ap gov argument essay rubric 2022

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AP U.S. Government and Politics: Argument Essay

Question 4 of the AP U.S. Government and Politics free response section will always be the Argument Essay. These questions begin with a brief paragraph about a given topic, such as the balance between federal and state powers. The prompt will then give specific instructions about how you must format your essay, including a list of several required foundational documents that are relevant to the topic at hand. You will need to discuss one of the listed documents as well as another piece of specific evidence from your own knowledge.

Argument Essay Strategies

While the scoring for the first three free-response questions is more straightforward—you earn points (or not) based on fully addressing each part of the prompt—the scoring for the Argument Essay is a little more complex. The following rubric outlines what the AP readers are generally looking for when they grade your Argument Essay; note the various categories and the ways you can earn points.

Sample Question

• Formulate a defensible thesis that establishes a chain of reasoning.
• Federalist 10
• U.S. Constitution
• Take your other piece of evidence from a different foundational document from the list above OR from your own study.
• Logically explain why your evidence supports your thesis.
• Present and reply to an alternative viewpoint using refutation, concession, or rebuttal.

Step 1: Analyze the Prompt

Step 2: plan your response.

You’ll want to create a brief outline before you start writing, just like you would for any other full-length essay. As you saw from the rubric, AP readers are interested in your thesis development, your use of evidence, and your treatment of an alternative view. Everything you write should be toward one or more of those ends.

You will need to state a thesis that specifically addresses the prompt and makes a claim. Avoid rewording the prompt or being too general. A good question to ask yourself is, “Am I actually taking a position on this issue that someone else might argue against?” Also, while the Argument Essay necessitates a longer, more detailed response than the other free-response question types, it does not require a formal introduction; in fact, writing a lengthy introduction can take up valuable time and frustrate the AP reader who is scoring your essay. Assert your thesis as soon as possible, and then move into the rest of your response.

It is important to note that the Argument Essay’s topic and prompt wording will always intentionally allow for multiple positions. Therefore, you should be strategic and choose the position that you can best back up with evidence. You may even advocate for a different position than the one you personally agree with! To that end, no matter how strongly you feel about a topic, always present your evidence and claims in a balanced manner. Throughout your essay, even and especially when responding to an alternative viewpoint, avoid wording that makes it seem like your argument is simply your personal opinion (e.g., “I think” or “I believe,” or any language that is overly emotional).

With all of this in mind, a high-scoring writer might write the following outline:

Thesis: Trustee is the best model (ideals of Constitution)

• Madison’s fear: large country + big gov’t = factions (many groups disagree)
• Trustee can mediate, come to concl, act in best interests
• Needed trustee model to make change
• Civil rights and women’s rights movements
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965

Response to alternative view: Anti-Feds would fear large repub (Brutus), but pol system in place would keep trustee honest

Step 3: Action! Write Response & Step 4: Proofread

Sample high-scoring response.

The trustee model of legislative representation is the best reflection of the founders’ intentions in setting up American democracy because it offers the best hope for what the Preamble to the Constitution calls “a more perfect union,” one that will bring together war- ring factions and increase harmony.

As James Madison pointed out in Federalist 10, it is inevitable that a republic will contain many groups which vehemently disagree. The bigger a country grows, the more frequent and violent factional clashes are likely to become. Madison was looking ahead to the U.S. that would burst the bounds of the original colonies and create more factionalism. This vision of an expanding, clashing nation makes the trustee model very appealing. A trustee Congressperson is one who will listen to all sides, make an independent judgment, but then go on to explain it so that opponents may be persuaded to change their minds, thus bringing resolution to conflicts.

A trustee is a representative willing to do the principled thing even if the public thinks otherwise. Many issues in our history have seemed so polarized that they were beyond resolution and could not wait for popular consensus. This was the case with civil rights issues and legislation in the 1960s. Technically, African Americans had the right to vote since the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870. However, this right was violently suppressed through intimidation tactics and a variety of restrictive measures such as poll taxes and literacy tests. It was not until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that substantial voting protections were extended to all black people. The Voting Rights Act outlawed literacy tests and other tactics; under this act, federal officials were sent to the South to ensure that African Americans were allowed to vote free from fear and intimidation, and the election practices of local governments were held under greater scrutiny. Civil rights movement leaders had challenged discriminatory practices for decades, but due to intense polarization in society, there was no public consensus on how to address racism in voting practices or even agreement as to whether to address it at all. Legislators had to go against the opinions of the majority in order to act in a way that advanced American ideals for all citizens, and the public eventually caught up.

Similarly, legislators pushed through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was supported by people within social movements but not by the general populace. Additionally, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 touched on the goals of not just the civil rights movement but also the women’s rights movement; for example, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibited sex discrimination in public accommodations. Members of these movements had been working for years to get society at large to expand rights and protections to all people. However, if legislators had waited to act until a majority of their constituency approved of these civil rights bills, the bills may never have passed. In this way, the trustee model can be used to uphold the rights of the minority despite majority resistance.

The trustee idea would have been opposed by Brutus and other Anti-Federalists. Brutus 1 warns that a large republic would necessarily be disconnected from its people. Following this logic, a concern with the trustee model would be that the representative would deviate too far from the will of the people and become despotic. But it is important to note that the people have the ultimate voice if they disagree with the trustee’s judgments: the power of the ballot. The legislator’s desire to stay in power is a strong check on him or her, acting as an incentive to listen to constituents.

All in all, the trustee is in the best position to reduce the intense factionalism Madison feared. Even before the advance of mass media, the trustee had many means to learn of the people’s different views and to explain why the legislator was voting a certain way, or advancing this or that philosophy. This give and take of ideas surely helped to get the republic through its rocky early decades, and also helped the country to recover from the volatile growing pains and changes in the mid-twentieth century by finding ways to bring people together and advance equal rights for all.

Sample Response Explanation and Scoring

• Thesis (0–1 pt): The writer sets up a clear X because Y sentence to introduce the thesis, which could be paraphrased as, The trustee model brings about harmony. Everything that follows is connected to the founders’ ideal of harmony. The writer would therefore earn 1 point for Thesis.
• Support (0–3 pts): There is more than enough evidence to gain the full 3 points for Support, as the writer explains Madison’s argument in Federalist 10 and elaborates upon relevant historical examples of disharmony that those acting as trustees helped to fix through assertive actions. In addition, the references to the Constitution and Brutus 1 (while unnecessary for earning full credit in Support) show a strong command of course material.
• Reasoning (0–1 pt): The writer earns the 1 point for Reasoning by clearly explaining how a trustee offers the best hope for Madison’s vision. Specifically, the writer asserts in paragraphs 3 and 4 how trustees could not wait for public opinion in order to act.
• Reply to Alternative Viewpoint (0–1 pt): There is a whole paragraph at the end dedicated to rebutting the Anti-Federalists’ objections. In this way, the writer makes it clear that this requirement has been met and earns the final 1 point.

Question-Specific Rubric: 6 points (1 + 3 + 1 + 1)

Learn more about the other free response questions on the AP U.S. Government and Politics exam. Concept Application   •   Quantitative Analysis   •   SCOTUS Comparison

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2024 AP US Government & Politics Exam Guide

1 min read • july 11, 2024

Your Guide to the 2024 AP US Government & Politics Exam

We know that studying for your AP exams can be stressful, but Fiveable has your back! We created a study plan to help you crush your AP Government and Politics exam. This guide will continue to update with information about the 2024 exams, as well as helpful resources to help you do your best on test day.  Unlock Cram Mode for access to our cram events—students who have successfully passed their AP exams will answer your questions and guide your last-minute studying LIVE! And don't miss out on unlimited access to our database of thousands of practice questions.

Format of the 2024 AP US Gov Exam

Going into test day, this is the format to expect:

• 📃 55 multiple-choice questions with 80 minutes to complete them.- - There will be ~30 individual, stand-alone questions.- - All the other questions will be put together into sets. You may be asked to complete a quantitative, qualitative, or visual analysis in these questions.
• ✍ 4 free-response questions with 100 minutes to complete them. You should devote ~20 minutes to each response.- - Question 1 is always a  concept application question.- - Question 2 is a  quantitative analysis question, where you will analyze data and come to a conclusion.- - Question 3 is a  Supreme Court case comparison  essay. You will compare a required court case with a nonrequired one, explaining how they are related.- - Lastly, question 4 is an  argumentative essay . 👉 Check out the 2023 AP US Government and Politics Free-Response Section posted on the College Board site. 

Scoring Rubric for the AP US Government Exam

View an example set of questions and the corresponding  scoring guidelines (page 186) from the College Board to get an idea of what they look for in your responses! You can also focus in on the argumentative essay (free response #4) and take a look at that  rubric here .

Check out our study plan below to find resources and tools to prepare for your AP US Government exam. 

When is the 2024 AP Gov Exam and How do I Take it?

Tests will be taken in person at your school. Here is what we know from College Board so far:

• The exam date will be in-person and on paper at your school on Monday, May 6, 2024 at 8 am, your local time. You have 3 hours to take the exam. We will have more updates from College Board soon, but as of now, this is what we know!

How Should I Prepare for the AP Gov Exam?

• First, you need to take stock of your progress in the course so far so that you can build your study plan according to your needs. Download the  AP Government and Politics Cheatsheet PDF —a single sheet that covers everything you need to know—so that you can see a map of the entire course and quickly spot the weak areas that you need to focus on.
• Then, create your study plan by focusing on your learning styles and areas to improve. Which types of questions do you need to practice more? We've put together the study plan found below to help you study between now and May. This will cover all of the units and essay types to prepare you for your exam. Pay special attention to the units that you need the most improvement in.
• Study, practice, and review for test day with other students during our live cram sessions via  Cram Mode . Cram live streams will teach, review, and practice important topics from AP courses, college admission tests, and college admission topics. These streams are hosted by experienced students who know what you need to succeed.
• Finally, build your study schedule in advance! We highly suggest making your study schedule ahead of time so that you can easily join interactive study sessions such as live streams, voice chats, and study groups.

Pre-Work: Set Up Your Study Environment

Before you begin studying, take some time to get organized. 

🖥 Create a study space.

Make sure you have a designated place at home to study. Somewhere you can keep all of your materials, where you can focus on learning, and where you are comfortable. Spend some time prepping the space with everything you need and you can even let others in the family know that this is your study space. 

📚 Organize your study materials.

Get your notebook, textbook, prep books, or whatever other physical materials you have. Also create a space for you to keep track of review. Start a new section in your notebook to take notes or start a Google Doc to keep track of your notes. Get yourself set up!

📅 Plan designated times for studying.

The hardest part about studying from home is sticking to a routine. Decide on one hour every day that you can dedicate to studying. This can be any time of the day, whatever works best for you. Set a timer on your phone for that time and really try to stick to it. The routine will help you stay on track.

🏆 Decide on an accountability plan.

How will you hold yourself accountable to this study plan? You may or may not have a teacher or rules set up to help you stay on track, so you need to set some for yourself. First set your goal. This could be studying for x number of hours or getting through a unit. Then, create a reward for yourself. If you reach your goal, then x. This will help stay focused!

AP US Government & Politics 2024 Study Plan

🏛️unit 1: foundations of american democracy, big takeaways:.

Unit 1 introduces the concept of democracy and its various forms. The documents that first started the United States are analyzed by looking at the challenges and promises associated with each. The division of power within our government: individual rights vs government authority and state vs federal government powers are at the heart of this unit and discussed within each founding document. 

Definitely do this:

🎥 Watch these videos:

Intro to American Government, models of Representative Democracy : A full review of the types of democracy, the difference between government and politics as well as the functions of government are discussed.

Foundational Documents Review : A deep dive into the foundational documents you need to know for the exam.

Ratification of the Constitution: Constitutional Convention : A review of the compromises leading to the ratification of the Constitution. 📰 Check out these articles:

• Unit 1 Overview: Foundations of American Democracy 
• 1.1 Ideals of Democracy
• 1.2 Types of Democracy 
• 1.3 Federalist No. 10 & Brutus 1 Summary 
• 1.4 Challenges of the Articles of Confederation
• 1.5 Ratification of the US Constitution
• 1.6 Principles of American Government
• 1.7 Relationship Between States and the Federal Government
• 1.8 Constitutional Interpretations of Federalism
• 1.9 Federalism in Action 
• 1.10 Required Founding Documents ✍️ Practice:
• Best Quizlet Deck:   AP Gov Unit 1 by bryce_s

If you have more time or want to dig deeper:

• 👻 Check out  Too Late to Apologize: An Ode to the [object Object] (YouTube)
• Types of Federalism Part 1 - Dual vs Cooperative
• Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland and US v. Lopez
• The Powers - Expressed, Implied, Concurrent, Denied...

⚖️ Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government

Unit 2 dives into the separation of powers between our three branches of government. It looks at the specific powers of each branch as outlined in the Constitution and how each branch has grown in power through the years. The system of checks and balances and the role each branch plays in holding the other accountable is analyzed. 

Legislative and Judicial Branch Review : This stream provides a review of the legislative and judicial branches including their powers and role within the federal government.

• Powers of the Presidency : This stream provides a review of the executive branch including its powers and role within the federal government.

Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances : This video from Crash Course reviews the separation of powers between the three branches of government. It also looks at the ways each branch “checks” the other. 📰 Check out these articles:

Unit 2 Overview: Interactions Among Branches of Government

• 2.1 Congress : The Senate and the House of Representatives

2.2 Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress

2.3 Congressional Behavior

2.4 Roles and Power of the President

2.5 Checks on the Presidency

2.6 Expansion of Presidential Power

2.7 Presidential Communication

2.8 The Judicial Branch

2.9 Legitimacy of the Judicial Branch

2.10 The Court in Action

2.11 Checks on the Judicial Branch

2.12 The Bureaucracy

2.13 Discretionary and Rule-Making Authority

2.14 Holding the Bureaucracy Accountable

2.15 Policy and the Branches of Government ✍️ Practice:

Best Quizlet Deck:   Unit 2 – AP Gov by k8te13

• Bill to Law Process
• Review and Application of Iron Triangles and Issue Networks
• Selection and Nomination of Federal Judges

✊ Unit 3: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

Unit 3 takes the principles of our government established in Units 1 and 2 to analyze maintaining those principles while balancing liberty and order. The role of the  Bill of Rights and the 14th amendment in guaranteeing civil rights and liberties for all citizens is at the heart of this unit.  

🎥  Watch these videos:

First and Second Amendments : This stream looks at what the first and second amendments say, how they have been interpreted and some of the major Supreme Court cases around them.

Civil Liberties and Civil Rights : This video from crash course provides a review of the civil liberties and civil rights guaranteed to US citizens. It also looks at the way the  Bill of Rights has been interpreted since its inception in relation to liberties and rights.

The 14th Amendment : This stream breaks down the 14th amendment and many of the key terms associated with it: due process, equal protection, incorporation, citizenship, and privileges or immunities clause.

Required Supreme Court Cases from 1st-10th Amendments : This stream reviews Supreme Court cases about the 1st-10th Amendments and how they protect civil liberties today! 📰 Check out these articles:

• Unit 3 Overview: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
• 3.1 The Bill of Rights
• 3.2 First Amendment: Freedom of Religion
• 3.3 First Amendment: Freedom of Speech
• 3.4 First Amendment: Freedom of the Press
• 3.5 Second Amendment: Rights to Bear Arms
• 3.6 Amendments: Balancing Individual Freedom with Public Order and Safety
• 3.7 Selective Incorporation & the 14th Amendment
• 3.8 Amendments: Due Process and the Rights of the Accused
• 3.9 Amendments: Due Process and the Right to Privacy
• 3.10 Social Movements and Equal Protection
• 3.11 Government Responses to Social Movements
• 3.12 Balancing Minority and Majority Rights
• 3.13 Affirmative Action ✍️ Practice:

Best Quizlet Deck:   AP Gov – Civil Liberties and Rights by Sandy_Midgley

• 📜 Check out  Bill of Rights and  Bill of Rights (YouTube)
• Civil Liberties and Civil Rights (Fiveable stream)

🐘Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs

Unit 4 focuses on political ideology - the idea that there are different and consistent patterns of beliefs about political values and the role of government within the context that we live in. This unit will discuss the different American ideologies and how major parties influence them.

Political Socialization and Political Ideology :  This stream discusses what influences people's political views and a few different dominant political ideologies.

Political Parties and Their Platforms :  This stream dives into the major beliefs and ideologies of the Republican and Democratic party platforms, the history of political parties, their impact on voters and the government, and third parties were also discussed.

Economic Ideology - Keynesian vs Supply Side :  In this stream we dived into fiscal economic theory and policy, looking at the liberal take on Keynesian theory and the conservative look at supply-side theory. 📰 Check out these articles:

Unit 4 Overview: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs

4.1 American Attitudes about Government and Politics

4.2 Political Socialization

• 4.4 Influence of Political Events on Ideology

4.5 Measuring Public Opinion

4.6 Evaluating Public Opinion Data

4.7 Ideologies of Political Parties

4.8 Ideology and Policy Making

4.9 Ideology and Economic Policy

4.10 Ideology and Social Policy ✍️ Practice:

Best Quizlet Deck:   AP GOV Unit 4 by MARGARET_CYLKOWSKI

• A Review of Public Policy (Social Policy)
• A Review of Public Policy (Economic Policy)
• Social Security, Healthcare, and Education Policy

🗳Unit 5: Political Participation

This unit focuses on how we, citizens, can participate in politics as well as how the media, finance and other factors play a part in our government and policy-making. 

Voting and Voter Behavior : Who votes and why do they vote? This stream answers these questions and explains the process of voting in the US in this stream.

Campaign Finance : Campaign finance isn't as scary as you think! This stream looks at the Federal Elections Campaign Act, hard vs soft money, Buckley vs Valeo, Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, Citizens United vs FEC, 501(c)s, and more!

Media Ownership and Bias :  This steam discusses the growing concentration of media companies and how bias in media affects both policy-making and public interest.

• Critical Elections: Realignments and Dealignment :  Often, students are confused on the differences between a party realignment and dealignment. This stream covers those around the five critical elections in US history. 📰 Check out these articles:
• Unit 5 Overview: Political Participation
• 5.1 Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behaviour 
• 5.2 Voter Turnout 
• 5.3 Political Parties 
• 5.4 How and Why Political Parties Change 
• 5.5 Third-Party Politics
• 5.6 Interest Groups Influencing Policy Making 
• 5.7 Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes 
• 5.8 Electing a President 
• 5.9 Congressional Elections
• 5.10 Modern Campaigns
• 5.11 Campaign Finance 
• 5.12 The Media 
• 5.13 Changing Media ✍️ Practice:

Best Quizlet Deck:   AP Government - Political Participation by Carpenter-Economics

🧐AP US Government - Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)

📰 Check out these articles:

• AP US Government Multiple Choice Questions
• AP US Government Multiple Choice Help (MCQ)

🏛️AP US Government - Free Response Questions (FRQ)

Breaking Down the Supreme Court Case Comparison Essay : This stream discusses how exactly to write the Supreme Court Case Comparison Essay, FRQ #3, on the AP Gov exam! We talked about the elements of a good response, and wrote one ourselves!

Writing Workshop on the Argumentative Essay : This stream explores the Argumentative Essay, looking at the rubric and then using the remainder of the time to practice our skills. 📰 Check out these articles:

AP US Government Free Response Help - FRQs

FRQ: Conceptual Analysis

FRQ: SCOTUS Application

AP Gov FRQ: Argument Essay Review (2020)

AP Gov FRQ: Quantitative Analysis Review (2020) ✍️ Practice:

AP Gov SAQ Practice Prompt Answers & Feedback

AP GoPo Free Response Questions (FRQ) – Past Prompts

• AP Gov Federalism Practice Prompt Answers & Feedback

As you're studying for the AP exam, make sure that you have a handle on all of the Required Cases.  Check out this comprehensive study guide that outlines all the Supreme Court Cases you have to know to do your best in May!

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AP United States Government and Politics

Learn all about the course and exam. Already enrolled? Join your class in My AP.

Not a Student?

Go to AP Central for resources for teachers, administrators, and coordinators.

About the Exam

The AP U.S. Government and Politics Exam will test your understanding of the political concepts covered in the course units, including your ability to analyze the foundational documents and to apply Supreme Court decisions you studied in the course to real-life scenarios.

Update: Roe v. Wade

Although the Supreme Court recently overturned Roe v. Wade , it remains required course content and is part of Topic 3.9, “Amendments: Due Process and the Right to Privacy” along with two additional cases, Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022). Any of these cases can be the focus of AP Exam questions related to this topic, but none of them will be the focus of Free Response Question 3.

Tue, May 6, 2025

12 PM Local

AP U.S. Government and Politics Exam

This is the regularly scheduled date for the AP United States Government and Politics Exam.

Exam Components

Section i: multiple choice.

55 questions 1hr 20mins 50% of Score

The multiple-choice section includes individual, single questions as well as sets of questions. You’ll be asked to:

• Describe, explain, and compare political concepts and processes
• Apply Supreme Court decisions in real-life scenarios
• Analyze data in graphs, charts, tables, maps, or infographics
• Read and analyze foundational documents and other text-based and visual sources

Section II: Free Response

4 questions 1hr 40mins 50% of Score

In the free-response section, you’ll respond to four questions with written answers. The section includes:

• 1 concept application question: You’ll describe and explain the effects of a political institution, behavior, or process, and apply concepts in a new situation.
• 1 quantitative analysis question: You’ll analyze data in the form of a table, graph, map, or infographic to find patterns and trends and reach a conclusion.
• The prompt specifies 1 required SCOTUS case, and you are asked to identify how that required case is related to the case given in the scenario.
• 1 argument essay:  You’ll write an evidence-based essay supporting a claim or thesis.

Exam Essentials

Exam preparation, ap classroom resources.

Once you join your AP class section online, you’ll be able to access AP Daily videos, any assignments from your teacher, and your assignment results in AP Classroom. Sign in to access them.

• Go to AP Classroom

Free-Response Questions and Scoring Information

Go to the Exam Questions and Scoring Information section on the AP United States Government and Politics Exam page at AP Central to review the latest released free-response questions and scoring information.  

Past Exam Free-Response Questions and Scoring Information  

Go to AP Central to review free-response questions and scoring information from past AP United States Government and Politics exams. 

AP United States Government and Politics Course and Exam Description

This is the core document for the course. It clearly lays out the course content and describes the exam and the AP Program in general.

Services for Students with Disabilities

Students with documented disabilities may be eligible for accommodations for the through-course assessment and the end-of-course exam. If you’re using assistive technology and need help accessing the PDFs in this section in another format, contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 212-713-8333 or by email at [email protected] . For information about taking AP Exams, or other College Board assessments, with accommodations, visit the Services for Students with Disabilities website.

Credit and Placement

Search AP Credit Policies

Find colleges that grant credit and/or placement for AP Exam scores in this and other AP courses.

Additional Information

AP® U.S. Government & Politics Score Guide

To get the score you want on the AP® U.S. Government & Politics exam, planning is key. Planning your study schedule is the first step to good exam preparation. An effective way to create a study plan is to understand the exam's scoring structure. This enables you to know your strengths and concentrate on the exam sections you find tricky or difficult.

If you plan on taking the AP U.S. Government & Politics exam and wonder how scoring works for it, look no further! In this article, we will explore everything related to AP U.S. Government scores. We will also answer a few commonly-asked questions from test-takers.

How Is the AP U.S. Government and Politics Exam Scored?

The AP U.S. Gov exam format is made up of two sections. As you may already know, Section I contains multiple-choice questions (MCQs), and Section II consists of free-response questions (FRQs). The MCQ section includes 55 questions, and the FRQ section has four questions. One of the four FRQs is an argument essay. As of 2023, the total composite score for the AP U.S. Gov exam is 120 , with each section carrying 50% of the total exam weight. The table below explains the number of questions and the composite score for each section:

Section I: Multiple-Choice Section (MCQ)

The total Section I raw score for the 2023 AP U.S. Gov exam was 60 points, with each correct answer carrying roughly 1.09 points. Your total score, therefore, is calculated by multiplying the number of correct answers by 1.09.

Are you penalized for guessing on the AP U.S. Government & Politics exam? No!

Because you are not penalized for wrong answers, attempt to answer every question, even if you have to guess. That will give you at least a 25% chance of answering a question correctly and add more points to your composite score.

Section II: Free-response section (FRQ)

In Section II, the scoring of the FRQ questions is a bit more complex. Each question is graded separately according to the criteria on the College Board®'s scoring rubric. Once all the FRQs are graded with the rubric, the scores are added together, resulting in a total score out of 60 possible points for Section II.

The scores from Section I and Section II are then combined to get your overall score out of 120 points. Finally, this composite score is converted to a number on the AP scale, which ranges from 1 to 5.

AP U.S. Gov raw score conversion

The College Board keeps the raw score conversion process confidential, and you can only see the scaled AP exam score (1-5) on your AP report. However, the table below is an approximation to help you understand how the score conversion range might work:

As of 2019, the College Board has discontinued releasing the AP Government scoring worksheet. The table and calculations may or may not apply to the upcoming AP U.S. Gov exam scoring criteria.

AP U.S. Government and Politics Scoring Guidelines and Rubrics

Remember the scoring guidelines and rubrics we discussed earlier? Well, every year, the College Board publishes a document that helps students and teachers understand how points are allotted to each FRQ answer.

These scoring guidelines and rubrics can help you learn what kinds of answers can earn you points and what skills you need to focus on while addressing the FRQs.

You will earn points if your answer fulfills any or all of the following criteria, depending on the question's intent:

• Identify a clause, fact, excerpt, evidence, or context of the prompt.
• Describe and/or explain relevant facts and information pertaining to the question.
• State a claim in response to the prompt and support it based on evidence, documentation, data, and facts.
• Explain why a piece of evidence supports the claim or thesis.

The table below shows the number of points per FRQ for the 2021 and 2022 AP Gov exams. You can use the rubric to get a rough idea of how the FRQs are graded and apply it while practicing for your exam:

Usually, a question has multiple parts, with each part containing a specific prompt. Typically, one prompt earns one point. However, in cases where you need to present various pieces of evidence or facts to support your claim, more than one point may be awarded depending on the number of examples or evidence you cite. This is most commonly the case with Part (b) of the SCOTUS FRQ, where you receive one point for identifying or describing a relevant detail about a ruling/opinion from a required case and then another point for using that detail to compare or contrast the required case with the non-required case. To learn more about these criteria, check out our How to Approach U.S. Gov FRQs page.

Now that we have reviewed the AP Gov grading criteria, it is time to examine how your AP scores affect your college applications. Let’s determine which AP scores can earn you placement, recommendations, and college credits!

AP U.S. Government and Politics Scoring Table

Your AP U.S. Government exam results are forwarded to the universities you have chosen for admission after being recorded on the AP grading system. Check out our page on AP Exam Scores if you want to learn how to send your AP scores directly to your college.

While each college may have its own requirements for admission based on AP scores, most colleges use a standard method to translate your AP U.S. Gov score into the corresponding college grade. The AP score table below shows the conversion of AP scores into equivalent college grades for the AP Gov exam:

As you can see, colleges do not consider scores below 3 during admissions. The rule of thumb is to achieve a score of 3 or higher if your goal is to earn college credit for your AP Gov exam score. Make it a point, however, to still check the minimum AP course credit requirements for each of your potential colleges.

AP U.S. Government and Politics Score Distributions

AP Gov is among the most popular AP exams students take each year. This is because U.S. Gov is one of those versatile subjects that students like to pair with other similar AP courses like U.S. History , World History , and Comparative Government and Politics. In addition to complementing these subjects, scoring well in U.S. Gov can potentially earn college credits and fulfill graduation criteria. Another benefit of taking the AP U.S. Government and Politics exam is that it can amp up your career game.

Did you know? Of around 300,000 students globally, just 17 scored a perfect 5 on the 2022 AP U.S. Government & Politics Exam.

If you are preparing for the exam, it is recommended that you look at past years' AP U.S. Government score distributions to get an idea of how rigorous this course can be. This can also help you see if you are ready to add this heavy-weight course to your schedule, especially if you have already signed up for other AP courses. Let’s crunch some numbers below to get an idea of how students performed on the AP U.S. Gov exam during the last four years:

As you can see from the table, scoring well on the U.S. Gov exam has become difficult over the past three years, with nearly 2% fewer students scoring a 3 or above in 2022 compared to students in 2021. In 2023, almost 332,000 students took this exam, with only about 49% scoring a 3 or higher . AP Gov is a challenging exam, but with the right study tools, course instruction, and dedication, you can be a 5-pointer student, too!

Did you know? Only 43 students scored a perfect 5 on the 2023 AP U.S. Gov exam.

At Uworld, we believe that reviewing the course material regularly and taking frequent practice tests will help you form a solid foundation of core concepts. If you need help, check out our AP U.S. Gov practice exams with detailed answer explanations, quick notes, and flashcards to retain concepts efficiently.

Scoring pattern for the 2023 and 2022 AP U.S. Government and Politics exams

While knowing score distributions for an AP exam can give you an idea of your probability of success on it, try to be aware of the test’s scoring pattern, too. A scoring pattern tells you how students have historically performed in various sections of the exam, meaning it can help you gauge which sections are the most difficult and which sections are the easiest.

On the 2023 AP Gov exam , students demonstrated their impressive aptitude for knowledge in the MCQ section, especially with regard to SCOTUS cases. About 36% of students earned all the possible points in this section–impressive!

Students also excelled in their understanding of course content, with 24% answering all Unit 3: Civil Liberties & Civil Rights questions correctly –a remarkable achievement.

The highest overall FRQ performance was on Q2 - Quantitative Analysis . Students seemed to excel in this particular question across all exam versions.

On the 2022 AP U.S. Gov exam , students scored especially high on Unit 1: Political Systems, Regimes, & Governments and Unit 3: Political Culture & Participation.

The Argument Essay section is arguably the most challenging part of the AP U.S. Gov exam because it requires you to apply all three of your faculties – argumentative reasoning, memorizing, and good writing skills . Not only do you need to establish your point of view logically, but you also need to substantiate your answer with a thorough knowledge of foundational documents to prove its viability. You will also need to have excellent narrative skills in order to present your argument succinctly. This section is a tricky one to ace. Hence, understanding how students performed in this section on the 2022 AP Gov exam will help focus on the most difficult concepts that could be tested.

The table below lists the skills tested and the corresponding percentage of test-takers who received points for each competency. Let's take a look:

AP U.S. Government and Politics Minimum Score Requirement for College Credits

As you may already know, most colleges across the U.S. recognize AP exam scores to grant credit and advanced placement to their students. A score of 3 or higher usually qualifies you for college credits, allowing you to finish college sooner.

Depending on your college, a score of 3 or higher can allow you to skip a U.S. Government and Politics course in the first semester and move on to advanced courses. In some colleges, you get general credit for your AP score, which counts towards graduation credits. However, some colleges offer both advanced placement and college course credits , which means you can earn graduation credits and can skip a course!

On the other hand, some colleges accept an AP score of 3, while others demand a 5. Some colleges do not offer any graduation credit but do grant you a placement for your AP score. So, while preparing for your AP U.S. Gov exam, it’s helpful to know your desired college’s entrance requirements for this course.

To help you with this, we have created a list of colleges and the AP scores they accept . The list also indicates which classes you can skip based on your AP score and whether or not passing the AP Gov exam will result in college course credit. Let's have a look:

• AP® United States Government and Politics Scoring Guidelines . (2019). apcentral.collegeboard.org. Retrieved July 2022, from https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap19-sg-us-go-po_1.pdf  
• AP® United States Government and Politics Scoring Guidelines Set 1 . (2021). apcentral.collegeboard.org. Retrieved July 2022, from https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap21-sg-us-go-po-set-1_1.pdf  
• AP® United States Government and Politics Scoring Guidelines Set 1 . (2022). apcentral.collegeboard.org. Retrieved July 2022, from https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap22-sg-us-go-po-set-1.pdf  
• Packer. (2023, June 28). The 2023 AP US Government and Politics scores . twitter.com. Retrieved August 17, 2023, from https://twitter.com/AP_Trevor/status/1674092685378846730  
• Student Score- Distributions: AP Exams - May 2021 . (2021). secure-media.collegeboard.org. Retrieved July 2022, from https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/research/2021/2021-ap-student-score-distributions.pdf  
• Student Score- Distributions: AP Exams - May 2020 . (2020). secure-media.collegeboard.org. Retrieved July 2022, from https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/research/2020/Student-Score-Distributions-2020.pdf  
• Boston University Advanced Credit Guide (2023-2024) . (2023). www.bu.edu. Retrieved July 17, 2023, from https://www.bu.edu/admissions/files/2018/06/Advanced-Credit-Guide.pdf  
• Advanced Placement . (n.d.). Undergraduate Academic Advising. https://advising.princeton.edu/placement/advanced-placement  
• Academic Policies - NYU Stern . (n.d.). https://www.stern.nyu.edu/portal-partners/current-students/undergraduate/academics/academic-policies#Advanced%20Standing  
• Advanced Placement & Advanced Standing - Cornell University - Acalog ACMS TM . (n.d.). https://courses.cornell.edu/content.php?catoid=52&navoid=21317  
• Credit: AP and IPC and PMC | Trinity College of Arts & Sciences . (n.d.). https://trinity.duke.edu/undergraduate/academic-policies/credit-AP-IPC-PMC  
• The University of California. (2023). Advanced Placement Credit: Application to College and Major Requirements, 2023–24 . catalog.ucsd.edu. Retrieved August 17, 2023, from https://catalog.ucsd.edu/_files/advanced-placement-credit-chart.pdf?_ga=2.233836062.1880069425.1657100352-208683771.1657100352  
• Placement & AP Tests . (n.d.). The College | the University of Chicago | the University of Chicago. https://college.uchicago.edu/new-student-advising/placement-ap-tests  
• Advanced Placement Equivalence | College of Arts & Sciences - University of Pennsylvania . (n.d.). https://www.college.upenn.edu/ap-equivalence  
• Advanced Placement Course Awards - 2022 | Office of Admissions . (n.d.). https://admissions.tc.umn.edu/advanced-placement-course-awards-2022

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

When do ap u.s. gov scores come out.

AP U.S. Gov scores are released in July every year for the exams administered in May .

What is a good AP U.S. Government & Politics score?

The best AP U.S. Government & Politics exam score is a 5 . However, you can typically qualify for placement and college credits with a score of 3 or higher.

How can I increase my AP U.S. Government & Politics score?

The secret to getting a 5 on your AP U.S. Government & Politics test is to review the topics and constantly take practice exams. If you need help, we are here. Visit UWorld’s AP U.S. Government & Politics Exam Prep for detailed lessons, practice tests, and revisions to achieve your AP dream!

What percentage is a 3 on the AP U.S. Government & Politics exam?

Since the AP scores for the U.S. Gov exam are curved yearly to maintain consistency, it is safe to assume that getting at least 61% of the answers correct can amount to an AP score of 3 .

Is a 4 on the AP U.S. Government & Politics exam good?

Yes , getting a 4 on the AP U.S. Government & Politics is a good score.

What score do you need to get a 5 on AP U.S. Government & Politics?

Scoring at least 83% on the AP Gov exam can get you a 5.

What is the highest score possible on the AP U.S. Government & Politics exam?

The highest score possible on the AP Gov exam is a 5 .

Read More About the AP U.S. Government & Politics Exam

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Lesson Plan: AP Government: Argumentative Essay Practice

The Federalist Papers

Boston College professor Mary Sarah Bilder gives a brief overview backgrounding the Federalist Papers

Description

This is intended as an end-of-course review activity for practice with the argumentative essay format included on the AP United States Government and Politics exam since the 2018 redesign. Eleven practice prompts are provided, reflecting content from Units 1-3.

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY PROMPT ANALYSIS

• Review the provided Argumentative Essay Prompts in either an individual or jigsaw format.
• Write a thesis statement for your selected prompt(s) and identify the selection you would make from the provided list and the second piece of evidence you would choose.
• If there are prompts for which you struggle to develop a thesis, or items on the bulleted lists with which you are not conversant, use the hyperlinked C-SPAN Classroom resources to extend your understanding of the required founding documents and SCOTUS cases that you found challenging.

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

• Chose one or more of the provided Argumentative Essay Prompts , as assigned, and use the planning and exploration you did above to write a full essay in response to your designated prompt(s) in 25 or fewer minutes , since that's the time limit you'll face on the AP Exam!
• Exchange essays with a classmate and evaluate each others' work.
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The Complete Guide to AP US Government FRQs

Advanced Placement (AP)

Free-response questions, or FRQs, on the AP US Government exam are more straightforward than those on some other AP tests, but they can still be tough if you're not ready for them. In this guide, we will lay out a simple step-by-step method for answering AP Government FRQs , go through a real example, and tell you where you can find additional practice resources.

AP Government Free-Response Section Format

The free-response section lasts one hour and 40 minutes and consists of four questions , each of which is worth 12.5% of your total score. So as a whole, the free-response section accounts for half your total AP Gov score (the other 50% comes from the multiple-choice section). Each FRQ is worth 3-6 raw points.

Here are the four types of FRQs you'll get on the AP Government exam:

• Concept Application (3 raw points)
• Quantitative Analysis (4 raw points)
• SCOTUS Comparison (4 raw points)
• Argument Essay (6 raw points)

The free-response questions will ask you to integrate your knowledge of the various content areas covered by the course. This includes analyzing political events in the US, discussing examples, and demonstrating your understanding of general principles of US government and politics. You'll also be asked to examine data from charts, define key terms, and explain the roles that different parts of our government play in the political system.

The following chart shows specifically what you must do for each FRQ on the AP Government test. All info below comes from the 2020 AP US Government and Politics Course and Exam Description .

AP Government FRQs: 5-Step Solution Process

This section provides a step-by-step process for answering any question on the AP US Government exam. Here's a sample question from the 2020 AP Gov Course and Exam Description that I'll reference throughout so you can see how these steps might work in practice:

Step 1: Read the Introductory and Concluding Sentences

Free-response questions #1 and #3 will include passages, while question #2 will have an image or a chart with data. Skim the first and final sentences of the passage (or title of the graphic for #2) before you get to the tasks (labeled A-C or A-D). This will help you get a rough sense of what to expect in the rest of the question.

It's a good idea to read the intros and conclusions to all the FRQs before choosing which one to begin with. Doing this might help build up your confidence and improve your efficiency to start with a question that's easier for you.

In the sample question above, you would read the title of the graphic ("Public Education Spending: Amount Spent per Pupil by State in 2014") and then skim the image itself to get a sense of what it's asking you to analyze.

Step 2: Identify (and Underline, If You Want) the Command Verb

For each task in each FRQ, you're given specific instructions on the type of answer that is expected; these instructions include command verbs that tell you what to do. It's important to be aware of exactly what the question is asking so you can earn full points.

These command verbs are the first words you should zero in on as you approach a question. If you think it'll help keep you focused, you can underline these verbs .

Here are the most commonly used task verbs, as described in the AP Gov Exam Description :

Compare: Provide a description or explanation of similarities and/or differences.

Define: Provide a specific meaning for 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 information about how or why a relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome occurs, using evidence and/or reasoning. Explain "how" typically requires analyzing the relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome, whereas explain "why" typically requires analysis of motivations or reasons for the relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome.

Identify: Indicate or provide information about a specified topic, without elaboration or explanation.

In part A of the sample question, the command verb is "identify," indicating that you need to correctly interpret the data in the image. In part B, the command verb changes to "describe," which means you'll need to go one step further and interpret and analyze data in the graphic that you have found.

Part C starts with "draw a conclusion," meaning that you will need to tie together the evidence you found in part B to come up with a final (accurate) statement on what this means. Finally, part D begins with the task verb "explain," showing that you must make a clear connection between the data in this graphic as a whole and the principle of federalism.

Step 3: Know Where You'll Earn Your Raw Points

In general, each part in a question (A, B, C, and D) will correspond to 1 raw point , but not all questions are like this.

After finding the task verb in the part of the question you're answering, take note of how many examples or descriptions you need to provide , as each will likely correspond to a point in your raw score for the question. There might also be more than one task verb in a question, in which case you'll likely get at least 2 raw points for it.

As a reminder, here is the maximum number of raw points you can earn for each question (don't forget that each question is still worth the same percentage of your score: 12.5%):

Take care to answer the question thoroughly but directly , addressing all points in a way that will make it easy for graders to assess your response. Remember that you don't need to write an essay for the first three FRQs, so just go straight for the answer to avoid any ambiguity.

In the sample question, we know there will be 4 raw points you can earn. And since the tasks are divided into four parts (labeled A-D), we can assume that each part will be worth 1 raw point .

You can see more sample FRQs and how they're graded with the official scoring guidelines here .

Step 4: Reread Your Answer

Once you've come up with an answer, reread what you wrote to ensure it makes sense and addresses the question completely . Did you give the correct number of descriptions or examples asked of you? Does your answer directly respond to what the question is asking?

If you're satisfied, move on to the next part of the question and return to step 2!

Step 5: Pace Yourself

The final step is to keep track of time so you can be sure you're pacing yourself effectively and are not spending too much time on any one question. As a reminder, you'll have one hour and 40 minutes for the entire free-response section of the AP Government exam.

It's suggested that you spend the following amounts of time on each FRQ:

As you can see, you should spend about an equal amount of time on the first three FRQs and save most of your time for your essay , which will likely require the most effort of the four.

A Real AP Government FRQ Example + Analysis

Now, let's go through the answers to a real AP Government free-response question from the 2019 released questions to show you what your responses should look like. This question is an example of a Concept Application question on the exam, meaning it's worth 3 raw points (1 point each for parts A, B, and C).

This question is all about the Johnson Amendment, which does not allow religious organizations to engage in political activities and contribute money to political campaigns. As this passage explains, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious group, encourages pastors to challenge this law by participating in an annual event called Pulpit Freedom Sunday.

Below, we go through how to answer each of the three parts correctly using the scoring guidelines .

Part A—1 Point

Part A asks you to come up with an example of a specific action Congress could take to address the concerns of the Alliance Defending Freedom. In other words, what could Congress do to allow groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom to speak freely about political campaigns?

Note that the command verb used here is "describe," meaning you must "provide the relevant characteristics of a specified topic," or elaborate on what you're proposing and why it would work.

There are two possible answers you could put down here, according to the scoring guidelines:

• Congress could pass a law that would reverse the Johnson Amendment.
• Congress could pass a law to allow religious organizations to participate more directly in politics.

Part B—1 Point

Part B asks you to go into more detail about what you proposed in part A . You must talk about how partisan divisions (i.e., differences in political parties among politicians) could stop whatever you proposed in part A from going into effect (whether that's a new law altogether or a reversal of the original Johnson Amendment).

The task verb used here is "explain," so you must use evidence to show how the action you wrote down in part A could be blocked or reversed.

Here are two possible answers , according to the scoring guidelines:

• Partisan divisions make it more difficult to pass a law because parties adhere to different ideological points of view.
• If Congress and the president are from different political parties, the president might threaten to veto the legislation.

Part C—1 Point

The final part of this free-response question asks you to examine the scenario again, this time from the perspective of the Alliance Defending Freedom , or the religious group in question.

How might the Alliance argue that the Johnson Amendment, which prevents them from speaking on political issues and contributing money to political campaigns, is taking away their rights?

The key here is to first think about what rights these could be . Perhaps freedom of speech or freedom of religion? As you probably noticed, the task verb is "explain," so once again you must use plenty of evidence to show why this contentious relationship exists between the Alliance and the Johnson Amendment/the US government as a whole.

Here are examples of answers you could write, according to the official scoring guidelines:

• The Alliance Defending Freedom and other religious groups might argue that their First Amendment rights are being violated.
• The Alliance Defending Freedom and other religious groups might argue that their freedom of speech/religion is being violated.

Essential Resources for Practicing AP US Government FRQs

There are several resources you can use to hone your skills for answering AP Government FRQs.

Official College Board Resources

The College Board website hosts free-response questions from previous tests that you can use for practice. I recommend starting with the 2019 FRQs (unfortunately, they don't come with sample student responses), as these will look the most like the questions you'll get on test day.

Once you've used those, you can look at FRQs from the 2018 test and earlier; most of these come with sample student responses so you can see what a good response looks like.

If you're hoping to practice FRQs in the context of a full-length test, here are some links to past AP Government exams you can download (as always, prioritize the most recent tests):

• 2018 Practice Test
• 2013 Practice Test
• 2012 Practice Test
• 2009 Practice Test
• 2005 Practice Test
• 1999 Practice Test

These are by far the best sample AP US Government free-response questions you can get because they most accurately represent what you'll see on the real test.

AP Government Review Books

AP Government review books are also solid resources for free-response practice, though they vary a lot in quality.

The Princeton Review's prep book for AP Gov includes five full-length practice tests , so there should be tons of free-response questions you can use to hone your skills. Barron's AP US Gov review book also has some useful practice tests and free-response questions.

If you use these unofficial free-response questions for practice, just be sure to intersperse them with official questions from the College Board so that you maintain an accurate sense of what to expect on the real test.

Recap: Everything to Know About AP US Government FRQs

The four free-response questions on the AP US Government and Politics exam can be approached methodically to earn the maximum number of points.

Read the intro and conclusion to the question first so you can get your bearings. Then, for each of the separate parts, identify the task verb, figure out where you'll earn your raw points, and double-check your answer for any missing pieces or careless errors.

You should also pace yourself so that you're spending no more than 20 minutes each on the first three questions and 40 minutes on the essay.

I suggest practicing at least a few free-response questions before heading into the AP exam. The best resource to use is the College Board website, which contains an archive of past questions accompanied by scoring guidelines and sample student responses. These questions are pretty simple compared to the free-response questions on other AP tests once you get the hang of them!

What's Next?

Not sure where to begin in your AP prep? Our five-step plan will prepare you to take on any AP test .

If you're missing some of your notes that you need to study for AP Gov, check out this article with links to all the content you need to know for the test . You can also learn about the test as a whole with our comprehensive AP Government and Politics review guide .

Do you have a target score in mind for this exam? Learn more about what it takes to earn a 5 on an AP test and whether you should aim for one yourself.

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

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Samantha is a blog content writer for PrepScholar. Her goal is to help students adopt a less stressful view of standardized testing and other academic challenges through her articles. Samantha is also passionate about art and graduated with honors from Dartmouth College as a Studio Art major in 2014. In high school, she earned a 2400 on the SAT, 5's on all seven of her AP tests, and was named a National Merit Scholar.

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AP® US Government

How to answer ap® us government free response questions.

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

Mastering the free response section can make or break any student’s AP® US Government and Politics score. If you’re looking for the best tips and tricks for answering AP® US GoPo free response questions, you’ve come to the right place. 

In this article, we’ll review tips for writing top-mark AP® US Government and Politics FRQs, mistakes that students make one too many times on past AP® GoPo exams, and how to use past AP® free response questions to start practicing for your upcoming exam. 

Keep reading to get everything you need to know when it comes to making the most of your AP® US Government and Politics exam review. 

What We Review

5 Steps on How to Write Effective AP® US Government and Politics Free Responses

Here, we’ll review a five-step strategy for you to start writing AP® US GoPo free response answers that will score you maximum possible points. 

1. Commit to learning what gets you points on the AP® US Government and Politics exam by reviewing past rubrics and scoring guidelines.

A common mistake students make when it comes to preparing for their AP® GoPo exam is failing to understand how they’re being graded. The first step to solving this is going to the College Board’s AP® Central website and navigating to the past released exams for US Government. 

Here is the link for AP® US Government and Politics past released exams

Open up the scoring guidelines PDF. These guidelines outline how points were distributed on that particular year’s exams. 

Here’s a screenshot from the first question of the 2019 released exam: 

Source: College Board

From this, you can see that this short answer question in 2019 was worth three points, with one point being allocated to each part. There are certain directive words to keep an eye on when reviewing AP® US Government and Politics free response questions, but we’ll get into that later.

For now, just make sure you review at least two years worth of released exam scoring guidelines so you begin to understand how questions and parts of questions are weighted. 

2. Underline or circle every bolded and capitalized word in the question prompt.

Alright, so now that we know how points are generally distributed, we need to build the habit of having a system for ensuring we actually answer the question asked by the College Board when we start our AP® US Government and Politics free response section.

AP® US Government and Politics isn’t as “nice” as AP® Biology free response questions in that they don’t always bold key directive words for you to know what is being asked.

That being said, it’s not hard to circle or underline for yourself the key thing you are being asked to answer. 

There are three “key phrases” to commit to memory when it comes to AP® US Government and Politics free response questions: 

That’s it. If you look at the last few years worth of released exam questions, these are the most commonly used directive words for the short answer question section of the AP® US Government and Politics free response section. 

If you aren’t sure what the three of these words are asking you for, keep reading.

When the exam asks you to describe something, you need to tell them about what they’re asking. This doesn’t mean you need to explain the “why” — it just means you need to talk about what the topic is and the characteristics of the topic being asked.

When you’re asked to explain something, this is where you need to show the “why”. You need to be able to give 3-5 sentences with an example in most cases to earn credit for these questions.

Finally, when asked to identify something, you need to simply indicate that you know what the topic is related to — no need for explanation or elaboration as you might when asked to describe or explain. 

One of our best test taking tips we can give you is to make a tick mark or star next to the words you have circled or underlined after you’ve answered it in your free response. This serves as a visual checklist for you to make sure you answered all parts of the question. 

Trust us! It’s easy to forget to answer one small part of an FRQ, and that can make all the difference in your free response score. 

Aside from the three directive words above, other commonly used ones for AP® GoPo include:

• Define : Similar to identify — show that you know what the topic is but there is no need to elaborate further than what’s asked.
• Compare : Provide a description of the similarities and/or differences of the topics presented.
• Develop an Argument : State a claim and support it with evidence.
• Draw a Conclusion : Make an accurate statement from what has been presented. 

3. Plan your response BEFORE beginning to write your response. 

One of the most commonly cited mistakes students make on the AP® GoPo free response section is not actually answering the question in a thoughtful way. 

The College Board uses the free response section to test your ability to connect the dots with what you’ve learned in class. You need to demonstrate skills such as considering evidence to incorporate and how that fits into your analysis. 

This means plan out your response before you begin writing! 

Take a second before putting your pen down to start writing to think through how you’ll answer the “why” based questions. 

Think deeply about what the question is actually asking you — sometimes students answer questions without actually…answering the question.

Readers often express that student misconceptions come from having a poorly planned response or simply restating the question without adding any direct response to the question they were asked. 

4. Remember that AP® US Government and Politics free responses are not like other subjects — treat them differently than you may in AP® English Language. 

When it comes to the short answer questions in AP® GoPo, you do not need to write an essay to score max points. There is no need for an introduction, thesis, or conclusion on these questions.

When it comes to the argumentative essay, it’s not necessarily a cookie-cutter five paragraph essay either. 

The argumentative essay’s scoring depends on each proceeding section building on the prior. On every question 4, the College Board states exactly what you need to score maximum possible points. 

You need: 

• To articulate a defensible claim or thesis that responds to the prompt and establishes a line of reasoning.
• Typically one will be from a foundational document while the other will be any other foundational document you learned in class
• Use reasoning to explain why your evidence supports your claim or thesis
• Respond to an opposing or alternative perspective using refutation, concession, or rebuttal.

What this means is that as long as you cover all the points outlined above clearly, you can score a perfect score on the argumentative essay! 

When it comes to preparing for the argumentative essay, one of the best things you can do is make sure you are fully comfortable with all 9 foundational documents and 15 Supreme Court cases. 

The required foundational documents to know are: 

• The Declaration of Independence
• The Articles of Confederation
• The Constitution of the United States
• Federalist No. 10
• Brutus No. 1
• Federalist No. 51
• Federalist No. 70
• Federalist No. 78
• Letters from a Birmingham Jail

Kelsey Falkowski has a nice 15-minute review video of these foundational documents here .

The required Supreme Court cases are:

• Marbury v. Madison (1803)
• McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
• Schenck v. United States (1919)
• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
• Baker v. Carr (1961)
• Engel v. Vitale (1962)
• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
• New York Times Company v. United States (1971)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
• Roe v. Wade (1973)
• Shaw v. Reno (1993)
• United States v. Lopez (1995)
• McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

Adam Norris has a great 11-minute review video on these fifteen cases here .

Typically when it comes to the final component, we like using rebuttals more than concessions or refutations. The reason why is because when you make a concession or refutation on a claim you made earlier in your essay, it can potentially come across as a weakening of your thesis if you are not able to position it properly. 

The last thing to remember here is to make sure you “close the loop”. This is a test taking strategy the College Board promotes across multiple disciplines and with good reason — it challenges a student to demonstrate they can form a coherent argument. Closing the loop in AP® US Government can mean using words like “because” or “therefore” to help bridge two concepts together and solve for the “why” this matters. 

5. Practice, practice, and did we say practice?

When you reduce AP® free response sections down to their core, regardless of subject domain, mastering them comes down to two things: knowing how you’re going to be graded, and learning how to craft responses that fit those rubrics. 

Sometimes students do the first part well but fail to practice enough at doing the second part, and vice versa. 

When you first start out, we recommend trying a set of past released questions and then having a friend grade your responses with the scoring guidelines. See how you would do without any intentional prep. Then, learn from your mistakes, log your mistakes in a study journal, and begin intentionally tackling other years one by one.

After a few times of doing this, you’ll begin building your intuition to craft a perfect-score response for your AP® US Government and Politics free responses.

25 AP® US Government and Politics FRQ Tips to Scoring a 4 or 5

Now that we’ve gone over the 5-step process to writing good AP® GoPo free responses, we can shift gears to tackle some test taking tips and tricks to maximizing your FRQ scores. 

We recommend you review these several weeks, and then days before your exam to keep them top of mind. 

• Know which SAQ you’re weakest at. There are always three core question types: concept application, quantitative analysis, and SCOTUS comparison. If you’re weak at one, make sure you’ve reviewed all the past released exams for that particular SAQ. 
• Make sure you review how issues or ideology can drive partnership on specific issues. 
• Focus on applying the political concepts and processes you learned in class to scenarios in context. This is one of the most common mistakes for the SAQs. 
• One of the easiest ways to bridge two concepts is to use words like “because” or “therefore” and then proceed to answer the “why this matters”. 
• Focus on what is right instead of what is wrong in your response. These free response questions are often graded based on what’s right more so than what’s wrong (which is different from another subject like AP® Biology).
• If you’re not 100% sure about a supporting statement, add a second supporting statement on the topic as backup. 
• If you’re offering specificity, make sure to be explicit on what the intent of you introducing that in your response is. For example, if something is being presented to rebuttal something else, explain why or how it does so. 
• When it comes to data analysis, you need to make sure you are comfortable interpreting data and applying data to demonstrate how it interacts with the political process. 
• In the past, students have not been able to analyze and apply data to course content — they make mistakes in connecting how policy relates to respective parties in the political process. 
• When practicing data analysis, it’s important to look at a variety of different types of graphs and focus on identifying the similarities and differences within a set of complex data. 
• Data analysis is not just reading graphs, but also reading charts and tables. Don’t just think because you got one question reading a graph correctly that you’re good to go for your quantitative analysis SAQ. 
• One of the easiest ways to bolster your data analysis skills is by reviewing sources such as the Gallup National Polls or Pew Research findings. 
• When it comes to SCOTUS comparison, students often fail to effectively compare the two cases — they do a fine job of recalling the required case, but struggle to connect the required case to the non-required case. 
• Remember that the SCOTUS comparison SAQ is typically not going to ask you to discuss the rulings of the required case, but rather the facts of the cases and how it applies to the non-required case. 
• Keep an eye out for when you’re asked for the clause from an amendment or the Constitution. This means there will only be one right answer. 
• Know the difference between reasoning of a case, the decision, opinions of the case, as well as the cold hard facts. Make flashcards or use Quizlet to help here. 
• When you’re asked to compare facts, it means you need to review the facts of both cases, not just one. Even if the facts for the non-required case are included in the prompt, you need to include it in your response for points. 
• When it comes to the argumentative essay, students typically fail to explain why the evidence they bring up supports their thesis.
• The second area students struggle is in responding to an alternative perspective (refutation, concession, or rebuttal).
• X is your counterargument or counterpoint
• ABC are your strongest supporting points for your argument.
• And Y is your argument. 
• Know your foundational documents cold. Sometimes students mix up these documents. There are four different Federalists to know!
• When looking to get the reasoning point, make sure to explain why the evidence you’re procuring supports your thesis. Don’t just restate your thesis or state the evidence without connecting the two. 
• When seeking your perspective point (for refutation, concession, or rebuttal), make sure to state the alternative point of view, but also respond to it. Both of these parts are needed.
• Work with a friend through at least three years of AP® GoPo FRQs. Then swap with each other and go through the scoring guidelines together to get consistent exposure to the rubrics. 
• By your last two weeks before the exam, you should have clearly identified your 3-5 biggest weaknesses when it comes to FRQs. Devote at least 70% of your time to these areas and the remaining time on general review. 

Wrapping Things Up: How to Write AP® US Government and Politics FRQs

Wow! We’ve gone over a ton of things in this AP® US Government and Politics review guide. At this point, you should have everything you need to get started in preparing for your GoPo FRQs. 

To summarize, here are a few things to remember: 

• Great AP® US Government and Politics free response scores are only made when you know how you’re being graded. Learn the rubrics. 
• Have a consistent system for responding to each question. We recommend circling or underlining what you’re being asked, and then adding a tick or star next to the word in the prompt when you’ve answered it.
• Know the facts of your foundational documents and required Supreme Court cases cold. Students have missed points in the past by mixing up one with another. 
• Practice working with multiple types of data for the quantitative analysis SAQ: this means reviewing charts, graphs, and tables. Focus on being able to interpret the data presented to political concepts or processes. 
• Review commonly tested AP® US Government and Politics topics. Review the curriculum and exam description to see the percentage breakdown of different units. Unit 2 on Interactions Among Branches of Government is a very important one to know as it makes up 25-36% of the exam. 
• Make sure your thesis includes a clear line of reasoning. Remember the model: Although X, ABC, therefore Y.
• Always “close the loop”. Use words such as “because” or “therefore” to bridge two concepts together and solve for the “why” this matters. 

We hope you’ve found this exhaustive guide helpful for your AP® US Government and Politics exam review. 

If you’re looking for more free response questions or multiple choice questions, check out our website! Albert has hundreds of original standards-aligned practice questions for you with detailed explanations to help you learn by doing.

If you found this post helpful, you may also like our AP® US Government tips here or our AP® US GoPo score calculator here .

We also have an AP® US Government review guide here .

Interested in a school license?​

2 thoughts on “how to answer ap® us government free response questions”.

On the list of required supreme court cases, you guys listed Schneck v United States with the wrong year.

Great catch, Johnny! We’ve updated the list to include the correct date (1919).

Comments are closed.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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