AP Exam writers first formulate the
question, then craft the correct answer.
• Still must come up with 4 incorrect
answers
• They try to come up with distracters
– Closely related facts, partly correct
• Instead of looking for correct answer 1st,
assume each answer is wrong and cross it
off, use the process of elimination.
Step by Step Process
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1. Read the Question
2. Ask When? Who? What?
3. Process of Elimination
4. Answer or skip to next question
5. Use all 55 minutes to go over questions,
you may go over the questions 3 or 4
times.
Read the Question
• What are they asking?
• Rephrase the question in your own words
• Sometimes other questions can help you
find the answer on another question.
When? Who? What?
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What time period are you in?
Who is involved?
What is going on?
Do this before you look at the answers
– Call up any relevant history that you know
– If you know a lot, focus on correct answer
– If not, still try and get rid of wrong answers
Process of Elimination
• Look for what makes an answer wrong
• Cross off the choices you know are wrong
• Leave the ones you think are right or the
ones you are uncertain
Skip and Go
• Narrow down the choices as far as you can go
• Can you identify the correct answer?
– If yes pick it
– If not skip and go
• Don’t spend too long trying to figure out which
choice is right
• Remember question number 70 could be the
easiest question on the test and one you know
the answer for.