<p>I was expecting a 3, and crossing my fingers for a 4 on Bio, since I didn’t do any of the assigned reading, or really any of the homework, all year. I detested the course and my teacher and didn’t put in any real effort. Nor did I read any review books or study. I didn’t know the material, except for broad and general topics (I hated bio because I like thinking in terms of broader themes, and we focused on microbiology, which was more concerned with the details of processes, breaking things down into many steps), and I was pretty general in my answers to the free response questions. I thought I rather lacked specific evidence. </p>
<p>Still, I got the 5, and the guy I thought was the best and most passionate about biology in the class got a 4, which doesn’t make sense to me. I KNOW I didn’t deserve a 5, and I could not tell you much about neurotransmitters or promoter sequences. That’s why I can’t think highly of the test - if someone like me who’s just good at testing but doesn’t know biology can beat someone who legitimately cares about the subject and did the reading, homework, etc. score-wise, I don’t think the exam can be said to accurately reflect test-takers’ mastery of the course material.</p>