Hey guys,
I just had my AP Chem midterm and I received a very bad score (64.17%). I knew how to do the problems but I was just very nervous on that day and I couldn’t think straight on the FRQ. I got a 21/24 on the MC but a 1/10 on the FRQ, which is the reason why my score is so low. My MC only score was a 88%, but my overall score went to a 64% just because of the FRQ. I made stupid mistakes such as forgetting to multiply by mole ratio when determining the number of moles on the FRQ which is why I got such a bad score. I knew how to do the FRQ, but I was just under a lot of pressure during the test and ran out of time. Now that I look back on it, it’s just simple thing that I learned last year in honors chem. I understand how to do the problems, but I don’t think my midterm score accurately reflects what I know. In addition, the midterm grade is the only assignment in it’s category and it’s worth 20% of our final grade. I have been getting 95s on the quizzes and tests, and this score dragged down my grade from a 90 to a 83. There are only 6 more weeks left in the semester, and I can’t get my grade up to an A anymore so this midterm grade is extremely important to me. I’m thinking about asking for a retake, but my teacher is generally pretty strict and won’t allow retakes. How should I ask him so that he’ll give me a retake? I would appreciate any advice you guys have if you have been in a similar situation before. I’m going to ask him tomorrow, so it would be great if you guys could reply quickly.
No one is going to give you a retake. I wouldn’t ask. You need to buckle down and ace your remaining homework, and prep so hard for your final that you don’t make many mistakes. You can ask if you can do any extra credit.
I agree with the above. I would not ask for a retake as there really is no valid reason to give you one. Instead I’d talk to the teacher and explain what happened (just state it as fact, not like an excuse), ask him/her to help you with test taking skills in the subject so you can hopefully improve on the next exam, ask if you can do any extra credit, see if you can get some extra problems you can time yourself doing etc.
Are you sure 6 weeks isn’t enough to raise your grade 7%? I would think that if you try hard enough you could possibly reach a 90. Also, like the past replies said, ask your teacher if he/she can allow you to do extra work and see if there’s extra credit coming up.
Hi all,
Thanks for all your replies. I understand why it might not be good to ask for a retake, and I have thought about this for a long time. I normally wouldn’t ask for a retake because I know that teachers need to make up another problem, but the only reason why I am considering asking for a retake is because this is the only other option. I have calculated using a grade calculator if it is possible to get a A, according to the number of tests and quizzes and homework assignments, but even if I get 100% on absolutely everything I still can’t get an A. This is the 1st time I have gotten such a low score on any test, as I usually score at least a 85%. For example, my test average is a 95%. This midterm has a huge impact on my grade and I am only asking for a retake as a worst-case scenario type of solution. Our school doesn’t give us extra credit either. In response to a reason why I should be able to retake it, I really can’t control the pressure before the midterm because this is my 1st midterm and I tried to stay calm but the more I tried to do that the more foggier my brain became. Is there anyway I can phrase my request so that my teacher will maybe allow me to retake it?
Also, I’m considering only asking him to retake the FRQ portion, which is about 5 questions, bc I did ok on the MC portion (88%). There is a huge discrepancy in my MC and FRQ scores (88% vs. 10%), so that’s another reason why I want to retake it.
You are just dodging the consequences of poor work. The other option is to accept a grade of less than an A. That is what students have done for generations. Honestly… I think the teacher may laugh in your face, and they certainly will lose respect for you. Own up. You didn’t prepare yourself well enough. You aren’t getting a retake, and you are not going to improve your odds with this teacher by asking for one. The teacher really doesn’t care if you “need” an A. They care if you prepared and did the work.
I actually studied a lot before the midterm, and I understand the content well as shown by my usual test averages. I don’t think this is a question of how much effort I put in, because I did put in a lot of effort. The only reason why I received such a bad score is because my brain just wasn’t working that day. In lower stakes tests, I can show that I understand the material, as seen with my 95% test average. It’s only because this midterm is 20% of our grade that I was panicking. I wasn’t panicking because I didn’t understand the material, I was panicking because I was afraid I might fail, which is exactly what happened. If I received this score because I truly learned 60% of the content, I won’t try to grub for a better grade. However, I fully understand the material and my score doesn’t truly reflect what I learned. I think I implied that pretty clearly in my 1st post.
Life is like that… a lot of times at work or wherever, you have an off day. That isn’t a reason to ask for a re-do. If you’d had a death in the family or something, maybe. But you have no legit excuse that I can hear. Putting in a lot of effort doesn’t always equal good performance – but that is up to you to figure out why. It does not matter if you knew the material when you weren’t taking the exam. The exam is what you had to prep for. As did all of your peers.
As you get into more difficult academics, getting an A becomes more difficult. Nearly every student at some point doesn’t have straight A’s anymore. One important point is to learn from this. For example, this may motivate you to learn how to improve your study skills and to prepare for exams.
For some people an important part of preparing for exams is to get yourself emotionally ready immediately prior to the exam. When I was in university this meant showing up 10 or 15 minutes early and basically relaxing and clearing my mind to be ready to focus on the exam. An AP class isn’t quite university, but perhaps taking AP classes might help you get ready for university.
Since I have already taken this exam and I can’t change anything in the past, is there any advice that would be applicable right now in this situation? I will definitely take your advice in preparing for future exams, but I’ve already taken the exam. Especially since this is the only test in its category and it’s worth 20% of my grade, there is really no way to recover from this. If I have had a bad day in another test, it wouldn’t be a problem because I usually perform well on lower-stakes tests and my higher scores will balance out the outlier. However, this is the only test in its category so I can’t balance this test out with my other scores. Although it may be unlikely my teacher will allow me to retake this test, there’s always a small possibility and it’s better to try than to not try at all. The worst thing that could happen is he says no, which I would accept because I did all I could. I did have all the information in my head necessary to solve the problems, but I had trouble applying it because I was nervous. I couldn’t think straight during the exam. I would appreciate any advice on how I could phrase my request so that my teacher will maybe allow me to retake it since it already happened.
“I would appreciate any advice on how I could phrase my request”
The most important thing: Remain calm and polite and be respectful of the teacher. Admit that the main thing that went wrong is that you basically panic’d and didn’t focus properly on the solution to each problem.
Alright, thanks for your advice!
I really would not ask for a retake, you had an off day and it’ll probably happen again in high school and college, that doesn’t mean you deserve a retake. Learn to be calmer during tests and have confidence in your abilities to solve the problems given correctly.
So I’m in my first semester of college taking chem 1. I got As both semesters of honors chem couple years back, got a D on my first exam. Didn’t even finish it. It was basically all things I learned in high school too. Was really nervous and left some problems just completely blank. Could I have prepared better? Yes. Did I ask for a retake? No. Granted a large university is different from an AP course in high school and teachers may be more lenient. You got the grade you got with the work you wrote on the page. That’s all that happened. Use this as a learning experience and try harder next time.
I think @intparent said it well, effort doesn’t equal performance and sometimes life is just like that.
What do you do outside of schoolwork? I found finding something outside of academics that I enjoyed in high school and college to be calling and made it easier to not get stressed about academics.
Good luck with the rest of your studies, if you get a B, that’s good. If you really know the material do well on the AP test.
I would talk to your GC/school psychologist if you often get extremely nervous when taking tests.
I would go to your AP teacher and ask if they have tips for test takign and FRQs…that you knew the material but really froze up…also if they have any extra credit or if they allow retaking to show mastery of the subject.
You have received very good advice but let me add that you must learn to control anxiety. It won’t serve you well on tests or in other difficult situations. Further, nerves is totally unacceptable reason to request a retake. You are very unlikely to have a test grade compromised by nerves. Why should you be allowed to improve your grades when classmates are not given the same consideration. Earning an A the final grade is nice, but again, why are you more deserving then classmates?
Colleges never almost give retakes or extra credit because faculty expect students to focus on new material.
You’re not getting a do-over.
If they give one to you, then they have to give endless retakes to every single kid in the district who didn’t like his first score, his second score, and so on. And on and on until every kid has a 100.
It’s simply not going to happen.
I agree with the others-- take this as a huge sign that your anxiety is effecting your day to day life, and that you need to work with someone on getting a handle on it. Now, before you start college.
I would see this as great practice for the actual AP exam. Aim for a 5. What did you learn from this exam that will improve your performance on the final AP exam?. Think of it as a learning tool.
Sometimes learning is painful…
I don’t know that there’s any harm in asking, as long as you do it politely and calmly. The worst that could happen is a no, right? Of course, I might be biased because my district requires teachers to allow reassessments, but I still think you should give it a go. If they do say yes, make sure you 100% understand everything before you take the retake. It will look very bad if you do poorly a second time.
I do not support do overs generally. If all students knew the date and material for a test, then it was fair. I do not see why students who ask should be all!owed an opportunity to improve grades when classmates do not have a similar opportunity. If the class general!y didn’t do well, that would be on me. Students may attribute poor grades to nerves, fatigue, two tests that day, didn’t have time to study or other reasons that were relative to them. But why you? I think it would be kinda fairer to permit taking second version of the test. Beware that something like anxiety or lack of sleep may also happen on the do over.
There will be other times when people don’t do as well as they could or should have. That’s just part of life that you have to live with and move on unless they can bend time. Don’t waste your time working on past content at the expense of learning new that will be tested soon. That is a do over.