How to Earn a Five (5) on the AP United States Government Exam

Many colleges award college credit to students who earn a score of four (4) or a five (5) on the Advanced Placement exam for United States government and politics. Other schools that do not award college credit may allow students to place out of entry level courses. Some schools even allow students to use AP course to full fill distribution requirements. Students are not required to be enrolled in an AP class to be eligible to sit for the AP US government and politics exam. This tutorial will explain how any student studying US government and politics can earn a high enough score to earn college credit on the US AP government and politics test.

Step 1: Study US Government and Politics.

Step 2: Compare your course with the outline for the AP US Government and Politics provided by the College Board. The College Board divides course/exam content accordingly:
1. Constitutional Underpinnings of United States Government (5-15%)
2. Political Beliefs and Behaviors (10-20%)
3. Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media (10-20%)
4. Institutions of National Government: The Congress, the Presidency, the Bureaucracy, and the Federal Courts
(35-45%)
5. Public Policy (5-15%)
6. Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (5-15%)

Step 3. Sign up to take the AP US Government and Politics test on the college board web site or at your school. Read and review The Declaration of Independence, The US Constitution, The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10) and  Constitutional Amendments 11-27. Be sure you understand the concepts of separation of powers, “checks and balances,” and the function of each of the three branches of the US government. Use flash cards and outlines to study the important components of each of these documents and concepts. You can make the flash cards and outlines yourself, find them online (posted by a number of teachers that teach AP courses) or your can purchase  them. Barron  and Spark Notes make flash cards. Spark Notes also make some plastic outlines that make very good bathroom reading.

Step 4. A few weeks before you are scheduled to take the AP exam, go to the College Board web site and download the old exam essay questions. This service is available free of charge. Samples of the multiple choice portions are not online but can be found at your local bookstore or library. We like the Spark Notes AP Power pack, but many other publishers (such as Kaplan, Princeton Review and Random House) provide sample multiple choice tests.

Step 5. After gathering the exam questions, take at least one practice test. This will be your diagnostic test to see what areas you need to concentrate your studies. Set the other tests aside until you are further along in your exam review.

Step 6. Review the results of your practice exam and study the areas you lost points.

Step 7. Practice taking more tests. The writing portion of the AP United States Government and Politics test rewards both knowledge and effective essay writing. Practice writing the essay exams so that each essay begins with a topic sentence that answers the question and then proceeds with a well delineated argument supported by primary documents. Be prepared to cite significant Supreme Court decisions and specific parts of The Declaration of Independence, The US Constitution, The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10) and Constitutional Amendments 11-27 when crafting your answers.

Warning: Not all colleges and universities award college credit for Advanced Placement exams. Not all colleges award the same credit for AP exams. To understand the policy for college credit awarded you need to contact the individual college.

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