Exam Overview: How Is The Ap Government Comparative Exam Structured
First things first: you may see this exam referred to as both the AP Government Comparative exam or the AP Comparative Government exam. Don’t worry, though…both of these names refer to the same test!
Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s look at the structure of the test itself. The AP Comparative Government and Politics exam tests your knowledge of basic political concepts and your ability to compare political systems and processes in different countries.
This AP exam is on the shorter side, lasting for a total of two hours and 30 minutes. Youll be required to answer 55 multiple-choice questions and four free-response questions during the exam.
The AP Comparative Government exam is broken down into two sections. Section I of the exam consists of 55 multiple-choice questions and lasts for one hour. The first section of the exam accounts for 50% of your overall exam score.
Section II of the AP Comparative Government exam consists of four free-response questions. On this part of the exam, youll be asked to provide open-ended, written responses to all four free-response questions. Section II lasts for one hour and 30 minutes and counts for 50% of your overall exam score.
To give you a clearer picture of how the AP Comparative Government exam is structured, weve broken the core exam elements down in the table below:
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How Is The Ap Us Government And Politics Exam Scored
All AP exams are scored on a scale from 1-5, with 5 being the highest score possible and 1 the lowest. The multiple-choice section of the AP Government exam makes up 50% of a student’s score. The essay section makes up the other half.
Students with weak essay-writing skills may struggle with this exam. The AP Government exam score relies heavily on strong essays written in a short amount of time.
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Source: College Board
Guide To The Ap Us Government And Politics Exam
Can you discuss the strengths of the Constitution? Do you understand the role of PACs in our political process? The AP® U.S. Government & Politics exam tests the topics and skills discussed in your AP Gov course. If you score high enough, your AP score could earn you college credit!
Check out our AP U.S. Government Guide for what you need to know about the exam:
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Exam Description: Additional Information
Section I: Multiple Choice | 60 Questions | 45 Minutes | 50% of Exam Score
- Demonstrate understanding of major course concepts, policies and institutions
- Apply skills of comparison and interpretation in addition to factual recall
Section II: Free Response | 4 Questions | 100 Minutes | 50% of Exam Score
- Define concepts and explain or interpret content across all course topics
- Analyze political relationships and evaluate policy changes using examples from the course to support the argument or response
How Will Ap Scores Impact My College Chances
AP scores have little to no effect on the college admissions process. You arent required to report your AP scores on your application, and even if you self-report your scores they wont really increase your chance of admissions.
With that said, colleges do care about course rigor. The AP classes you take and your grades in these classes are much more important to the admissions process than your AP exam scores. Earning good grades in several AP classes shows admissions officers that you challenged yourself and are prepared to take on rigorous college classes.
Want to see if your AP classes and course rigor will help you get into your dream school? Try our free chancing engine! This tool will allow you to see your chances of acceptance at over 500 colleges across the country. In addition to course rigor, our chancing engine also factors in your GPA, extracurriculars, demographics, and outside involvement, and will even provide tips for how to improve your profile!
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More Information About Credit For Ap Tests
This evaluation of the credits awarded for Advanced Placement Exams is subject to change and may be reviewed and revised periodically by Penn State faculty.
If credit is awarded, a students University record will carry notation of credit, but no grade will be recorded. Credit awarded will not affect a students grade-point average at Penn State.
Limitations on credit earned through the AP Exams are as follows:
- The credit must be useful in a student’s program of study.
- Duplicate credit in the same subject is not awarded in any case.
Undergraduate students interested in receiving credit for AP Exams should arrange for their official grade reports to be sent directly from the College Board to us.
General credits may be awarded for an AP Exam that covers material that is not the substantial equivalent of material covered in a specific University course. General credits may be used to fulfill degree requirements in any area such use is not necessarily limited to General Education or elective requirements. General credits are applied to a students program of study in accordance with the procedures established by the college of enrollment. Information on the use of general credits or specific course credits earned by AP Exams in individual programs of study may be obtained from a students academic adviser or from the office of the dean of a students college.
About Ap Government Test Questions
The AP government exam consists of fifty-nine total questions. Fifty-five of those questions will be multiple-choice questions, and you will be given an hour and twenty minutes to complete this portion of the exam.
The remaining four questions are free-response questions. You will have an hour and forty minutes to answer these questions as you will be asked to craft detailed responses.
Both sections of the test are worth fifty percent of your final score, so both sections need to be taken seriously even though there are only four questions in the second section.
Each section will ask you to complete different tasks and give various data to you. Here is what you can expect from each section of the test:
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As you can see, there are four questions for four question types in the second section of this test. That means you are guaranteed to have to answer one question for each of the topics.
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Tip : Put It In A Sentence
Many of us have been doing this since elementary school, but it’s worth mentioning as an AP Gov vocab study tactic: take each vocabulary term and use it in a sentence. Studying formal definitions of each vocab term is important, but another component of that is placing the terms in context so you know how to use them correctly on the exam.
Practicing using each AP Gov term in a sentence is especially important when it comes to the free response section of the exam. In each of the four written portions of that section, it’s very likely you’ll have to use terms from our vocab list in your responses. Most of the time, you won’t be writing out formal definitions of those terms. Instead, you’ll be using the terms in their correct context in order to perform an analysis or make an argument.
When you practice using AP Gov vocab in a sentence, you’re preparing yourself to write effective essays on the AP exam.
The 60 Most Important Ap Gov Vocab Terms Defined
One of the most challenging aspects of the AP U.S. Government and Politics exam is the wide array of vocabulary terms that you need to understand in order to do well on the exam. Many of these terms and concepts dig deep into the U.S. Constitution, laws and policy, and the history of U.S. politics…and there are a lot of terms to know.
This guide will help you get acquainted with 60 important AP Gov vocab terms you need to know. by dividing the terms up into key content areas that are assessed on the exam and providing straightforward definitions for each term. In addition, we’ll provide three crucial strategies for studying AP gov vocab terms in order to prepare effectively for the AP U.S. Gov exam.
Knowing how the AP Government test works can help you decide how you should use our vocabulary lists as part of your study plan.
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Ap Gov Free Response Questions
For success on the AP U.S. Government & Politics FRQs, you’ll need to:
- Compare: provide a description/explanation of similarities and/or differences
- Define: provide a specific meaning of a word or concept
- Describe: provide the relevant characteristics of a specified topic
- Develop an argument: articulate a claim and support it with evidence
- Draw a conclusion: use available information to formulate an accurate statement that demonstrates understanding based on evidence
- Explain: provide info about how/why a relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome occurs using evidence or reasoning.
- Identify: Indicate or provide information about a specified topic, without elaboration or explanation.
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As an educator I believe that my job is to make learning easy. To that end, I always try to present the material in a way that is as easy for my students to understand as humanly possible. In doing so, students are inspired to want to learn because they see that effort gets results.
Daniel Ciocca
History and Social Sciences Instructor
Teaching AP World History: Modern, I’m frequently astonished at how natural it is for students from both the United States and across the world to meet and learn about a global subject from not just their instructor but, just as importantly, so many different student perspectives!
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History and Social Sciences Instructor
I enjoy building relationships with students, facilitating their learning, and helping them achieve a refined understanding of the complex world around us. Using a high energy, enthusiastic approach to learning allows me to deeply connect with my students while having lots of fun!
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The Complete Guide To The Ap Comparative Government And Politics Exam
The AP Comparative Government and Politics exam tests your knowledge of how the political systems in different countries are similar and different. The exam requires endurance, strong critical thinking, and top-notch writing skillswhich means youll need to be extra prepared!
If youre looking for an AP Comparative Government study guide to carry you through all of your AP prep, look no further than this article! Well walk you through:
- The structure and format of the AP Government Comparative exam
- The core themes and skills the exam tests you on
- The types of questions that show up on the exam and how to answer them
- How the AP Comparative Government exam is scored, including official scoring rubrics
- Four essential tips for preparing for the AP Comparative Government exam
Are you ready? Lets dive in!
Understanding how major world governments work will be key to doing well on this exam!
Is The Ap Gov Exam Hard
While many students find their AP US Government class to be straightforward and manageable, the exam has one of the lowest percentages of test takers that receive a 5, at just 9.8% in 2015. In the same year, over a quarter of the students who took the test only received a 1. So what accounts for this disconnect?
To start off, multiple choice questions can be surprisingly tricky, asking students to not only memorize numerous pieces of historical legislation, definitions regarding the political process, and intricacies of law creation, but also to apply these terms to real-world scenarios.
In addition, the free response questions diverge from the usual long-response thesis and supporting paragraph structure, asking students to instead provide short but complex paragraphs that demonstrate a clear understanding of terms and real-world application.
The AP US Government test can also prove a challenging endurance test, especially since the free response questions are in the latter half. Practice tests are the name of the game here!
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Should I Take Ap Us Government And Politics
AP U.S. Government and Politics requires students to learn and understand a moderate amount of material compared to other AP courses. That said, some students may find the AP Government exam particularly challenging due to its emphasis on text analysis and essay writing.
Students with excellent organizational, memorization, and critical thinking skills will likely excel in this course. In contrast, those who struggle with essay writing may not perform as well on the AP Government exam.
When choosing AP classes, you might consider asking teachers and past AP Government students for advice and insight into the difficulty of the course at your school.
Tip : Take Another Practice Exam
As you wrap up your exam prep and exam day nears, consider taking another practice exam. You can compare your results on your second practice exam to your results on the practice exam that you took before you started studying. Youll get to see how much youve improved over time!
Taking a final practice exam a few weeks before exam day can also help you revamp your exam prep. You can use your exam results to focus your final study time on any remaining struggle areas youre encountering. Also, your score on your final practice exam can help you get an idea of what youre likely to score on the real exam. Having this knowledge going into test day can calm your nerves and give you confidence, which are both essential to success on the AP Comparative Government exam!
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About History And Social Science At Cty
Our online History and Social Science courses include the study of economics, U.S. history and government, world history, and psychology. Reading and writing are at the heart of all our offerings. Courses for older students cover material typically found in introductory college-level classes, while younger scholars enjoy studying world history and geography. All courses are guided by expert instructors who connect with you through virtual class meetings and interactive review workshops. Whichever course you choose, youll gain important insights into the inner workings of government, world civilizations, global culture, and the human mind.
Overview Of The Ap Us Government And Politics Exam
The AP U.S. Government and Politics Exam is made up of two sections, each worth half the final score of the exam. Section I consists of 55 multiple choice questions with an allotted 80 minutes, and Section II consists of 4 free-response questions with an allotted 100 minutes. In total, the exam is three hours long. This may seem intimidating, but dont worry, we here at CollegeVine have you covered!
The AP Government questions in Section I can be difficult, but are ultimately straightforward. These multiple choice questions are all about knowing your vocab! Section II can be especially confusing for some students, so check out the breakdown below to better understand what youre in for.
Section II Breakdown:
- Question 1 is a concept application question. This section will require the student to apply political concepts to real-life and presupposed situations.
- Question 2 is a Quantitative Analysis question. A supplied graphic is the focal point of this question. It could be a line graph to read, a chart to interpret, or a table to explain.
- Question 3 is a Supreme Court Case Comparison Essay. This will have the test-taker apply Supreme Court decisions to real-life situations.
- Question 4 is an Argumentative Essay. You will use foundational documents to support an essay asserting your stance on a prompt.
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Sample Question: Conceptual Analysis Free
The free-response question below is taken from the College Boards official guide to AP Comparative Government and Politics. This sample question is an example of a conceptual analysis question. This is the first type of question that youll encounter on the exam.
On the real exam, youll have 10 minutes to answer the conceptual analysis question. Check out the question below:
To understand how to answer this question correctly, well need to look at how conceptual analysis questions are scored on the exam. The scoring rubric below shows how your response to this question would be evaluated after the exam:
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Tip : Create Flashcards
Whether they’re hard copies or digital, flashcards are a go-to study method for AP Gov vocab for a reason: they facilitate active recall and are conducive to quick, repetitive practice. When you have 60+ vocabulary words to learn, the repetitive process of studying flashcards can help you with memorization.
Memorizing as many definitions as possible will help you maximize your time on the exam and make accurate use of the various AP Gov terms in your free response answers. If you want to create your own flashcards, the most effective method for boosting active recall is to write a question on one side of the card and an answer on the other side. Then experiment with different ways of employing flashcards to help you memorize the AP Gov vocab words.
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Trusted content from AP experts! Barrons AP Comparative Government and Politics: 2020-2021 includes in-depth content review and online practice. Its the only book youll need to be prepared for exam day. Written by Experienced Educators Learn from Barrons–all content is written and reviewed by AP experts. AP Government and Politics Course Description. AP Government Course Outline for Semester Exam Study. Welcome to Mr. Harris’s AP US Government and Politics Class. Below is an. The AP United States Government and Politics Exam measures students’ understanding of American political culture and the interactions of governing and linkage institutions. Questions are based on the six major topics in the course, and students must be able to define, compare, explain, and interpret political concepts, policies, processes. This course will prepare you for the AP U.S. Government and Politics exam by helping you practice skills associated with the exam such as writing evidence-based essays and answering questions on causes and consequences of political events. Analysis of landmark Supreme Court decisions and foundational documents will. To register for an AP Exam, the local school will enroll the student in an exam only section in My AP. Students should follow these steps: Search for a local test site through this resource of contact AP Services for Students at 888-225-5427