ap lang essay grading scale

AP English Language and Composition Essay Scoring

April 9, 2024.

How AP English Language and Composition Essays are Graded and Scored

When it comes time to make judgments about writing , the word "effectively" comes up repeatedly. It’s a popular word because it’s easy to use. But it’s also hard to define. It means so much, and yet so little. You probably know effective writing when you see it, but what the AP English Language and Composition folks have in mind is the thoughtful organization of ideas, appropriate word choice, proper syntax, varied sentence structure, a mature style of writing, sensible paragraphing, coherent development, and correct mechanics (grammar, spelling, and punctuation).

AP readers don’t sit there with a checklist to see whether your essay meets all these criteria, however. Rather, they read it holistically, meaning that they read it quickly for an overall impression of your writing and then assign your essay a grade from 1 (low) to 5 (high). Readers are trained to look for clearly organized, well-developed, and forceful responses that reveal a depth of understanding and insight. 

Frankly, the 40 minutes suggested for each essay is not a great deal of time to read the question, plan what you will say, write a few hundred words, edit and proofread your draft, and submit a finished piece of work. In effect, you must condense into a short time what would normally take far longer. A saving grace, however, is that the AP test readers don’t expect three polished pieces of immortal prose, just three competently written essays. 

Each year in early June, thousands of college and high school teachers get together to read and evaluate the essays written by students like you from across the country and overseas. Readers are chosen for their ability to make sound judgments about student writing and are trained to use a common set of scoring standards.

Each essay is read by a different reader—an experienced English teacher who doesn’t know your name, your school, your gender, or anything else about you. Nor do readers know the score you earned on other essays or on the multiple-choice questions. They rate essays according to standards that customarily apply to those written in college-level English courses. A score of 1–5 is assigned to each essay, the same scale used to report AP test results. 

As part of their training, AP essay readers are given guidelines to ensure that all essays are evaluated as fairly and uniformly as possible. Readers are instructed: 

• To read an essay only once 
• To read it quickly 
• To read primarily for what the writer has done well in terms of organization, word choice, clarity, purpose, mechanics of writing, and so on 
• To assign a grade promptly 
• To ignore poor handwriting as much as possible 
• Not to penalize a well-developed but unfinished essay 
• Not to penalize the writer for supporting or rejecting a particular point of view on an issue 
• Not to consider length as a criterion of evaluation 
• To keep in mind that even a marginal response to the question should be judged according to the logic of the argument developed by the writer 
• To remember that each essay is a first draft written under pressure in about 40 minutes by a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old.

Interpreting AP English Language and Composition Essay Scores

What do AP essay scores tell you about your writing? You’ll find some answers below, and you’ll also see what AP essay readers think about while on the job.

• 5: A score of 5 represents student writing at its best. It attests to a high level of control of several crucial elements of effective writing: insightful thinking, an ability to convey ideas clearly and succinctly, and competence in organizing ideas to fulfill a specific purpose. Minor flaws in analysis, prose style, or mechanics may creep into the text of an essay rated 5, but they do no damage. 
• 4: An essay earning a 4 is well-written and organized. In most ways it demonstrates the student’s ability to manage several elements of effective writing, such as clearly articulating the intent of the essay and supporting it with appropriate evidence arranged in a purposeful sequence. Errors, if any, are relatively inconsequential. 
• 3: A score of 3 indicates a respectable level of writing competence. The main idea may remain in focus throughout the essay, but the text may contain occasional soft spots, perhaps in its development of important ideas or in its organization or use of language. Despite such short- comings, the essay is an acceptable piece of writing. 
• 2: An essay scored 2 demonstrates a weak grasp of essay-writing basics. It may contain a main idea, but it is neither well-articulated nor sufficiently developed. Paragraphs lack unity and are randomly organized. Awkward expression, sentence errors (e.g., fragments and run-ons), and mistakes in standard usage undermine the essay’s quality. 
• 1: A score of 1 indicates that the piece submitted bears slight resemblance to an acceptable AP essay. It suggests that the writer has had limited instruction or experience in responding to AP prompts. Numerous weaknesses—from rambling, disjointed paragraphs to irrelevant ideas— signify weak control of written language and may leave readers unsure of what the writer is trying to say.

Scoring Your Own AP English Lang and Comp Essays

Evaluating your own essays takes objectivity that can’t be acquired overnight. In effect, you’ve got to disown your own work—that is, view it through the eyes of a stranger—and then judge it as though you have no stake in the outcome. A word of caution: Don’t expect to breeze through the evaluations. Set aside plenty of time. Many English teachers vividly recall their snail-like progress as novice essay readers—sometimes spending hours on grading a single essay and rereading it again and again. In short, scoring essays can be challenging, and it takes practice. 

If you accept the challenge, begin by reading the following essay-writing instructions (printed in boldface). On the exam, these instructions are included as part of the prompt for each essay. In effect, they are your essays’ ingredients. Because AP readers will look for evidence that you have followed these instructions as they score your essays, it’s important for you to understand what each one tells you to do.

Essay Grading Tip #1: Respond to the prompt with a thesis that may establish a line of reasoning.

Each of your essays must have a thesis, or main idea. It may be placed anywhere in your essay, and can be built in as a separate sentence, a part of a sentence, or even as pieces of two or more sentences. Sometimes the thesis need not be stated at all if the contents of the essay make the main idea so obvious that it would be redundant to spell it out. 

However you construct the thesis, it must in some way reflect the purpose of the assignment—a different one for each of the essays: 1) to use published sources to support your position on an issue; 2) to analyze the rhetoric in a given passage; and 3) to write a convincing argument backed up by evidence drawn from your reservoir of knowledge and experience. Ideally, the thesis of your essay should be visible to the reader from the start, or at least soon thereafter. 

The thesis may also “establish a line of reasoning.” That is, it may explain how you intend to support your essay’s main idea. For instance, in the synthesis essay, you may plan to discuss the issue by citing ideas drawn from two of the textual sources and by statistics found in a chart or graph. Or, the thesis of your argument essay may state or imply your intention to build a case using evidence based on your reading or perhaps on your observations or personal experience.

(The following instruction applies only to Essay 1, the Synthesis Essay. See 2B for the instruction that applies only to Essays 2 and 3.)

Essay Grading Tip #2a: Provide evidence from at least three of the provided sources to support the thesis.

Indicate clearly the sources used through direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary. Sources may be cited as Source A, Source B, etc., or by using the descriptions in parentheses.

Although your thesis may be based on your personal opinion on the issue, build your argument with references to the sources. You needn’t depend solely on the sources with which you agree. By refuting those opposed to your views, you might strengthen your own argument.

(The following instruction applies only to Essays 2 and 3, the Rhetorical Analysis and the Argument. See 2A [above] for the instruction that applies to Essay 1.)

Essay Grading Tip #2b: Select and use evidence to develop and support your line of reasoning.

This instruction reminds you to formulate a claim and support it with convincing and relevant evidence drawn from your studies, reading, observation, and personal experience. You have abundant choices: facts, anecdotes, statistics, analogies, theories, examples, testimonies, expert opinions, your own values and recollections, and more—whatever will bolster your main idea. Each piece of evidence need not be presented as a separate statement. That is, consider blending the evidence gradually into the development of your entire essay.

Essay Grading Tip #3: Explain the relationship between the evidence and the thesis.

Whatever evidence you choose, be sure to explain its pertinence to your thesis. Although the connection may be obvious to you, there is no guarantee that a reader will see it as you do. Connections might be pointed out with stand-alone statements or pronouncements, or less blatantly, by artfully weaving them into the development of the entire essay.

Essay Grading Tip #4: Demonstrate an understanding of the rhetorical situation.

Each of the three essays has a distinct “rhetorical situation,” or purpose. Rather than stating it outright, you might demonstrate your grasp of the rhetorical purpose by implication—that is, simply by fulfilling the assignment. By writing an essay that takes a stand on a particular issue and citing material from three of the given sources, you will have shown comprehension of the Synthesis Essay’s rhetorical situation. Likewise, following the stated instructions for each of the other essays is evidence enough that you’ve understood the rhetorical situation.

Essay Grading Tip #5: Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.

Use the conventions of standard written English. Unless you need them for effect, avoid street talk, emojis, acronyms, and the abbreviations so common in e-communications.

AP Biology Resources

• About the AP Biology Exam
• Top AP Biology Exam Strategies
• Top 5 Study Topics and Tips for the AP Biology Exam
• AP Biology Short Free-Response Questions
• AP Biology Long Free-Response Questions

AP Psychology Resources

• What’s Tested on the AP Psychology Exam?
• Top 5 Study Tips for the AP Psychology Exam
• AP Psychology Key Terms
• Top AP Psychology Exam Multiple-Choice Question Tips
• Top AP Psychology Exam Free Response Questions Tips
• AP Psychology Sample Free Response Question

AP English Language and Composition Resources

• What’s Tested on the AP English Language and Composition Exam?
• Top 5 Tips for the AP English Language and Composition Exam
• Top Reading Techniques for the AP English Language and Composition Exam
• How to Answer the AP English Language and Composition Essay Questions 
• AP English Language and Composition Exam Sample Essay Questions
• AP English Language and Composition Exam Multiple-Choice Questions

AP Human Geography Resources

• What’s Tested On the AP Human Geography Exam?
• AP Human Geography FAQs
• AP Human Geography Question Types and Strategies
• Top 5 Study Tips for the AP Human Geography Exam

FOLLOW ALONG ON SOCIAL

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how are ap exams scored.

Advanced Placement (AP)

If you’re studying for an AP exam right now or are thinking about taking an AP class in the future, you might be wondering: how are AP exams scored?

In this post, we'll break down the scoring process, all the way from the raw scores you earn on the multiple-choice section and essays to how you get a final score on a scale of 1-5. Knowing how AP exams are scored can help you do your best on them—especially if you want a perfect 5!

The AP Scoring Scale

Each AP test is given a score from 1 to 5. According to the College Board (the group that administers AP tests), these numbers translate in the following ways:

• 5: Extremely Well Qualified
• 4: Well Qualified
• 3: Qualified
• 2: Possibly Qualified
• 1: No recommendation

Any score that's 3 or higher is considered a passing score, though some colleges only accept 4s and 5s for credit. (See AP’s college database for specific policies at each university.) Getting a 5 is especially desirable because, for most exams, it puts you in the top 10-20% of scorers. See our list of AP classes for more info on passing rates.

Your 1-5 score is a scaled score, converted from a composite score. Your composite score is calculated from the total number of raw points you earned from your correct multiple-choice answers and your free response. It’s a bit confusing, but we will guide you through the process!

How Are AP Tests Scored?

The majority of AP exams consist of two sections: multiple choice and free response. On some exams each section is weighted equally, whereas on others one section is worth slightly more. You can look up the specifics for each exam on the official AP courses pages .

The multiple-choice section is graded by a computer. There are no deductions for incorrect or blank answers, so your raw multiple-choice score is simply the number of questions you get correct.

The free-response section is graded during the annual AP Reading held in the first two weeks of June. The AP Reading is basically a huge convention. Tons of teachers and college professors gather to grade thousands and thousands of student-written responses for each exam.

This is why you don't get your AP scores until July even though you take the test in May: the written portion of your exam isn't graded until mid-June.

After that, the College Board has to calculate the composite score and final scaled score for each exam, equating the test so the scores stay even from year to year. (For example, they want to make sure a 3 on the AP US History exam means the same thing from one year to another, even if one version of the test turned out to be more difficult for students.)

( Side note: There is a good chance that an AP teacher at your school goes to the AP Reading each year. It can be interesting and helpful to talk to them about what happens at the convention, how quickly free responses are scored, and the best and worse free responses they’ve seen. These are answers that will vary a lot from subject to subject but could ultimately be helpful to you!)

This is a picture from the English Literature Reading from this blog post over at AP Central . It's worth taking a look at if you are curious about what the AP Reading is like!

Each free response is given a "holistic" score, meaning it's evaluated for its overall effectiveness or correctness. Typically, points aren’t deducted for the occasional small error, such as a spelling or grammar mistake. Most tests grade their free responses between 1 and 9, with 1 being least effective and 9 being nearly perfect.

Your raw free-response score is the total of the scores you get for each response.

How to Get a Scaled AP Score Between 1 and 5

After your multiple-choice section is graded by a machine and your free response is graded by a human, your essay and multiple-choice scores are combined to give you a composite score. This score is just a way of combining the two section scores so that they are weighted correctly. For example, for AP English, multiple choice is worth 45% and free response is worth 55%. Often, composite scores are between 0 and 100, or 0 and 150.

The composite score is then converted to a number on the scaled score range 1-5. This means that for each scaled score, there is a range of possible composite scores that could earn it. For example, a 5 could be any composite score between 110 and 150 on one exam.

Since scaling varies year to year, there are no exact cutoff numbers for scores for AP tests, and the College Board does not release detailed scoring data. Furthermore, you will not see what your composite score was on your AP score report— you'll only get the final number between 1 and 5 .

However, many teachers, prep books, and websites have come up with formulas to predict the scaled score for each AP test, which can help when you are grading your practice tests and trying to come up with a target score .

Scoring Example: AP English Language and Composition

As we've seen, AP test scoring is not exactly straightforward. To help clarify the process, we will walk through a scoring example using the most popular test, AP English Language and Composition.

Also known as the class in which you annotate every. Single. Thing.

Here are the basics of the AP English exam : it has 55 multiple-choice questions, worth 45% of your score, and three essays, worth 55% of your score. Each essay is graded between 1 and 9.

Before we get into the scoring example, remember that this guide is an estimation since score conversions can vary year to year based on test difficulty. While it's impossible to precisely predict an AP test score before you get your score, you can still get an idea of how the process works.

Step 1: Add Up Your Correct Answers to Get Your Raw Scores

There are 55 multiple-choice questions on the AP English exam. Let's say you get 40 right, get eight wrong, and leave seven blank. Your raw multiple-choice score would be an even 40 points.

Out of the three essays, let's say you earn the following scores from the graders: 4, 7, and 8. This gives you  a total raw essay score of 19 (4+7+8).

Step 2: Convert Your Raw Scores to a Single Composite Score

Now, this is the tricky part in which we will convert each of those raw scores to a single composite score between 0 and 150.

The maximum converted essay score is 82.5, or 55% of 150. The maximum converted multiple-choice score is 67.5, or 45% of 150. To figure out your composite score, use this formula:

(Multiple Choice Raw Score x 1.23) + (Essay Raw Score x 3.05) = Composite Score

In this example, your multiple-choice composite score would be 49.2, and your essay composite score would be 57.95. Thus, your total composite score would be 107 (rounded down).

Step 3: Use the Chart to Estimate Your Scaled Score

The last step is easy. Use the chart below to estimate your final AP score (on a scale of 1-5):

As you can see, your score of 107 would earn you a 5 —but just barely!

Again, these numbers are estimates and will shift from year to year based on test difficulty. Since 107 is just over the mark of 104, it's possible that in some years it could net you a 4 instead of a 5.

What About Scoring Other AP Tests?

We’ve learned how to score an AP English Language and Composition exam. However, you can’t use this exact same process for every AP test. Most AP tests have slightly different section weights and question totals, so the scoring formulas are different.

For example, AP Calculus AB has fewer multiple choice questions (45), more free responses (six total), and weighs each section at 50%.

Each AP subject is a unique challenge ... and has its own scoring formula.

So how can you figure out how the AP tests you are taking are graded?

First, if you’re taking the AP class for the test you want to take, ask your teacher if he or she has a formula for converting practice test scores to scaled scores. Most AP teachers have a formula they use with their students for practice exams.

If you’re not taking the class or your teacher doesn’t have a formula, either find a prep book for your specific test or search online.

Remember that all formulas are estimates. So if you really want a 5, you shouldn’t aim for the lowest possible composite—you should aim for perfection, or very close. That’s the only way to guarantee you'll get a 5 on test day.

On the other hand, if you just want to make sure you pass, try to aim for a 4 so that even if you make more mistakes than you're hoping to, you’ll still get at least a 3!

What’s Next?

Curious about the benefits of taking an AP Exam? See our in-depth guide about what AP tests are and why you should take them .

Also studying for the SAT? Get tips from our resident 1600 full scorer , and check out how to improve a low SAT Math score .

Studying for the ACT instead? Get tips on the essay , read a guide to the daily ACT question , and learn how you can score a perfect 36 .

Halle Edwards graduated from Stanford University with honors. In high school, she earned 99th percentile ACT scores as well as 99th percentile scores on SAT subject tests. She also took nine AP classes, earning a perfect score of 5 on seven AP tests. As a graduate of a large public high school who tackled the college admission process largely on her own, she is passionate about helping high school students from different backgrounds get the knowledge they need to be successful in the college admissions process.

Student and Parent Forum

Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com , allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

How to Write the AP Lang Argument Essay (With Example)

December 14, 2023

We’d like to let you in on a little secret: no one, including us, enjoys writing timed essays. But a little practice goes a long way. If you want to head into your AP English Exam with a cool head, you’ll want to know what you’re getting into ahead of time. We can’t promise the AP Lang Argument Essay will ever feel like an island vacation, but we do have tons of hand tips and tricks (plus a sample essay!) below to help you do your best. This article will cover: 1) What is the AP Lang Argumentative Essay? 2) AP Lang Argument Rubric 3) AP Lang Argument Sample Prompt 4) AP Lang Argument Essay Example 5) AP Lang Argument Essay Example: Answer Breakdown.

What is the AP Lang Argument Essay?

The AP Lang Argument Essay is one of three essays included in the written portion of the AP English Exam. The full AP English Exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes long, with the first 60 minutes dedicated to multiple-choice questions. Once you complete the multiple-choice section, you move on to three equally weighted essays that ask you to synthesize, analyze, and interpret texts and develop well-reasoned arguments. The three essays include:

Synthesis essay: You’ll review various pieces of evidence and then write an essay that synthesizes (aka combines and interprets) the evidence and presents a clear argument. Read our write-up on How to Write the AP Lang Synthesis Essay here.

Argumentative essay: You’ll take a stance on a specific topic and argue your case.

Rhetorical essay: You’ll read a provided passage, then analyze the author’s rhetorical choices and develop an argument that explains why the author made those rhetorical choices. Read our write-up on How to Write the AP Lang Rhetorical Essay here.

AP Lang Argument Essay Rubric

The AP Lang Argument Essay is graded on 3 rubric categories : Thesis, Evidence and Commentary, and Sophistication . How can you make sure you cover all three bases in your essay? We’ll break down each rubric category with dos and don’ts below:

• Thesis (0-1 point)

When it comes to grading your thesis, AP Exam graders are checking off a box: you either have a clear thesis or you don’t. So, what crucial components of a thesis will get you your check mark?

• Make sure your thesis argues something . To satisfy your graders, your thesis needs to take a clear stance on the issue at hand.
• Include your thesis statement in your intro paragraph. The AP Lang Argumentative essay is just that: an essay that makes an argument, so make sure you present your argument right away at the end of your first paragraph.
• A good test to see if you have a thesis that makes an argument for your AP Lang Argumentative Essay: In your head, add the phrase “I agree/disagree that…” to the beginning of your thesis. If what follows doesn’t logically flow after that phrase (aka if what follows isn’t an agreement or disagreement), it’s likely you’re not making an argument.
• In your thesis, outline the evidence you’ll cover in your body paragraphs.

AP Lang Argument Essay Rubric (Continued)

• Avoid a thesis that merely restates the prompt.
• Avoid a thesis that summarizes the text but does not make an argument.
• Avoid a thesis that weighs the pros and cons of an issue. Your job in your thesis is to pick a side and stick with it.
• Evidence and Commentary (0-4 points)

This rubric category is graded on a scale of 0-4 where 4 is the highest grade. Unlike the rhetorical and synthesis essays, the evidence you need to write your AP Lang Argument Essay is not provided to you. Rather, you’ll need to generate your own evidence and comment upon it.

What counts as evidence?

Typically, the AP Lang Argument Essay prompt asks you to reflect on a broad cultural, moral, or social issue that is open to debate. For evidence, you won’t be asked to memorize and cite statistics or facts. Rather, you’ll want to bring in real-world examples of:

• Historical events
• Current-day events from the news
• Personal anecdotes

For this essay, your graders know that you’re not able to do research to find the perfect evidence. What’s most important is that you find evidence that logically supports your argument.

What is commentary?

In this essay, it’s important to do more than just provide examples relevant evidence. After each piece of evidence you include, you’ll need to explain why it’s significant and how it connects to your main argument. The analysis you include after your evidence is commentary .

• Take a minute to brainstorm evidence that logically supports your argument. If you have to go out of your way to find the connection, it’s better to think of different evidence.
• Include multiple pieces of evidence. There is no magic number, but do make sure you incorporate more than a couple pieces of evidence that support your argument.
• Make sure you include more than one example of evidence, too. Let’s say you’re working on an essay that argues that people are always stronger together than apart. You’ve already included an example from history: during the civil rights era, protestors staged group sit-ins as a powerful form of peaceful protest. That’s just one example, and it’s hard to make a credible argument with just one piece of evidence. To fix that issue, think of additional examples from history, current events, or personal experience that are not related to the civil rights era.
• After you include each piece of evidence, explain why it’s significant and how it connects to your main argument.
• Don’t summarize or speak generally about the topic. Everything you write must be backed up with specific and relevant evidence and examples.
• Don’t let quotes speak for themselves. After every piece of evidence you include, make sure to explain and connect the evidence to your overarching argument.

AP Lang Argument Essay (Continued)

• Sophistication (0-1 point)

According to the College Board , one point can be awarded to AP Lang Argument essays that achieve a high level of sophistication. You can accomplish that in four ways:

• Crafting a nuanced argument by consistently identifying and exploring complexities or tensions.
• Articulating the implications or limitations of an argument by situating it within a broader context.
• Making effective rhetorical choices that consistently strengthen the force and impact of the student’s argument.
• Employing a style that is consistently vivid and persuasive.

In sum, this means you can earn an additional point for going above and beyond in depth, complexity of thought, or by writing an especially persuasive, clear, and well-structured essay. In order to earn this point, you’ll first need to do a good job with the fundamentals: your thesis, evidence, and commentary. Then, to earn your sophistication point, follow these tips:

• Outline your essay before you begin to ensure it flows in a clear and cohesive way.
• Include well-rounded evidence. Don’t rely entirely on personal anecdotes, for example. Incorporate examples from current events or history, as well.
• Thoroughly explain how each piece of evidence connects to your thesis in order to fully develop your argument.
• Explore broader implications. If what you’re arguing is true, what does that mean to us today? Who is impacted by this issue? What real-world issues are relevant to this core issue?
• Briefly explore the other side of the issue. Are the instances where your argument might not be true? Acknowledge the other side, then return to proving your original argument.
• Steer clear of generalizations (avoid words like “always” and “everyone”).
• Don’t choose an argument you can’t back up with relevant examples.
• Avoid complex sentences and fancy vocabulary words unless you use them often. Long, clunky sentences with imprecisely used words are hard to follow.

AP Lang Argument Sample Prompt

The sample prompt below is published online by the College Board and is a real example from the 2021 AP English Exam. The prompt provides background context, essay instructions, and the text you need to analyze.

Suggested time—40 minutes.

Many people spend long hours trying to achieve perfection in their personal or professional lives. Similarly, people often demand perfection from others, creating expectations that may be challenging to live up to. In contrast, some people think perfection is not attainable or desirable.

Write an essay that argues your position on the value of striving for perfection.

In your response you should do the following:

• Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position.
• Provide evidence to support your line of reasoning.
• Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.
• Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.

AP Lang Argument Essay Example

As the old phrase says, “Practice makes perfect.” But is perfection something that is actually attainable? Sometimes, pushing for perfection helps us achieve great things, but most often, perfectionism puts too much pressure on us and prevents us from knowing when we have done the best we can. Striving for perfection can only lead us to shortchange ourselves. Instead, we should value learning, growth, and creativity and not worry whether we are first or fifth best.

Students often feel the need to be perfect in their classes, and this can cause students to struggle or stop making an effort in class. In elementary and middle school, for example, I was very nervous about public speaking. When I had to give a speech, my voice would shake, and I would turn very red. My teachers always told me “relax!” and I got Bs on Cs on my speeches. As a result, I put more pressure on myself to do well, spending extra time making my speeches perfect and rehearsing late at night at home. But this pressure only made me more nervous, and I started getting stomach aches before speaking in public.

Once I got to high school, however, I started doing YouTube make-up tutorials with a friend. We made videos just for fun, and laughed when we made mistakes or said something silly. Only then, when I wasn’t striving to be perfect, did I get more comfortable with public speaking.

AP Lang Argumentative Essay Example (Continued)

In the world of art and business and science, perfectionism can also limit what we are able to achieve. Artists, for example, have to take risks and leave room for creativity. If artists strive for perfection, then they won’t be willing to fail at new experiments and their work will be less innovative and interesting. In business and science, many products, like penicillin for example, were discovered by accident. If the scientist who discovered penicillin mold growing on his petri dishes had gotten angry at his mistake and thrown the dishes away, he would never have discovered a medicine that is vital to us today.

Some fields do need to value perfection. We wouldn’t like it, for example, if our surgeon wasn’t striving for perfection during our operation. However, for most of us, perfectionism can limit our potential for learning and growth. Instead of trying to be perfect, we should strive to learn, innovate, and do our personal best.

AP Lang Argument Essay Example: Answer Breakdown

The sample AP Lang Argumentative Essay above has some strengths and some weaknesses. Overall, we would give this essay a 3 or a 4. Let’s break down what’s working and what could be improved:

• The essay offers a thesis that makes a clear argument that is relevant to the prompt: “Striving for perfection can only lead us to shortchange ourselves. Instead, we should value learning, growth, and creativity and not worry whether we are first or fifth best.”
• The first body paragraph provides evidence that supports the essay’s thesis. This student’s personal anecdote offers an example of a time when perfectionism led them to shortchange themselves.
• The second body paragraph provides additional evidence that supports the essay’s thesis. The example describing the discovery of penicillin offers another example of a situation in which perfectionism might have limited scientific progress.
• The writer offers commentary explaining how her examples of public speaking and penicillin illustrate that we should “value learning, growth, and creativity” over perfectionism.
• The essay follows one line of reasoning and does not stray into tangents.
• The essay is organized well with intro, body, and concluding paragraphs. Overall, it is easy to read and is free of grammar errors.

What could be improved:

• Although the second body paragraph provides one good specific example about the discovery of penicillin, the other examples it offers about art and business are only discussed generally and aren’t backed up with evidence. This paragraph would be stronger if it provided more examples. Or, if this writer couldn’t think of examples, they could have left out mentions of art and business altogether and included alternate evidence instead.
• This writer would more thoroughly support their argument if they were able to offer one more example of evidence. They could provide another personal anecdote, an example from history, or an example from current events.
• The writer briefly mentions the other side of the argument in their concluding paragraph: “Some fields do need to value perfection. We wouldn’t like it, for example, if our surgeon wasn’t striving for perfection during our operation.” Since it’s so brief a mention of the other side, it undermines the writer’s overall argument. This writer should either dedicate more time to reflecting on why even surgeons should “value learning, growth, and creativity” over perfectionism, or they should leave these sentences out.

AP Lang Argument Essay Example—More Resources

Looking for more tips to help you master your AP Lang Argumentative Essay? Brush up on 20 Rhetorical Devices High School Students Should Know and read our Tips for Improving Reading Comprehension .

If you’re ready to start studying for another part of the AP English Exam, find more expert tips in our How to Write the AP Lang Synthesis and How to Write the AP Lang Rhetorical Essay blog posts.

• High School Success

Christina Wood

Christina Wood holds a BA in Literature & Writing from UC San Diego, an MFA in Creative Writing from Washington University in St. Louis, and is currently a Doctoral Candidate in English at the University of Georgia, where she teaches creative writing and first-year composition courses. Christina has published fiction and nonfiction in numerous publications, including The Paris Review , McSweeney’s , Granta , Virginia Quarterly Review , The Sewanee Review , Mississippi Review , and Puerto del Sol , among others. Her story “The Astronaut” won the 2018 Shirley Jackson Award for short fiction and received a “Distinguished Stories” mention in the 2019 Best American Short Stories anthology.

• 2-Year Colleges
• Application Strategies
• Best Colleges by Major
• Best Colleges by State
• Big Picture
• Career & Personality Assessment
• College Essay
• College Search/Knowledge
• College Success
• Costs & Financial Aid
• Dental School Admissions
• Extracurricular Activities
• Graduate School Admissions
• High Schools
• Law School Admissions
• Medical School Admissions
• Navigating the Admissions Process
• Online Learning
• Private High School Spotlight
• Summer Program Spotlight
• Summer Programs
• Test Prep Provider Spotlight

“Innovative and invaluable…use this book as your college lifeline.”

— Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Nationally Recognized College Expert

College Planning in Your Inbox

Join our information-packed monthly newsletter.

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

How to Write the AP Lang Argument Essay + Examples

What’s covered:, what is the ap language argument essay, tips for writing the ap language argument essay, ap english language argument essay examples, how will ap scores impact my college chances.

In 2023, over 550,148 students across the U.S. took the AP English Language and Composition Exam, and 65.2% scored higher than a 3. The AP English Language Exam tests your ability to analyze a piece of writing, synthesize information, write a rhetorical essay, and create a cohesive argument. In this post, we’ll be discussing the best way to approach the argumentative essay section of the test, and we’ll give you tips and tricks so you can write a great essay.

The AP English Language Exam as of 2023 is structured as follows:

Section 1: 45 multiple choice questions to be completed in an hour. This portion counts for 45% of your score. This section requires students to analyze a piece of literature. The questions ask about its content and/or what could be edited within the passage.

Section 2: Three free response questions to be completed in the remaining two hours and 15 minutes. This section counts for 55% of your score. These essay questions include the synthesis essay, the rhetorical essay, and the argumentative essay.

• Synthesis essay: Read 6-7 sources and create an argument using at least three of the sources.
• Rhetorical analysis essay: Describe how a piece of writing evokes meaning and symbolism.
• Argumentative essay: Pick a side of a debate and create an argument based on evidence. In this essay, you should develop a logical argument in support of or against the given statement and provide ample evidence that supports your conclusion. Typically, a five paragraph format is great for this type of writing. This essay is scored holistically from 1 to 9 points.

Do you want more information on the structure of the full exam? Take a look at our in-depth overview of the AP Language and Composition Exam .

Although the AP Language Argument may seem daunting at first, once you understand how the essay should be structured, it will be a lot easier to create cohesive arguments.

Below are some tips to help you as you write the essay.

1. Organize your essay before writing

Instead of jumping right into your essay, plan out what you will say beforehand. It’s easiest to make a list of your arguments and write out what facts or evidence you will use to support each argument. In your outline, you can determine the best order for your arguments, especially if they build on each other or are chronological. Having a well-organized essay is crucial for success.

2. Pick one side of the argument, but acknowledge the other side

When you write the essay, it’s best if you pick one side of the debate and stick with it for the entire essay. All your evidence should be in support of that one side. However, in your introductory paragraph, as you introduce the debate, be sure to mention any merit the arguments of the other side has. This can make the essay a bit more nuanced and show that you did consider both sides before determining which one was better. Often, acknowledging another viewpoint then refuting it can make your essay stronger.

3. Provide evidence to support your claims

The AP readers will be looking for examples and evidence to support your argument. This doesn’t mean that you need to memorize a bunch of random facts before the exam. This just means that you should be able to provide concrete examples in support of your argument.

For example, if the essay topic is about whether the role of the media in society has been detrimental or not, and you argue that it has been, you may talk about the phenomenon of “fake news” during the 2016 presidential election.

AP readers are not looking for perfect examples, but they are looking to see if you can provide enough evidence to back your claim and make it easily understood.

4. Create a strong thesis statement

The thesis statement will set up your entire essay, so it’s important that it is focused and specific, and that it allows for the reader to understand your body paragraphs. Make sure your thesis statement is the very last sentence of your introductory paragraph. In this sentence, list out the key points you will be making in the essay in the same order that you will be writing them. Each new point you mention in your thesis should start a paragraph in your essay.

Below is a prompt and sample student essay from the May 2019 exam . We’ll look at what the student did well in their writing and where they could improve.

Prompt: “The term “overrated” is often used to diminish concepts, places, roles, etc. that the speaker believes do not deserve the prestige they commonly enjoy; for example, many writers have argued that success is overrated, a character in a novel by Anthony Burgess famously describes Rome as a “vastly overrated city,” and Queen Rania of Jordan herself has asserted that “[b]eing queen is overrated.”

Select a concept, place, role, etc. to which you believe that the term “overrated” should be applied. Then, write a well-developed essay in which you explain your judgment. Use appropriate evidence from your reading, experience, or observations to support your argument.

Sample Student Essay #1:

[1] Competition is “overrated.” The notion of motivation between peers has evolved into a source of unnecessary stress and even lack of morals. Whether it be in an academic environment or in the industry, this new idea of competition is harmful to those competing and those around them.

[2] Back in elementary school, competition was rather friendly. It could have been who could do the most pushups or who could get the most imaginary points in a classroom for a prize. If you couldn’t do the most pushups or win that smelly sticker, you would go home and improve yourself – there would be no strong feelings towards anyone, you would just focus on making yourself a better version of yourself. Then as high school rolled around, suddenly applying for college doesn’t seem so far away –GPA seems to be that one stat that defines you – extracurriculars seem to shape you – test scores seem to categorize you. Sleepless nights, studying for the next day’s exam, seem to become more and more frequent. Floating duck syndrome seems to surround you (FDS is where a competitive student pretends to not work hard but is furiously studying beneath the surface just like how a duck furiously kicks to stay afloat). All of your competitors appear to hope you fail – but in the end what do you and your competitor’s gain? Getting one extra point on the test? Does that self-satisfaction compensate for the tremendous amounts of acquired stress? This new type of “competition” is overrated – it serves nothing except a never-ending source of anxiety and seeks to weaken friendships and solidarity as a whole in the school setting.

[3] A similar idea of “competition” can be applied to business. On the most fundamental level, competition serves to be a beneficial regulator of prices and business models for both the business themselves and consumers. However, as businesses grew increasingly greedy and desperate, companies resorted to immoral tactics that only hurt their reputations and consumers as a whole. Whether it be McDonald’s coupons that force you to buy more food or tech companies like Apple intentionally slowing down your iPhone after 3 years to force you to upgrade to the newest device, consumers suffer and in turn speak down upon these companies. Similar to the evolved form of competition in school, this overrated form causes pain for all parties and has since diverged from the encouraging nature that the principle of competition was “founded” on.

The AP score for this essay was a 4/6, meaning that it captured the main purpose of the essay but there were still substantial parts missing. In this essay, the writer did a good job organizing the sections and making sure that their writing was in order according to the thesis statement. The essay first discusses how competition is harmful in elementary school and then discusses this topic in the context of business. This follows the chronological order of somebody’s life and flows nicely.

The arguments in this essay are problematic, as they do not provide enough examples of how exactly competition is overrated. The essay discusses the context in which competition is overrated but does not go far enough in explaining how this connects to the prompt.

In the first example, school stress is used to explain how competition manifests. This is a good starting point, but it does not talk about why competition is overrated; it simply mentions that competition can be unhealthy. The last sentence of that paragraph is the main point of the argument and should be expanded to discuss how the anxiety of school is overrated later on in life. 

In the second example, the writer discusses how competition can lead to harmful business practices, but again, this doesn’t reflect the reason this would be overrated. Is competition really overrated because Apple and McDonald’s force you to buy new products? This example could’ve been taken one step farther. Instead of explaining why business structures—such as monopolies—harm competition, the author should discuss how those particular structures are overrated.

Additionally, the examples the writer used lack detail. A stronger essay would’ve provided more in-depth examples. This essay seemed to mention examples only in passing without using them to defend the argument.

It should also be noted that the structure of the essay is incomplete. The introduction only has a thesis statement and no additional context. Also, there is no conclusion paragraph that sums up the essay. These missing components result in a 4/6.

Now let’s go through the prompt for a sample essay from the May 2022 exam . The prompt is as follows:

Colin Powell, a four-star general and former United States Secretary of State, wrote in his 1995 autobiography: “[W]e do not have the luxury of collecting information indefinitely. At some point, before we can have every possible fact in hand, we have to decide. The key is not to make quick decisions, but to make timely decisions.”

Write an essay that argues your position on the extent to which Powell’s claim about making decisions is valid. 

In your response you should do the following:

• Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position. 
• Provide evidence to support your line of reasoning. 
• Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning. 
• Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.

Sample Student Essay #2:

Colin Powell, who was a four star general and a former United States Secretary of State. He wrote an autobiography and had made a claim about making decisions. In my personal opinion, Powell’s claim is true to full extent and shows an extremely valuable piece of advice that we do not consider when we make decisions.

Powell stated, “before we can have every possible fact in hand we have to decide…. but to make it a timely decision” (1995). With this statement Powell is telling the audience of his autobiography that it does not necessarily matter how many facts you have, and how many things you know. Being able to have access to everything possible takes a great amount of time and we don’t always have all of the time in the world. A decision has to be made with what you know, waiting for something else to come in while trying to make a decision whether that other fact is good or bad you already have a good amount of things that you know. Everyone’s time is valuable, including yours. At the end of the day the decision will have to be made and that is why it should be made in a “timely” manner.

This response was graded for a score of 2/6. Let’s break down the score to smaller points that signify where the student fell short.

The thesis in this essay is clearly outlined at the end of the first paragraph. The student states their agreement with Powell’s claim and frames the rest of their essay around this stance. The success in scoring here lies in the clear communication of the thesis and the direction the argument will take. It’s important to make the thesis statement concise, specific, and arguable, which the student has successfully done.

While the student did attempt to provide evidence to support their thesis, it’s clear that their explanation lacks specific detail and substance. They referenced Powell’s statement, but did not delve into how this statement has proven true in specific instances, and did not provide examples that could bring the argument to life.

Commentary is an essential part of this section’s score. It means explaining the significance of the evidence and connecting it back to the thesis. Unfortunately, the student’s commentary here is too vague and does not effectively elaborate on how the evidence supports their argument.

To improve, the student could use more concrete examples to demonstrate their point and discuss how each piece of evidence supports their thesis. For instance, they could discuss specific moments in Powell’s career where making a timely decision was more valuable than waiting for all possible facts. This would help illustrate the argument in a more engaging, understandable way.

A high score in the “sophistication” category of the grading rubric is given for demonstrating a complex understanding of the rhetorical situation (purpose, audience, context, etc.), making effective rhetorical choices, or establishing a line of reasoning. Here, the student’s response lacks complexity and sophistication. They’ve simply agreed with Powell’s claim and made a few general statements without providing a deeper analysis or effectively considering the rhetorical situation.

To increase sophistication, the student could explore possible counterarguments or complexities within Powell’s claim. They could discuss potential drawbacks of making decisions without all possible facts, or examine situations where timely decisions might not yield the best results. By acknowledging and refuting these potential counterarguments, they could add more depth to their analysis and showcase their understanding of the complexities involved in decision-making.

The student could also analyze why Powell, given his background and experiences, might have come to such a conclusion, thus providing more context and showing an understanding of the rhetorical situation.

Remember, sophistication in argumentation isn’t about using fancy words or complicated sentences. It’s about showing that you understand the complexity of the issue at hand and that you’re able to make thoughtful, nuanced arguments. Sophistication shows that you can think critically about the topic and make connections that aren’t immediately obvious.

Now that you’ve looked at an example essay and some tips for the argumentative essay, you know how to better prepare for the AP English Language and Composition Exam.

While your AP scores don’t usually impact your admissions chances , colleges do care a lot about your course rigor. So, taking as many APs as you can will certainly boost your chances! AP scores can be a way for high-performing students to set themselves apart, particularly when applying to prestigious universities. Through the process of self-reporting scores , you can show your hard work and intelligence to admissions counselors.

That said, the main benefit of scoring high on AP exams comes once you land at your dream school, as high scores can allow you to “test out” of entry-level requirements, often called GE requirements or distribution requirements. This will save you time and money.

To understand how your course rigor stacks up, check out CollegeVine’s free chancing engine . This resource takes your course rigor, test scores, extracurriculars, and more, to determine your chances of getting into over 1600 colleges across the country!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

AP® English Language

How to score your own ap® english language practice essay.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

Practice makes perfect, which makes completing practice free response questions advantageous to the student. Figuring out how you did; however, is more difficult than it seems. As the writer, you have a certain bias that may make it more difficult to grade your own practice essay, but it can be done. If you remain impartial, follow the AP® English Language free response question rubric , and apply the ideas in this guide.

How to Draft a Response

Before we talk about how to score your essay, we must discuss how to draft a response to the AP® English Language free response questions. The first step is to understand your prompt and passage. Next, you must craft a thesis, or your argument. This is vital, because your entire essay should be based around the claim that you present in the thesis. The thesis should contain a roadmap to the rest of your essay, including your supporting details.

Once you have crafted your thesis, then write a short, quick introduction to that thesis, and insert your thesis after the introduction. This introduction must be concise and supplementary to your argument.

In the body paragraphs the thesis is supported. It is recommended that you do this in three body paragraphs at least. Great ways to do this is by citing proof from the passage or passages and inserting your own logical progression. By utilizing the text you allow yourself to gain credibility as a writer and impress your examiners.

The student will need to complete the three drafts in two hours and fifteen minutes; therefore, it is imperative that the student follows his or her argument and strongly supports it.

If you are practicing writing these free response questions on your own, then it is recommended that you write in a quiet environment that you cannot be disturbed in. This will allow you to focus on the paper as you would in the test location.

Remaining Impartial and Unbiased

When scoring your own AP® English Language free response question essay (FRQ) it is important to be an impartial and unbiased as possible. Be sure to spend at least half an hour away from the essay. This will allow you to clear your mind and be able to see the various mistakes and improvements that can be made to your essay easier.

The best way to do this is by writing the response in the beginning of the week, and then setting it aside until the end of the week. Once you pick the essay back up at the end of the week, then you can read the free response as if you are an outsider scoring your paper. This simulates an examiner reading your paper as it will be done for the AP® English Language scoring.

Be sure to remember that you should not be too easy on yourself. Growth is important with these practice free response questions, and that cannot be done if you deem your paper “perfect”.

Focusing on the AP® English Language Free Response Question Rubric

The next step in scoring your own free response question is to have the AP® English Language Argument Rubric in front of you as you read your essay. By doing this, you will not diverge from the given requirements of the College Board.

Ask yourself questions or make a checklist that contains all of the elements that you will need.

1. Is your grammar and mechanics confusing?

Always be sure to note this, because if your grammar and mechanics are too sloppy or confusing, then your score will fall to a 2. If your use of language is understood but contains major errors, then you will receive a 4 or 5. If your language is tolerable with minimal errors, then you could receive a 6, 7, 8, or 9 depending on the other elements of your essay.

2. How many supporting details do you have? Is your argument supported?

Your argument must be adequately supported. Do you do this in your essay? If there is no evidence of support, then give yourself a 1. Work on bringing in reasoning skills and pulling evidence from your passage.

If your essay reflects few supporting details, then give yourself a 5. This means that you have an argument and supported it, but there is more to be desired. The audience has not bought into your argument yet.

To be able to score yourself with a higher score, your support must be thorough. Citing from the text is extremely important as well as explaining why that quote supports your argument.

3. Is your evidence convincing?

Convincing evidence goes hand in hand with supporting details. Having convincing evidence means that you have utilized your supporting details and explained why they are important. Your purpose is to persuade, and having convincing evidence is vital. The examiner should not doubt the validity of your interpretation, because your evidence must convince the reader.

In order to get an 8 or 9 on the AP® English Language free response questions , you must find textual evidence, use it, and elaborate on its significance to your argument. The last element is especially important as it is the core of your essay.

If you did not relay the significance of your evidence to the argument at all, then give yourself a 4. This means that you have an argument and you have support, but you have not connected the two yet.

If you did relay the significance to the argument somewhere in the essay, then give yourself 5 to a 7 depending on how often you did this.

4. Is your argument clear?

Clarity goes a long way on the AP® English Language free response questions . Your argument must be elevated to the highest priority and explained. This allows the examiner to have no question of what you are claiming.

If you go back and read your essay to find that you are not sure what the argument is, then give yourself a 2. This means that your essay is unsure in your thesis.

To earn a higher score is to be clearer in your argument. Your thesis statement needs to provide a clear claim that you will see and understand every time you read the essay. An essay with a score of eight or nine is direct in its argument and is not subtle in sharing it with the reader. This is the most effective way of delivering the thesis.

5. Do you utilize your sources?

There is an essay called the synthesis essay which is within the free response question section of the AP® English Language exam. The synthesis essay rubric dictates that you use at least three of the sources in your essay to get a high score.

If you are writing a synthesis essay and you did not include sources, then give yourself a 2. As you utilize sources proficiently your score will rise. It is recommended to use three or more sources; however, be cautious in using more than five. This will seem excessive and your credibility as a proficient analyst will suffer, because the essay will be predominantly the source material and not your own ideas.

6. Are you off topic?

Staying on topic is essential to the free response questions . Never stray from your argument for any reason, because if you are off topic, then your score will drop to a 3 or even may not be scored at all. If you remain on topic, then you have a chance at a much higher score, which will depend on your use of persuasion.

7. Is your writing effectively persuasive overall?

The purpose for writing the essays for the AP® English Language free response questions is to persuade through argumentation and synthesis. Your use of the English language, however, also plays a role in the effectiveness of your response.

Using rhetorical devices and figurative language takes your essay to the next level, and an examiner may bump your score up a number if you are eloquent enough. Therefore, if your essay is especially convincing in its language usage, then take the overall score and raise it one point.

Tips to Remember

There are some elements to keep in mind when you are scoring your own paper. Remember that examiners love to reward students for what they do well. If you see a point that resonated, then keep that in mind as you score yourself.

It is also important to note that the AP® English Language exam’s free response questions are a long and arduous task if you do not practice beforehand. Practice frequently throughout the year to gain the benefits you need and keep on scoring!

Photo by Popular Science Monthly [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By the way, you should check out Albert.io for your AP® English Language review. We have hundreds of AP® English Language practice questions written just for you!

Interested in a school license?​

Popular posts.

AP® Score Calculators

Simulate how different MCQ and FRQ scores translate into AP® scores

AP® Review Guides

The ultimate review guides for AP® subjects to help you plan and structure your prep.

Core Subject Review Guides

Review the most important topics in Physics and Algebra 1 .

SAT® Score Calculator

See how scores on each section impacts your overall SAT® score

ACT® Score Calculator

See how scores on each section impacts your overall ACT® score

Grammar Review Hub

Comprehensive review of grammar skills

AP® Posters

Download updated posters summarizing the main topics and structure for each AP® exam.

Get in touch with us

Are you sure you want to logout?

Study abroad.

AP Exam Scoring – Grading Scale with Examples

Ap exam scoring.

If you hope to take an AP class in the future or are studying for an AP exam right now, the question: “How are AP exams scored?” will be on your mind.

In this blog, we hope to simplify the scoring process, from the raw scores you earn on the MCQ section and other sections to how the final score on a scale of 1-5 is assigned. This information can help you do your best on your AP exams, especially if you are working towards that perfect 5! 

The AP Grading Scale

According to the AP grading scale, each AP exam is assigned a score from 1-5. Wondering what a passing AP score is? The answer is three.

These Numbers Translate in the Following Way According to the College Board:

1: No recommendation

2: Possibly Qualified

3: Qualified

4: Well Qualified

5: Extremely Well Qualified

The 1-5 scaled score is derived from a composite score calculated from the total number of raw points achieved from the correct MCQ answers and free responses. So if you find it confusing, don’t worry! We will explain it all in detail!

How are AP Exams Scored?

Most AP exams comprise two sections— the multiple-choice question part and the free response part. On some exams, equal marks are assigned to both sections, while on others, one is assigned slightly higher marks. You can get specific information about each exam on the official AP website. A machine automatically grades the MCQ section. No deductions are made for blank or incorrect answers. The total score corresponds to the number of questions you mark correctly. 

The grading for the free-response section is conducted during the annual AP Reading that takes place in the first two weeks of June. The event is a huge convention where lots of college professors and teachers gather to grade thousands of responses written by students for each exam.

If you know a teacher from your school who goes to the AP Reading each year, you can talk to them about what happens there, how quickly the free responses are scored, and the best and the worst cases they have seen. This information could be very helpful for you when you do your AP free-response section. 

For the reasons mentioned above, the results for the AP exams are not ready until July, even though the exam is held in May. The app grading scale percentage for the written portion of the exam isn’t calculated until mid-June. At last, the College Board calculates the composite score for each exam, followed by calculating the final scaled score.

The test is equated with ensuring the final scaled score stays even yearly. For instance, they make sure that a three on the AP Chemistry exam means the same thing from year to year, even if the exam paper was more difficult for the students in one year. 

A holistic score is assigned to every free response, which means it is assessed based on its correctness or effectiveness. Usually, no marks are deducted for small errors like spelling or grammatical mistakes, so these won’t affect your AP grade scale percentage. The free responses for most tests are graded from 1-9 according to the AP grading scale , with 1 being the lowest score and 9 being the nearly perfect score. The raw free-response score combines all the scores received for individual responses.

How are Scaled AP Scores Between 1 and 5 Assigned?

After the grading for your multiple-choice and free response sections (by a machine and a teacher, respectively), a composite score is produced by combining the essay and multiple-choice scores. This way of combining the scores of the two sections makes sure they are weighted correctly. For instance, the multiple-choice section is worth 45% for AP English, while the free response section is 55%. The composite scores generally lie between 0-100 or 0-150.

The composite score calculated for each student is then converted to a scaled version and assigned a scaled score of 1-5. This means a range of composite scores for each scaled score. For instance, to get a 5, the student might have earned a composite score of anywhere between 110-150.

As scaling varies yearly, no exact cutoff points for the AP test scores have been assigned. The College Board does not release detailed scoring data. Additionally, students only see their final scaled score from 1-5. They do not get to know their composite score. These days many prep books, teachers, and websites have come up with ways to predict the scaled scores for the AP exams, which can help you to come up with a target score while grading your practice tests. 

Scoring Examples on AP English Language and Composition

As we have already seen, the AP exam scoring method is not straightforward. To better understand the process, we will consider an example where we discuss scoring the most popular AP exam— AP English language and comprehension. 

The test paper contains 55 MCQs that constitute 45% of the total score. Additionally, three essays are worth 55% of the total score. A grade between 1-9 is assigned for each essay. 

Before we move forward, please remember that this example will only give you an estimation of how the scores are calculated. This is because the score conversions vary from one year to the next according to the difficulty of the exam. Therefore, it is impossible to predict your exact AP exam score, but you can still form an idea about how the process works and try to guess an approximate score till you get your actual score. 

Step 1: Check your Correct Answers and Add Those Up to Get your Raw Score

Let’s say that out of the 55 multiple-choice questions, you get 40 right, leave seven blanks, and get eight wrong. Your raw MCQ score would be equal to the number of correct answers. In this case, 40 points.

For the three essays, let’s assume you got the following scores from the examiners— 7,8 and 4. Your total raw essay score, therefore, comes out to be 19. 

Step 2: Calculate a Single Composite Score from your Raw Scores. 

This part, where you must convert the raw scores into a single composite score, is tricky. The composite score will be anywhere between 0-150. 

82.5 is the maximum converted essay score, 55% of 150. On the other hand, 67.5 is the maximum converted MCQ score, which is 45% of 150. Therefore, the formula given below can be used to calculate your composite score:

Composite Score = (Raw Score of Essay x 3.05) + ( Raw Score of MCQs x 1.23) 

In this case, your composite essay score will be 57.95, and your MCQ composite score will be 49.2. Therefore, the total composite score comes out to be 107 (after rounding off).  

Step 3: Estimate your Final AP Scaled Score by Using the Chart Given Below:

Please note that these scores are just a rough estimate and are subject to change from one year to the next based on the difficulty of the exam. 

We hope that this blog helps you understand how AP exams are scored. Even though you can’t get an exact score on your practice exams, you can form a rough estimate of it which will help you understand where you stand in your preparation process and how much more work you need to put in to achieve an AP passing score!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. can the formula given above be used to score every ap exam.

A. No, the same formula can’t be used for every AP exam. This is because different tests have slightly different weights and the number of questions for different sections. For example, suppose the AP Calculus test contains fewer MCQs and more free responses. 

2. Which is the hardest AP exam?

A. AP Physics 1 is the most failed AP exam, therefore, the hardest one. The passing rate for this exam is the lowest, 51.5%, meaning almost half of the students who sit on this exam fail. The exam consists of 50 multiple-choice and five free-response questions and lasts three hours. If you take this course, you will need more effort to get an AP passing score. 

3. What are passing AP scores, and what is the highest score according to the 1-5 scale?

A. To pass, you need to score three or higher. Some colleges even award credit only to students with four or higher. However, five is the highest and the most desirable score. It puts the students in the top 10-20% of scorers. 

4. What are the AP core courses?

A. AP Mathematics, AP English, AP Biology , AP Chemistry , and AP Physics are some core AP courses.

Relevant Articles

AP Lang Rhetorical Analysis Essay

AP language exams are held for numerous subjects. Students have …

AP Lang Rhetorical Analysis Essay Read More »

Steps to Draft AP Lang Synthesis Essay

The synthesis essay AP lang is part of the AP …

Steps to Draft AP Lang Synthesis Essay Read More »

Strategies for Success: A Complete Overview of the AP Calculus AB Exam

The AP Calculus AB Exam serves as an important element …

Strategies for Success: A Complete Overview of the AP Calculus AB Exam Read More »

Preparing for Success: A Guide to the Features of Digital AP Exams

Digital  Advanced Placement (AP) exams bring about a huge change …

Preparing for Success: A Guide to the Features of Digital AP Exams Read More »

With Turito Study Abroad

Get an Expert Advice from Turito

With Turito CAP.

With Turito Coding.

With Turito RoboNinja

1-on-1 tutoring for the undivided attention

The Paly Voice

Which school event do you most look forward to this year?

• Spirit Week

View Results

New AP Lang gradeless system fosters individualized growth

One semester into a new “ungrading” grading system, the AP English Language and Composition team at Palo Alto High School is reevaluating and adjusting the grading system in response to student feedback. 

The 2023-2024 guide for the course says students receive “descriptive feedback” on their assignments instead of traditional grades, with an emphasis on improvement of skills rather than just level of performance. Grades are then determined by the category of the rubric met. “Sophistication,” “Application,” “Identifying” and “Striving” rubric categories correspond to grades of A, B, C and D, respectively.

Teachers regularly hold grade conferences with students “to discuss artifacts of learning, individualized descriptive feedback, goals, [student] growth over time and participation” according to the course guide. Letter grades are decided from these conversations, which took place at the end of each month last semester.

The course previously used standards-based grading with a four-point scale applied to various learning targets. The letter grade earned at the end of each semester was determined by the number of categories with certain number grades. Though still standards-based, the new grading system abandons numbers entirely.

English teacher Kindel Launer said the new grading system aligns much better with the original goals of the AP Language class, which attempts to teach writing skills applicable beyond the AP test.

“The purpose of [AP] Lang is not to tick the box and get the A,” Launer said. “The purpose is to become an effective writer in the same way we study calculus to understand the impact of an introduced species into an ecosystem.”

According to English and Communications teacher Melissa Laptalo, the new grading system is part of an ongoing experimentation process by the AP Lang team.

“In 2020, when we did distance learning, we started experimenting with alternative learning … and that was with standards-based grading,” Laptalo said. “Last year, Mr. Kline, our principal, sent out an article about ‘Ungrading’ … and it felt for our team like the natural next step … that would resolve some of the issues we were having with standards-based grading.”

According to junior Kofi Kim, the new grading scale is valuable for being able to evaluate each student holistically and should be used in other English classes as well.  

“I would say that every class should do it, mainly because it lets people have bad days,” Kim said. “There’s a little more flexibility and you can show your own growth without having to be held to the same standard as every other student because everyone’s different.”

According to Laptalo, finding the right wording to communicate expectations to students in rubrics has been difficult, but has been remedied by one-on-one communication with students.

“Labels are great, they can be helpful,” Laptalo said. “But this whole thing is about getting away from labels and into conversation. It’s gonna be a journey to figure out what these words are and where they align. … The conferences are what get us through it and what allow us to see the [students’] individual investment and their growth.” 

According to junior Isabelle Carlsen, the subjectivity of ‘Ungrading’ led her to seek more feedback for her writing with mixed results. 

“I felt that it [the new grading system] definitely encouraged me to ask my teacher more questions regarding what they want, but not really what the AP curriculum wants,” Carlsen said. “In regard to my actual writing, I don’t think I got enough feedback from teachers to know how to improve.”

According to English teacher Keith Tocci, structuring class schedules to accommodate for grading conferences has been an ongoing issue. 

“Time of conferences [has] been a challenge,” Tocci said.  “I tried to do longer conferences towards the beginning of the semester … [with] the longer conferences students felt like they had a lot more time to talk but it took a lot of class time.”

Carlsen said the standards of the grading scale could be clarified, citing the current standards as too ambiguous.

“I know some teachers redefined it later and added certain intermediate categories between the levels to make the system more fair,” Carlsen said. “It would be better if they made a more clean-cut definition of how to obtain a grade based on their academic performance.”

Junior Maya Rajbhandari said the absence of averages in the new scale helped show growth, but the subjectivity also resulted in ambiguity, which led to stress.

“Personally, I hate averages because it’s really hard to get an A if you fail one thing, but last semester I was still really stressed because I was getting a lot of ‘I can identify’ [evaluations] which is equivalent to a C,” Rajbhandari said. “I was really trying to make my essays better and the stress helped me to improve my writing, but I feel like it might not have been for the right reasons.”

Laptalo said that this is a learning process both for students and teachers.

“We’re still trying to figure out and learn,” Laptalo said. “We’re getting feedback from students, we’re making adjustments, the model is about learning, which both we teachers and students are engaged in.”

• ap language and composition
• grading system
• Isabelle Carlsen
• keith tocci
• kindel launer
• maya rajbhandari
• Melissa laptalo

Comments (0)

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *