Just got my APA exam results back and I'm sitting at 71%, which I'm pretty sure is right on the borderline. I studied for about 9 weeks, roughly 2 hours a day on weekdays and 4 hours on Saturdays. My main resources were the APA Publication Manual (7th edition), some psychology ethics readings, and a handful of practice question sets I found online.
The section that really caught me off guard was the research methodology portion. I thought I had statistics down cold, but some of the application questions were framed in ways I hadn't seen before. I probably got around 60% correct in that section alone, which dragged my overall score down noticeably.
The ethics and professional standards section was where I felt strongest — probably landed around 80% there based on how confident I felt leaving those questions. The publication standards questions were middle of the road, maybe 73%.
Has anyone retaken after a 71%? How much extra time did you put in, and which sections did you focus on? I'm trying to figure out if 4 more weeks of targeted study is realistic or if I need to budget 8-10 weeks for a proper retake.
The framing on the stats questions is intentionally tricky. I went back and did every practice scenario I could find on ANOVA assumptions and regression interpretation, and that moved my score from about 62% to 79% in that section. Four more weeks should be enough if you're targeted about it.
I scored 69% on my first try, studied another 6 weeks, and passed at 78%. Ethics was my anchor section too — once you nail that you're not starting from zero. The methodology stuff just takes repetition, there's honestly no shortcut.
What practice materials were you using? Some of the free stuff online doesn't reflect the actual question style very well. I switched to more official-aligned resources for my retake and noticed the difference immediately.
71% is actually really close — I passed with 76% on my second attempt after failing at 68%. The methodology section is brutal because they test concept application, not just definitions. I spent 3 extra weeks specifically on quasi-experimental design and effect size interpretation.
I failed my first attempt too, ended up at 68%. What changed for me the second time was focusing less on memorizing the manual and more on applying it. Like I knew the formatting rules cold but I kept getting tripped up on the scenario-based ethics questions because I wasn't connecting the principles to actual situations. I spent the last two weeks before my retake just doing practice questions and explaining to myself why each answer was right or wrong, not just whether I got it correct.
Also 71% might actually be a pass depending on your credentialing body, so double-check that before you panic. If you do need to retake it, don't add more material. You've clearly put in the time. What usually trips people up at that score range isn't knowledge gaps, it's test-taking stuff like misreading what the question is actually asking or second-guessing an answer you got right the first time.
Hey, I feel this post. I'm in a similar boat -- took a full practice test last weekend and hit 74%, which honestly surprised me because I've been struggling with the research methods section. Sitting the real thing in about three weeks so I'm in crunch mode right now.
For what it's worth, the ethics questions tripped me up way more than I expected. I thought I knew the APA code pretty well but the scenario-based stuff is trickier than just memorizing principles. If you retake, that might be worth another look. Good luck to you though, 71% is so close!
Honestly, 71% sounds rough but you probably passed — I was in the same boat last spring and almost bailed after week six because nothing was sticking. What got me was the ethics section and how weirdly specific the questions are about dual relationships and confidentiality exceptions. I didn't realize how much the practical application side mattered until I started drilling on free apa health psychology questions and suddenly the scenarios clicked in a way the manual never made clear on its own.
Keep going. Seriously. Nine weeks of that schedule is real work and it shows. If you're borderline, your weak spots are probably the applied stuff, not the citation rules everyone obsesses over — most people I know who retook it said they wished they'd spent less time on formatting and more time on the research ethics cases.
71% at the borderline hurts, but honestly your studying approach might be the issue more than the hours. I've been there. What changed everything for me was stopping after every wrong practice answer and asking myself not just "what's right" but "why did I think that was okay?" -- a lot of APA questions are designed to trap you on subtle ethical distinctions that feel almost right. The free apa health psychology questions helped me with this because they're scenario-based and I could actually work through the reasoning instead of just pattern-matching.
Also, if you weren't drilling the ethics code sections on dual relationships and confidentiality limits, that's probably where points leaked. Those areas have so many "it depends" answers and the exam loves to test whether you actually understand the principle or just memorized a rule. Go back through your wrong answers, reread the relevant APA code section for each one, and you'll start seeing the logic. Second attempt you'll likely clear it easily.