AP World History Exam
Exam Layout, Reminders, Tips, Tricks, &
THREE RULES
Mrs. Osborn
Reminders
• Get a good night’s rest Wednesday
and eat a good breakfast before
reporting to your testing room on
Thursday
• Leave your cell phone at home
• Wear a watch
• Bring plenty of #2 pencils (with
good erasers!)
• Be calm, you can do it!
Exam Layout
• The AP World History Exam is 3 hours and 5
minutes long.
• It includes 2 sections:
• A 55-minute multiple-choice section (1/2 of exam
score)
• A 130-minute free-response section. (1/2 of exam
score)
Test Breakdown
Question Type
Number of Questions
Timing
Multiple-Choice
70 questions
55 minutes
Document-based question
1 question
50 minutes (includes 10minute reading period)
Continuity and Change-overtime essay
1 question
40 minutes
Comparative essay
1 question
40 minutes
Section I: Multiple-Choice
• Section I consists of 70 multiple-choice questions designed to measure the
student's knowledge of world history from Period 1 to the present. This section
follows the percentages listed below; questions will draw from individual or
multiple periods:
Periods
1 Technological and Environmental
Transformations
2 Organization and Reorganization of
Human Societies
3 Regional and Transregional
Interactions
4 Global Interactions
5 Industrialization and Global
Integration
6 Accelerating Global Change and
Realignments
to c. 600.B.C.E.
Period Weights
5%
c. 600.B.C.E. to c. 600
C.E.
c. 600 C.E. to c.1450
15%
c. 1450 to c. 1750
c. 1750 to c. 1900
20%
20%
c. 1900 to Present
20%
20%
• Multiple-choice questions will also measure various geographical regions, with
no more than 20 percent of multiple-choice questions focusing solely on Europe.
Section II: Free-Response Questions
• In Section II is the free-response section of the exam.
• Part A begins with a mandatory 10-minute reading period for
the document-based question. Students should answer the
document-based question in approximately 40 minutes.
• In Part B students are asked to answer a question that deals
with continuity and change over time (covering at least one of
the periods in the concept outline). Students will have 40
minutes to answer this question, 5 minutes of which should be
spent planning and/or outlining the answer.
• In Part C students are asked to answer a comparative question
that will focus on broad issues or themes in world history and
deal with at least two societies. Students will have 40 minutes to
answer this question, 5 minutes of which should be spent
planning and/or outlining the answer.
General Advice
• Read & follow the directions carefully. If the directions state…
– "Answer one of the two questions in Part B and one of the two
questions in Part C" and then you answer both Part B questions, the
grade received on the exam will probably not reflect accurately what
you know about the topics.
– Phrases like "All of the following... EXCEPT" or "Which of the following
did NOT..." contain critical words.
– If an essay asks for two examples, then you need to give two.
• Fill in those bubbles for the multiple-choice questions carefully
– Marking an answer for question five, when you meant to respond to
question six is a common error that can happen easily when you skip a
question.
– So that this doesn't happen to you, put a mark in your exam booklet
(not on the answer sheets) when you bypass a question. Check
frequently to be sure that the number of the question on your answer
sheet corresponds to the number of the question in your exam booklet.
General Advice
• Be aware of the time available throughout the test,
and concentrate on questions you can respond to best
– Skilled test-takers make a quick estimate of the amount of
time the various questions or sections of a test will require,
stay aware of the time available throughout the test, and
concentrate on questions they can respond to best. On the
multiple-choice section, note the number of questions and
the time allotted for them.
– WEAR A WATCH & CHECK IT OFTEN!!!
• Use all of the exam time
– If you reach the end of the test with time to spare, go back to
the questions you skipped or uncertain about, or review your
essays.
General Advice
• Support essays with specifics
– Write enough to answer questions fully and to make your ideas
convincing by supporting them with specific details. Long answers are
not necessarily the best answers, but answers that are very sketchy or
filled with unsupported generalizations do not receive high scores.
– In the time allowed for each question, you should be able to write
several substantial paragraphs and to develop your critical analysis at
some length.
• Make notes and/or make an outline of your answer in the exam
booklet
– Because of the time limitation in the free-response section, you don't
have time to write rough drafts and then recopy answers.
– However, you can use the space provided in the exam booklets to make
notes and/or to make an outline of your answer.
– As you write your essays, cross out words and sentences, and even
move a part from one section to another if necessary.
– Save a little time for reviewing your essays so that you can edit or revise
them slightly.
– Make use of the Reading Period to read and make notes.
RULE #1 Expect the Unexpected.
• It's gonna be early. Get a good night’s rest Wednesday night and eat a good
breakfast before heading to your testing room Thursday.
• So, once you've completed the College Board's PRECIOUS paperwork, it will
be you and the multiple choice section.
• Don’t just show up with a #2 pencil and expect everything to work out. It
won’t.
• This is not some random test you're taking. You’ll have to be on your toes
pretty early in the morning. The first section will be a wake up call.
• Don’t expect to just breeze through the multiple choice section. There will
be multiple images, cartoons, readings, and quotes.
• You've been working on this stuff all year. Now is your chance to prove it.
Remember, they can ask you anything that's ever happened ever.
• So, rule #1: Expect the unexpected.
RULE #2 Pace yourself...
• 70 Questions... 55 minutes. That's roughly
1.272727272727272727272727272727272 questions per minute.
• Clock Management will become your greatest asset. (wear a WATCH!)
• The multiple choice section is where you will run into time issues.
(Very few people run out of time on the essay portion)
• You want to have at least a shot at all 70 questions. So, DO NOT GET
STUCK ON A SINGLE QUESTION.
• If you find yourself lingering for more than a minute or two… skip it.
You want to at least have a shot at each question. You don’t want to
get bogged down on a question on Zoroastrianism for 20 minutes and
end up not answering the last 10 questions.
• What if the last 10 questions were ones you knew?
• So, rule #2: Pace yourself.
RULE #3 RANK THE ESSAYS!
• After the break, you will be given the essay booklet. Inside this booklet are
all three essays (the DBQ, the Compare-Contrast, and the Continuity and
Change.)
• They’re gonna give you 10 minutes to read the DBQ documents and the
other three questions. During this 10-minute span, you need to rank the
three essays in order of your ability to answer them.
• If the Compare/Contrast essay looks like its written in Klingon, save it for
last.
• If the Continuity and Change Over Time is asking you about a place you’ve
never heard of… save it for last.
• If the Worst Case scenario arises and you have never heard of anything
these essays are talking about, then go with the DBQ. The DBQ is a measure
of your historian abilities, not your historical knowledge.
• Once you’ve given the essays an order, get started. Most people finish the
essay portion with plenty of time; so don’t worry.
• So, rule #3: Rank the essays!
What do the scores 1-5 mean???
AP Exam scores are reported on a 5-point scale as follows:
5
4
3
2
1
Extremely well qualified*
Well qualified*
Qualified*
Possibly qualified**
No recommendation**
* Qualified to receive college credit or advanced placement
** No recommendation to receive college credit or advanced
placement
Play with the numbers at AP Pass
• http://appass.com/calculators/world
Mrs. Osborn will be
sending you good
vibes.
GOOD LUCK!