r/APSeminar

RAHHHHHHHHHH🎉🙌🎊

anyone else genuinely feel like they did dogshit on part a? i feel like i got all the points in the rubric down but the writing was so butt...

for unconventional careers i used the 17 yr old that made hundreds of millions from steal and brain rot and said, “in the game, you steal brainrot like tung tung tung sahur, also known as ‘triple t’” am i getting a 5?

just took the Ap seminar ap test is anybody with me

okay bc like what was that eoc A it didn’t make sense and the main claim was AT THE END and it took me like 55 minutes :(

still cooked on part b…but wtf

manifesting a 5 🤞🍀

best tips I found + researched for EOC A/B — keeping it simple bc you have an exam tomorrow

EOC B

scan all 4 sources first, pick the 2 you understand best. dont waste time on a source that confuses you.

find a CONNECTION between those 2 sources and build YOUR OWN STANCE off that connection. your thesis cannot just be what one source already argues — thats an automatic cap on your Row 1 score (max 4/6). think of it like: source A says X, source B says Y, YOUR argument is Z. the 2025 high-scoring response took ideas from two sources and argued something neither one said. thats what they want.

structure:

para 1 — context ("over the past few years, the debate over XXX has intensified because...") + clear thesis at the end. dont bury it.

para 2 — your first claim + evidence (source or outside knowledge)

para 3 — concession. acknowledge the opposing view from one of the sources, then actually dismantle it. dont just say "some may argue" and move on — explain why theyre wrong or shortsighted. this paragraph does double duty: it helps your organization score (Row 2) AND your evidence score (Row 3) at the same time. its the highest-efficiency paragraph in the essay.

para 4 — your second claim + evidence

para 5 — wrap it up, tie back to thesis

making sources talk — this is the whole game for Row 3. dont just paraphrase one source per paragraph. put them in dialogue within the same paragraph. example:

"while source A establishes that morandi isolated himself from meaningful relationships, source B reveals through steve that even reluctant figures can grow when given consistent support — suggesting that connection is not innate but learned"

one source clarifying, complicating, or contrasting the other = synthesis = points. if youre just stacking summaries, thats not synthesis, thats a 2-3 on Row 3.

use at least 2 sources but ideally 3. cite every paraphrase (author name or "Source A/B/C/D"). outside knowledge is great but it supports the sources, it doesnt replace them.

timing: ~15-20 min reading/annotating/outlining, ~60-65 min writing, ~5 min proofread at the end. bring a watch, the bluebook timer glitches.

EOC A

you get 1 article and answer 3 questions. annotate before you write anything — mark claims, evidence, note author credentials and dates. takes 5 min and saves you way more.

do Q1 last. after Q2 and Q3 you already know the argument cold. do it first and you might miss components.

Q2 — explain what the author does throughout the piece, not just what they say. claims, order, how each one builds to the next. strongest answers name the function of each claim, not just the claim itself.

"first the author establishes context around XXX which leads into their claim that XXX. they support this with a study by XXX which develops the idea that XXX, allowing them to move into their next claim..."

vs a weak answer that just says "then the author talks about XXX." dont do that.

Q3 — evaluate specific pieces of evidence, not just the sources generally. this is explicitly in the rubric — graders cannot give you a 6 if you only talk about sources and not the actual evidence from them. for each piece: is it credible? relevant? sufficient? are there weaknesses (no sample size, no date, anecdotal, only one study, biased)?

do about 4 pieces of evidence. after that, go back and write an opening sentence summarizing whether the author used evidence well overall.

also: dont just praise everything. high-scoring responses find weaknesses. if the author uses an anecdote with no data, say so. if a study has no cited sample size, say so.

Q1 — now that you know the argument: "the author argues that XXX should XXX in order to XXX and XXX." one tight sentence or two. College Board wants all the components — usually 3 parts. if you only wrote one clause, you're probably missing something.

timing: keep Part A to 30 min MAX. Part B is worth roughly 2x as much of your score. do not let Part A eat your essay time.

mistakes to avoid

• summarizing instead of analyzing on Q2
• evaluating sources instead of specific pieces of evidence on Q3 (rubric will dock you)
• praising all the evidence on Q3 — find the weaknesses
• thesis that just agrees with one source (Row 1 hard cap at 4/6)
• source dumping — quoting sources back to back without connecting them to your argument
• skipping the concession paragraph
• no citations on paraphrases
• spending more than 30 min on Part A

the pass rate for AP Seminar is ~89%. if you want above a 3, the two things that separate scores are Row 1 (original thesis that isnt just one sources view) and Row 3 (actual synthesis, not stacking). those are the places to be deliberate.

you already did IRR and IWA. Part B is basically a 90-min compressed IWA with fewer sources. you have the skills. good luck tomorrow

i just finished the ap test for international and i accidentally wrote EOC A question 2 in question 1 box together beneath question 1 response. is that fine? will i still get credit for question 2 even if i didn’t write anything in the official question 2 box.

hi guys! i made a video for my classmates for the eoc’s since we regularly took eoc A and B practice exams in class and had my teacher grade them. i would usually score a 15/15 and a 24/24 on them

here is my video if you want to check it out, i feel like its super helpful!

My team and I presented the tmp, we're consisted of 5 people, 2 of us did extremely well, without looking at the flashcards. While the other 2 messed up really badly and 1 of them did somewhat okay, for the oral defense the 2 good ones did it without any issues, how would this affect the grade for the 2 people who did well?

There was a fire alarm pulled at our test, and it took altogether about 25 minutes off the test. As a whole we weren’t reallocated time, but if you choose to, you can retake it on May 20th. I’m debating it because I don’t know if it will be the exact same test. I’m not really sure how well I did on part A but my part B was altogether ~150 words.

Just curious, did anyone actually use that poem as one of their sources? I read it and was so confused😭

I believe that everything in my portfolio is solid, but the EOC fried me 😅. It was not difficult, but my class never prepared us for the exam and I honestly think my teacher forget about it. Because of this I just practiced on my own but when it came to the real exam my time management was horrible! Part A lacked writing and I think my part B was 5 short paragraphs. Is there still a chance for at least a 3 🙏?

I already have AP sem in my schedule for next year (10th grade) but I want to know if I should drop it or not. I’m a really soft spoken person and not confident/very articulate at all, and I’m wondering whether that will improve as I take the class and learn those skills or if I will just end up miserable and fail the class because maybe that’s just the way I am. I have wanted to become more confident in myself and my words for a while now but I haven’t taken any action really to do that, and I feel like this class is a 50/50 chance between helping me with that and just making it worse. If you were someone who was really shy and hated presenting before taking the class but the class actually ended up helping you with those skills, please let me know!!

okay so i’m realizing i did eoc part b actually pretty wrong and i think my thesis / question was too general, i didn’t introduce any counter arguments, and my argument wasn’t that solid. now im thinking im going to get a medium or low score on that one. Im pretty confident across the board for everything else ive done , IMP , TMP , IRR, IWA, and eoc-a, and i honestly feel like the all have a pretty good shot at being high scoring… any way i could still get a 5?

For the EOC A, what did you guys write for the argument? Cause clearly the author can't make her mind!

And also, what was the EOC B's theme? I did the motivation of being kind..

I just finished taking my AP Exam, and I’m concerned with my grade now. Due to some complications I won’t get into unless asked, I wasn’t able to turn in my IWA to AP Classroom. Furthermore, I only had half of EOC-A part 2 complete by the end of the exam, and EOC-A part 1 felt pretty rushed. However, I felt pretty strong on EOC-B, EOC-A part 3, my IRR, and my IMP. Is there any possibility that I still pass, or should I just accept my fate?

everything like iwa n such is all like ehh fine maybe 3-4 material, (iwa and irr arent in great format but the contents goodish i think)

] my eos-A on the test is GREAT but my eos-B has 3 lowkey bum paragraphs... i have intro and 2 bodies both having one of the sources. i have no conclusion/rebuttle/counterclaim. is it cooked or salvageable?