Section I: 60 questions in 90 minutes
That’s 1.5 minutes per question on average. A safer plan is to finish in 85 minutes and keep 5 for checking, which is about 1.4 minutes per question. You don’t need to watch the clock on every question; just glance at it at a few checkpoints检查点:
| Question reached | 15 | 30 | 45 | 60 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minutes used (about) | 21 | 43 | 64 | 85 |
Work in two passes:
- First pass: answer the questions you can do right away. For a question that needs several steps of calculation, or one you still can’t see a way into after reading it twice, pick the most likely answer, flag it in Bluebook and move on.
- Second pass: go back to the flagged questions with the time that’s left.
Always select an answer before deciding whether to come back: wrong answers cost nothing, and if you run out of time the question won’t be blank. For a set of questions sharing a figure or passage, read the shared material carefully once and the rest of the set goes faster.
Section II: 7 questions in 105 minutes
The FRQs total 46 points, so split the time by points. Keeping 5 minutes for checking gives about 2.2 minutes per point: about 22 minutes for each long question (10 points) and 9 minutes for each short one (4 points).
- Skim first. Spend a minute or two reading all 7 questions, then start with the one you’re surest of; you don’t have to go in order.
- Move on when time is up. If a question runs over its time, switch to the next one and come back if time allows.
- Later parts don’t always have to wait for earlier ones. If part (c) needs your answer to (b) and you couldn’t get (b), assume a reasonable value, write “Assume the answer to (b) is …,” and carry on with (c).
- Don’t leave parts blank. A blank is always 0, while writing the equation, substituting values or giving one reason can each earn credit.
Pick a section and drag the sliders to check your pace:
Example 1: falling behind in Section I
After question 24, 41 minutes have gone by. On the plan of finishing in 85 minutes, how far behind is that, and what should you do next?
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Planned time for 24 questions. At 85/60 minutes per question:
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Compare.
About 7 minutes behind.
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Is there enough time left? 36 questions remain, with 90 − 41 = 49 minutes:
It’s still doable, but there’s no slack left.
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Adjust. From here on, if a question hasn’t worked out after 2 minutes, pick the most likely answer, flag it and move on. Collect all the quick questions first, then come back.
Example 2: a schedule for Section II
Keep 5 minutes at the end for checking and split the rest of Section II among the 7 questions by points. How long does each long and short question get? Write out a schedule.
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Time per point.
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Long and short questions.
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The schedule (minutes from the start).
Question Type Done by minute Q1 Long 22 Q2 Long 43 Q3 Long 65 Q4 Short 74 Q5 Short 83 Q6 Short 91 Q7 Short 100 The last 5 minutes are for checking.
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Adjust as you go. If you start with the questions you’re surest of, just add up 22 minutes per long question and 9 per short one in your own order; time saved on one question goes to the hardest one.
- A concept question whose answer you see immediately
Take the points you can get right away.
- A calculation with three or four steps that you think will take 4 minutes
That’s far over the average; leave it for the second pass.
- A set of questions sharing a data table that you’ve just worked through
While the table is fresh, finish the whole set.
- You’ve read the question twice and still have no idea how to start
Pick the most likely answer and come back to think.
- A quick estimate rules out three of the options
No exact calculation needed; answer now.
- You’re torn between two options after 2 minutes
Pick the likelier one, flag it, and keep going.
- A particle-diagram question you can answer by counting
Count carefully and take the point.
- Time is nearly up and you haven’t looked at the last 5 questions
Put an answer on every one first, since wrong answers cost nothing; then look closer if time is left.
Common mistakes
Mistake 1: “I have to go in order and keep at a question until I get it.” Five minutes stuck on one question can cost you three or four later questions you could have answered. Pick an answer, flag it, move on, and come back.
Mistake 2: “If I can’t do an early part of an FRQ, there’s no point doing the later parts.” Later parts can often be done on their own, or with an assumed value. As long as the method is right, a result calculated from your own (or an assumed) value can still earn the point.
Mistake 3: “Split the FRQ time evenly, 15 minutes each.” Long questions are worth 10 points and short ones 4. An even split gives each long question about 7 minutes too few and each short one 6 minutes too many, which puts the time where the points aren’t.
Quick check
On average, how many minutes are there per question in Section I?
90 minutes ÷ 60 questions = 1.5 minutes. Keeping 5 minutes for checking leaves about 1.4 minutes each.
On a plan of 60 questions in 85 minutes, about how many minutes should have passed after question 30?
30 × 85/60 = 42.5, about 43 minutes.
Splitting Section II by points with 5 minutes kept for checking, about how long does one long question get?
(105 − 5) ÷ 46 ≈ 2.17 minutes per point, so a 10-point long question gets about 22 minutes.
Part (c) of an FRQ needs your answer to (b), which you couldn’t get. What’s the best move?
With the assumption stated, your method and calculation in (c) can still earn credit; return to (b) if time allows.
You want to skip a multiple-choice question in Bluebook for now. What’s best?
With an answer selected, it won’t be blank even if you never get back; the flag makes it easy to find on the second pass.
Do the 7 Section II questions have to be done in order?
You choose the order, as long as each answer is written in its own space. Starting with your strongest questions banks points early.
AP-style practice
A student plans to work through Section II in order, spending 15 minutes on every question.
(a) On this plan, how many minutes go to the 3 long questions in total? To the 4 short questions?
(b) If the time were split by points (keeping 5 minutes for checking), how long should each long and each short question get?
(c) Compare the two plans and explain what is wrong with the student’s plan.
(d) On Q2 the student is stuck on part (c), which needs the answer to part (b), and the student isn’t confident about (b). Give two pieces of advice.
(e) In Section I, the student reaches question 45 after 70 minutes. On the plan of 60 questions in 85 minutes, is the student ahead or behind, and by how much? How much time is left per remaining question?
Model answer and scoring
(a) Long: 3 × 15 = 45 minutes; short: 4 × 15 = 60 minutes.
(b) (105 − 5) ÷ 46 ≈ 2.17 minutes per point: long 10 × 2.17 ≈ 22 minutes, short 4 × 2.17 ≈ 9 minutes.
(c) The long questions, worth 30 points together, get only 45 minutes, about 20 minutes less than a split by points; the short questions, worth 16 points, get 60 minutes, about 25 minutes more. The time goes to the questions worth fewer points.
(d) For example: carry on with the student’s own answer to (b), or assume a reasonable value and say so; write the equation and setup for (c) to earn partial credit; if still stuck, move to the next question and come back later. (Any two sensible pieces of advice.)
(e) The plan gives 45 × 85/60 ≈ 64 minutes, so the student is about 6 minutes behind. 15 questions and 90 − 70 = 20 minutes remain, about 1.3 minutes per question.
Scoring: (a) 45 and 60 minutes; (b) about 22 and 9 minutes; (c) long questions short of time and short questions over; (d) two sensible pieces of advice; (e) about 6 minutes behind and about 1.3 minutes per question.
Summary
- Section I: about 1.4 minutes per question, with checkpoints at Q15 ≈ 21 minutes, Q30 ≈ 43, Q45 ≈ 64 and Q60 ≈ 85; work in two passes and select an answer for every question.
- Section II: split by points, about 22 minutes per long question and 9 per short one; skim first, start with your strongest question, and move on when time is up.
- When stuck: on multiple choice, pick an answer and flag it; on FRQs, continue the later parts with your own or an assumed value, and write the equation and setup for partial credit.
AP tip: Practice full sets under exam timing, for example with the timed mode of this site’s mock exam. Pacing is a habit built in practice, so on exam day you don’t have to keep checking the clock.
Sources: section times and points from College Board’s AP Chemistry Exam page; the time split is this site’s suggestion based on the points, not an official rule.