<p>I am beginning to be concerned my daughter has a problem taking 3 hour exams. She received a weighted grade of 107 in her AP English language and class, but only a 3 on the exam. We live in NYS so she also takes regents exams that are 3 hour tests. She consistently scores much lower on the exam than she does in the class. She has even failed 8ty regents exams (Physics and Trig), while she struggles a bit in trig (87 in the class) her Physics was an IB class and she got a 95 for the class (unweighted).</p>
<p>She received the highest NYS 8th grade ela score of her clas of 400+ and even obtained a college ready score on the english portion of the ACT she took in 7th grade.</p>
<p>She wants to study English in college, but is finding many of the better colleges require a 4 on the AP English exam she took and received a 3.</p>
<p>I guess what I’m wondering is if there is any way to spin her college applications to show that she excels in the classes, but not the exams?</p>
<p>Same thing happened to my son last year. He got A in both semesters of the AP English Lang class he took but only managed to get a 3 on the AP test. The class at his school was known for its difficulty, and my son was warned at the beginning of the school year from someone who took the class previously that the teacher did not focus on the AP test. Of course, he didn’t listen as last year was the first year that he took the AP tests. He managed to get 5s on the other 2 AP tests from last year, and he also received 5s on the 3 AP tests that he took this year. So sometimes it really depends on the teachers who teach the classes.</p>
<p>The colleges probably only require a 4 four credit or placement not admission, so if that was your concern than it is probably not a serious one. She’s flat out got to get better at time though. Lot’s of college exams are given like mini AP exams where they have to be completed in fifty minutes and there is no after class or finish it up next time. I wouldn’t be concerned about the score of the exam affecting her admissions as much as the class grade. A 107 even though it says she excelled in the class also says that the class grade was heavily inflated and they might put scrutiny on all of her other grades.</p>
<p>The difference between a 3 and a 4 will never get somebody denied from college; she could’ve gotten a 0 and still it wouldn’t detract from her application</p>
<p>More likely the teachers inflate the grades so kids think they are doing awesome and then come crashing down when compared to their peers across the country. This can be a school or district issue or it could be just a particular teacher. One of the beauties of standardized testing is that it brings out those issues. Hopefully, if this happens with a significant number of that teacher’s students, the district will be able to do something to improve the teaching.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, sometimes it comes from a good heart. Some teachers see their role to encourage students, but inflating their grades gives them confidence, but not the knowledge they need.</p>
<p>^what jimmy said about a 4 for admission. You don’t even need to take AP tests for admission anywhere.</p>
<p>There is a chance that your daughter’s teacher inflates the grades. The same thing happened with one of my friends who took AP Lang; basically all of the assignments in that class were participation/effort grades so he had a high A (despite not being a strong writer) and scored a 4 in the exam.</p>
<p>"She wants to study English in college, but is finding many of the better colleges require a 4 on the AP English exam she took and received a 3.
She can still study English in college even without garnering any credit from AP exams. Some students don’t take AP exams because of financial reasons or because their schools don’t offer the AP class so there will most likely be others in the same boat wherever she goes.</p>
<p>“I guess what I’m wondering is if there is any way to spin her college applications to show that she excels in the classes, but not the exams?”
Yes. Colleges view the grade in the course as a more significant factor in admissions. Hopefully she scored well on the verbal and written portions of the SAT, which aren’t too hard for students strong in reading and writing.</p>
<p>I think it is less likely that your daughter’s teachers inflated her grades (particularly with her strong scores on the ACT verbal and Regent’s exams), and more probable that your daughter has a problem with speed, concentration, or exam fatigue. Unfortunately, the College Board rewards students who test well, and not necessarily the best students over the year long course. </p>
<p>My daughter has a similar problem. She is PG, but has a low processing speed and ADD. If the test is shorter, she can usually do very well, but lengthy exams are very stressful for her. We are working on this too. It sounds like your daughter is still young, so you have some time to help her increase her speed. My daughter needs more time with essay writing (which is most of the AP english language exam) and math. Some of her speed issues may have to do with handwriting. With computers, our kids are more accustomed to writing on a keyboard then longhand and that can make AP exams with essays very difficult. </p>
<p>You need to figure out what went wrong on her AP exam. You can pay a small fee and receive the actual exam book to see how she scored on the MC section and the essays that she wrote. </p>