AP World History Calculator (MCQ, SAQ, DBQ, LEQ)
AP® World History: Modern covers centuries of global events, and understanding your command of the material is key to success on the exam. After completing a full-length practice test, you need to see how your performance across all four sections—MCQ, SAQ, DBQ, and LEQ—translates into a final 1-5 score. Our AP World History Score Calculator uses the College Board’s official scoring weights to estimate your final 1-5 score and help you focus your review where it matters most.
Enter your scores for each section to calculate your estimated AP® World History score. Select different scoring models to see a range of possibilities.
How to Calculate Your Estimated AP World History Score
To predict your score, you will need your results from all four sections of a full-length practice exam. Grade your written responses as accurately as possible using the official College Board rubrics.
1. Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ) Score
Enter the number of multiple-choice questions you answered correctly (out of 55). There is no penalty for incorrect answers.
2. Short-Answer Question (SAQ) Scores
Enter your score for each of the three SAQs on a scale of 0-3 points each (for a total of 9 points).
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SAQ 1 Score (0-3):
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SAQ 2 Score (0-3):
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SAQ 3 Score (0-3):
3. Document-Based Question (DBQ) Score
Enter your score for the DBQ essay on a scale of 0-7 points.
4. Long Essay Question (LEQ) Score
Enter your score for the LEQ essay on a scale of 0-6 points.
How Your AP World History Score is Determined
The College Board uses a complex weighting system to combine your performance on the four different sections into a single score. Here’s a clear breakdown of that process.
Your Predicted AP Score (1-5)
This is your estimated final score on the familiar 1 to 5 scale. This single number is what colleges use to award course credit and placement.
The Scoring Formula: Section Weighting and Composite Score
Each section of the exam contributes a specific percentage to your final score. The scores are combined to create a “composite score,” which then maps to the 1-5 scale.
Our calculator takes your raw scores, applies these weights to create a final composite score, and then converts that composite score into your estimated 1-5 score based on the table below.
AP World History Score Conversion Chart (Estimated)
The exact score ranges can vary slightly from year to year, but this chart reflects the historical data from recent exams and provides a very strong estimate.
Disclaimer: This score conversion chart is an estimate based on previously released College Board data. The final score ranges are determined each year by the Chief Reader after all exams have been graded.
Your AP World History: Modern Questions Answered
What score do I need for college credit?
This depends entirely on the college.
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A score of 3 is often considered “passing” and may earn you elective or introductory history credit at many state universities. For a student in Houston, Texas, a 3 might fulfill a core history requirement at the University of Houston.
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A score of 4 or 5 is typically required for credit at more selective universities and may allow you to place into higher-level history courses.
Actionable Advice: Always look up the AP credit policy on the admissions website of every college you are considering.
What is the DBQ and how is it graded?
The Document-Based Question (DBQ) is an essay that requires you to develop an argument using seven provided historical documents. It is worth 25% of your total exam score and is graded on a 7-point rubric:
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Thesis/Claim (1 point): Make a historically defensible claim that responds to the prompt.
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Contextualization (1 point): Describe the broader historical context relevant to the prompt.
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Evidence from the Documents (2-3 points): Use content from at least six documents to support your argument. You get an extra point if you support your argument using all seven.
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Evidence Beyond the Documents (1 point): Provide an additional piece of specific historical evidence not found in the documents.
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Sourcing and Analysis (1-2 points): For at least three documents, explain how or why the document’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, or audience is relevant to the argument. This is often called “HIPP” analysis. You get an extra point for doing this for all seven documents.
What is “HIPP” analysis for the DBQ?
HIPP is a helpful acronym for remembering the four ways to perform sourcing analysis on a document:
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Historical Situation: What was going on at the time the document was created that might have influenced it?
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Intended Audience: Who was this document created for, and how might that have affected its content?
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Purpose: Why was this document created? What was the author trying to achieve?
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Point of View: Who is the author, and what is their background or perspective? How might that have biased the document?
You only need to do one of these for a document to count as a successful sourcing analysis.
What is the difference between the DBQ and the LEQ?
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DBQ (Document-Based Question): Provides you with the evidence (seven documents). Your main task is to weave that evidence into a coherent argument.
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LEQ (Long Essay Question): Provides you with a choice of three prompts from different time periods. You must supply all of the historical evidence from your own knowledge to support your argument.
What are the biggest mistakes students make on the history essays?
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Document Summaries: Simply describing what the documents say instead of using them to support an argument (thesis).
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No Thesis or a Weak Thesis: A thesis must be a historically defensible claim, not just a restatement of the prompt.
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Forgetting Contextualization: Failing to “zoom out” and describe the broader historical events and processes that connect to the prompt.
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Poor Time Management: The exam has four distinct sections and requires strict pacing. The DBQ, in particular, requires careful time management to read the documents and write the essay in 60 minutes.
What does “Modern” mean in the course title?
This is a crucial distinction. In 2019, the College Board updated the course to focus only on the period from c. 1200 CE to the present. Content related to ancient civilizations (like the Romans, ancient Greeks, or Han China before 1200) is no longer on the AP World History: Modern exam.
How should I manage my time on the exam?
The exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes long. A recommended pacing strategy is:
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MCQ Section: 55 minutes (~1 minute per question)
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SAQ Section: 40 minutes (~13 minutes per SAQ)
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DBQ Essay: 60 minutes (includes a 15-minute reading period)
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LEQ Essay: 40 minutes
Should I guess on the multiple-choice questions?
Yes. The AP exam does not deduct points for incorrect answers. You get 1 point for a correct answer and 0 points for an incorrect or blank answer. Never leave an MCQ blank; use the process of elimination and make your best educated guess.
Can I get a 5 even if I do poorly on the LEQ?
It is difficult but possible. The LEQ is worth 15% of your total score. A weak LEQ would need to be offset by a stellar performance on the more heavily weighted sections, especially the MCQ (40%) and the DBQ (25%). It leaves very little room for error on the rest of the exam.
How accurate is this calculator?
This calculator uses the official scoring weights (40/20/25/15) and the most recent conversion data from the College Board. Its accuracy is therefore highly dependent on one crucial factor: how accurately and honestly you have graded your own practice FRQs and essays using the official rubrics.
Take the Next Step in Your AP Preparation
Now that you have an estimate of your score, you can create a targeted study plan for the May exam.
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After calculating your score, see how this course impacts your overall academic standing with our Weighted GPA Calculator.
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Preparing for other AP social studies exams? Check out our AP US History Score Calculator or AP Human Geography Score Calculator.
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Struggling with the DBQ? Read this guide on How to Write a Thesis for a DBQ Essay.
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