FRQs

This guide organizes advice from past students who got 4s and 5s on their exams. We hope it gives you some new ideas and tools for your study sessions. But remember, everyone's different—what works for one student might not work for you. If you've got a study method that's doing the trick, stick with it. Think of this as extra help, not a must-do overhaul.

📌 Overview

• Students are given 6 free response questions on a variety of skills throughout the course such as applying tests, collecting data, and using probability
• 50% of Exam Score
• 90 Minutes for 6 questions, about 15 minutes per question
  • FRQ 1 – Focus on Exploring Data
  • FRQ 2 – Focus on Sampling and Experimental Design
  • FRQ 3 – Focus on Probability and Sampling Distributions
  • FRQ 4 – Focus on Inference
  • FRQ 5 – Multi-Focus
  • FRQ 6 – Investigative Task

💭 General Advice

Tips on mindset, strategy, structure, time management, and any other high level things to know

• Stay calm and focused during the exam.
• Read each question carefully and make sure you understand what is being asked before attempting to answer.
• Trust in your preparation and problem-solving skills.
• Familiarize yourself with the types of questions commonly asked in AP Statistics FRQs, such as experimental design, inference, and probability. Practice solving FRQs from past exams to get a sense of the format and types of problems.
• Allocate your time wisely by giving yourself enough time to read and understand each question, solve the problem, and review your answers.
• Organize your answers clearly and concisely, using proper notation and labeling where necessary. Clearly state your assumptions and reasoning when answering inference questions.
• Use appropriate statistical methods and techniques to solve the problems, and show all your work.
• Allocate your time based on the number of points each question is worth, but don't spend too much time on one question at the expense of others.
• Make sure your calculator is charged before the exam and you know how to use it. Your calculator can be a very helpful tool and can help save time.
• There are a lot of different symbols in statistics that mean very different things. You should definitely review all the symbols, so you understand and use them appropriately on the exam.
• This advice is a last resort, please do not prepare with this in mind! That being said: if you are truly lost on how to do a calculation, make up a number, and use your effort on the interpretation. The interpretation is worth a lot of points, and you want to go for as many as you can, because most of them you can earn with correct interpretation, even if your number is incorrect.
• Know your statistics vocabulary well. Lots of questions involve describing graphs, data, distributions, etc.

🕐 Before You Write

What should a student do in the first few minutes, before they start writing?

• Read the entirety of the FRQ (all of the parts) before answering. The parts will build off of each other sometimes and can help you identify what direction the question is going. You will also know what assumptions you do not need to make if the next part asks about answering that assumption.
• Think about which FRQs are your strongest when you have practiced. Start with those first, as you will be most confident with those questions and more familiar.

1️⃣ FRQ #1 – Collecting Data Question

• Familiarize yourself with and practice using the language of statistics. This question likely will have you describe or interpret an initial graph, whether a dotplot, histogram, or just about any graph. You should know how to explain what a graph looks like or represents in the language of the AP graders.
• Always justify your response by explaining how it helps achieve a representative sample or how it controls for confounding variables (ex. SRS ensures each student has an equal chance of being selected, thus creating less selection bias and making the sample represent the full student body).
• Know your vocabulary (ex. bias, placebo, confounding)! It is essential to understand the different types of biases in order to identify what kind of issues a research method may have. Furthermore, practicing FRQs that require you to design an experimental study can help you apply your vocabulary and memorize the process.

2️⃣ FRQ #2 – Exploring Data Question

• Get familiar with conducting an experiment. You should create flashcards to practice vocabulary terms for Unit 4. Practice, practice, practice, and use example scenarios as you become more familiar with identifying the treatments, experimental units, and response variable.
• Make sure you understand different experimental designs and how they impact statistical results (e.g. random assignment indicates a cause and effect relationship can occur—this comes up often on FRQs).
• This section usually requires a bit more writing as you have to show an understanding of the scenario given.

3️⃣ FRQ #3 – Probability/Sampling Distributions

• Go into this section with a strong understanding of the conditions that must be met to continue with each description of sampling distributions. Sample statistics help determine population parameters, and don’t you forget it! Internalize the variables used for samples vs. populations, and demonstrate your knowledge of sampling distributions’ ability to show how a statistic varies in many samples of the same size in a population. Remember, larger samples increase accuracy and decrease variability.
• Memorize your probability formulas and always write the correct notation (and remember important probability keywords: “given that”, “if we know that”, “or/and”, “of the ___”, etc.) to help you identify which formula you need to use

4️⃣ FRQ #4 – Inference/Use of Hypotheses

• Identify which type of test you have to perform and what you have to write down. Think PANIC or PHANTOM. Always write down your parameter of interests, how assumptions are satisfied, which type of test you will perform, the calculations leading to a p-value (keep in mind you can write in calculator inputs), then make your conclusion in context!
• Always start by clearly defining your null and alternative hypotheses based on the scenario given. Then, interpret your results in context, and explicitly state the connection your interpretation has to the real-world.
• Many students struggle with determining which test to use, so make sure you are reading the question properly to identify how many samples there are and what kind of data is measured (categorical/quantitative). Identifying keywords, such as “independent”, “homogenous”, “paired”, etc., will allow you to choose which test you use.

5️⃣ FRQ #5 – Multi-Category/Non-Routine Questions

• Unfortunately, the content of this FRQ can vary each year. It would be best to look back at old tests and see what types of things show up most often.
• A lot of times you will see a graph and have to understand what is occurring and explain associations, the significance of the data, etc., but like said before, it can really vary.
• Sometimes, the topic can be repetitive and be similar to another FRQ you have already done.
• This FRQ typically combines the knowledge of multiple skills.

6️⃣ FRQ #6 – Investigative Task

• While this FRQ is generally the hardest, it’s also worth the most points, so make sure you save enough time to at least read through and attempt the parts. Don’t feel discouraged if you don’t know how to do every part of this FRQ!
• This task is designed to be hard and be on concepts that you haven’t quite learned about, in order to challenge you to perform an actual investigative task. Leave around 30 minutes for this FRQ.

❌ Common Mistakes

• Don’t forget to write down the criteria that makes a test eligible to be performed (random, independent, n>30, etc.) Forgetting this step can cost you a point, according to prior rubrics!
• It’s totally alright to use your calculator to find the p-value or calculate other values, but make sure you show your work and write down what is being calculated. For example, if you want to find the area under the normal distribution, you have to write normcdf, as well as your mean, standard deviation, lower bound, and upper bound. This ensures that the AP graders are aware that you know what you’re calculating and how to do it.

📑 Using the Equation Sheet

• It’s always better to have most of the equations memorized (especially your probability formulas and sampling distribution formulas), so you don’t have to use up your time flipping to the front of the test booklet to look for the correct formula you need.