[2024-25] How Hard Is AP Microeconomics? Answer: ‘Quite Easy’ (Real Student Reviews + Pass Data)

Is AP Microeconomics easy or hard? Read on to discover why we’ve given AP Micro a difficulty rating of “Quite Easy”, based on our unparalleled, deep-dive analysis of 2024 (and historic) pass rate data and over 3200 course reviews from alumnae.

An overview of the data: how difficult is AP Microeconomics?

Here’s an overview of all the data we’ve analysed on AP Micro, from both 2024 pass rates and alumnae reviews:

• AP Microeconomics is considered quite easy, with class alumnae rating it 4.6/10 for overall difficulty
  • That makes it the the 8th-easiest course out of the 28 large AP classes we surveyed
• The pass rate is about average vs other AP classes, with 65% graduating with a 3 or higher
• AP Microeconomics is a relatively small class (approximately 104,000 entries a year)
• And 98% of alumnae would recommend the class

Alumnae recommendations: the tl;dr

AP Micro alumnae reviewers found the class enjoyable, easy and feel that it had a large focus on memorization and graphs.

Taking a visual comparison:

Here’s a fun visual on how AP Microeconomics compares to other classes, by difficulty, the amount of study time required, and class size:

We’ve only highlighted the two economics classes, AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics here. But you can see the full multi-coloured version of this chart in our popular, definitive difficulty ranking of ALL the AP classes!

Psst: we’ve also got a deep-dive into AP Macroeconomics if you want a full comparison of economics tracks!

Behind the scenes: our Data Analyst and methodology

Analysing AP class data: the methodology

We want to be transparent about how we research, collect and analyse the AP data we use to provide you with our assessments and recommendations. This methodology gives a brief outline of our source material and analytical processes:

Please click here to learn more about our rigorous editorial policies here at Exam Study Expert.

Source material for AP data:

We use two primary sources of data:

1. Pass rate data from College Board itself, including the proportion of students who pass overall (3+ score) and the proportion of students who score a 5. This data is taken from the College Board website plus tweets from Head of AP Trevor Packer, which include the score breakdown and numbers of students taking each class.
2. Student reviews posted by users from r/APStudents who actually took the AP courses (as of 2024 the dataset includes 3,295 reviews). These reviews include a rating for:
   • Overall difficulty rating
   • Difficulty if self-studying
   • How much time is required

The data we post is based on College Board’s June data release and may shift slightly as late-arriving exams are scored. This shift has historically been negligible.

How we evaluate and use the data on AP classes:

We consider class alumnae’s difficulty ratings to be the most reliable indicator of difficulty, more so than pass rate.

Pass rate, or percentage of students scoring a certain grade, is a misleading metric for two main reasons:

1. Some classes attract highly able students, so may have a high pass rate, but this is more a reflection of the calibre of students taking the class. This particularly applies to language classes.
2. Research has shown that popular, widely taken AP classes tend to have lower passing rates. So, a low passing rate could indicate a larger variety of student skill, not necessarily class difficulty.

Our assessments of course difficulty

We have given each every AP class a graded ranking of difficulty, primarily based on class alumnae difficulty ratings. Many other important factors are taken into consideration when making our recommendations for how easy or hard you may find the AP course.

The rankings are determined as followed:

• Very Easy – scores less than 4.0
• Quite Easy – scores between 4.0 and 4.9
• Moderate Difficulty – scores between 5.0 and 5.9
• Quite Hard – scores between 6.0 and 6.9
• Very Hard – scores more than 7.0

You should take every available metric into account when making your choice of AP classes. Remember that some students tend to find certain fields easier or harder than others, based on pre-existing experience.

And remember, as College Board’s Trevor Packer reminds us, an AP score is only one indicator of student learning and achievement.

A deep dive into the 2024 exam data on AP Micro

If you want to know more about how AP Microeconomics stacks up against the average AP class, and against previous years’ results: read on for five charts that set out all the data you could want.

1. Difficulty: a look at the ratings

AP Microeconomics is considered quite easy, with class alumnae rating it 4.6/10 for overall difficulty, making it the 8th-easiest out of the 28 large AP classes we surveyed.

2. The AP Microeconomics pass rate in 2024

In 2024, the AP Micro pass rate was about average vs other AP classes, at 65%.

The percentage of students who achieved each grade was within 4% of the all-AP average. The highest percentage of candidates (25%) attained a 4.

3. So, how does this compare to the last five years?

Over the many years we’ve been doing this analysis, we’ve learnt that AP pass rates can fluctuate wildly. So to get a better picture, let’s examine the score distribution for the past five years of exams – all the way back to 2020.

A great example of this is the AP Microeconomics score distribution, which has varied significantly over the past 5 years. There was a notable drop in the 2021 pass rate by 9%, and it fell again in 2022 to just 57%. However, 2023 saw the a much higher pass rate at 66%.

4. How time consuming will AP Microeconomics be?

AP Micro is rated as quite low study time required relative to other AP classes.

N.B. A survey of AP alumnae asked for a rating out of 10 for time needed to study each class, with 1 = least time needed, 10 = most time. The average rating for AP Microeconomics was 4.6/10 (vs the average across all AP classes of 5.4/10).

5. How hard is it to self-study for AP Micro?

AP Microeconomics is rated as very easy to self-study relative to other AP classes.

N.B. A survey of AP alumnae asked for a rating out of 10 for how easy each class is to self study, with 1 = easiest to self study, 10 = hardest to self study. The average rating for AP Microeconomics was 4.1/10 (vs the average across all AP classes of 5.7/10).

Reviewing the course: 24 alumnae share their experiences

If you’re looking forward to taking AP Micro, it’s important to take both the positive and negative feedback in context. There are multiple factors that could contribute to a great or poor experience of the class, such as a particularly weak teacher and your personal preferences as a learner.

A remarkable 98% of AP Microeconomics alumnae would recommend the class.

AP Micro alumnae reviews focus on course enjoyment and difficulty, the practicalities of self-studying, and the importance of memorization and graphs for exam success.

1.      Many students found AP Micro easy and enjoyable

“This is a great course, have fun with it!” – Score: 4

“This class was ridiculously easy for me. It’s mostly just memorization and knowing how to use graphs.” – Score: 5

“I took this class on Florida Virtual School within only a month over the summer. The class was super easy and the concepts were pleasant and smooth to learn. Students usually have the biggest issue with Unit 3 (cost curves) and get really frustrated about then (according to my teacher). But do not give up! Its so much easier after that! Use ACDC Econ– it will be you saving grace.” – Score: 4

2.      Students disagree about whether the concepts in AP Micro are intuitive or not

“Some found the concepts to be hard to grasp. I thought it was intuitive and, therefore, easy.” – Score: 5

“Once you understand a concept, it will be very easy to remember and apply. There are some concepts that will seem counter intuitive at first though. Lots of the basic principles are very easy.” – Score: 5

“Honestly it took me so long to grasp because I couldn’t understand why everything is the way that it is. You just have to accept it and memorize the graphs. there’s not a lot of rhyme or reason to it.” – Score: 4

3.      AP Micro is a great course to self study

“I self-studied this class since I realized I needed credit for this in college. It really did not take a ton of time and Mr. Clifford (ACDCecon) made his videos super easy to follow and straight forward. I did it in 2 months or so on a very light schedule and basically just filled out the packet and did 2 or 3 practice tests! Was a pretty chill and fun time :)” – Score: 5

What does it take to succeed in the AP Micro exam?

Well, a good starting place is knowing what’s required of you – and what the experts say went well (or not!) this year:

What is AP Microeconomics? Course Outline & Requirements

According to College Board:

The AP Microeconomics course introduces students to “the principles of economics that apply to the functions of individual decision-makers, both consumers and producers, within the economic system.”

There are no prerequisites for AP Micro, and students should be able to read college-level textbooks. The course is often taken in tandem with AP Macroeconomics.

Each course “corresponds to one semester of a typical introductory college course in economics”. Whereas AP Micro focuses on individual decision-makers, AP Macro “focuses on the principles that apply to an economic system as a whole”.

You will develop skills in:

• Developing economic models and principles
• Explaining and determining economic outcomes from specific situations
• Visualizing economic situations using graphs and visual representations

The exam consists of one 2 hour 10 minute exam, with 66.65% (70 minutes) given to 60 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and 33.35% (60 minutes) given to three free-response questions.

For more details, see: College Board’s AP Microeconomics course page.

Takeaways for success from the Head of AP

Every year as the exam results come out, College Board’s Head of AP, Trevor Packer, offers an update on what’s gone on in each subject this year, including what people found easy and hard.

In 2024, Trevor made the following comments about the AP Microeconomics exam results:

• “AP Microeconomics MC questions: Students generally showed strong mastery of basic economic principles (Unit 1) and supply/demand (Unit 2); 25% of students earned most or all available points for these units.”

• “AP Microeconomics MC questions: The most challenging units were Factor Markets (5) and Market Failure (6); the avg score on these units was 50% correct.”

• “AP Microeconomics Long FR question (commenting on the version taken by most students): many students did great work here; 25% of students earned 9 or 10 of the 10 possible pts; to receive an AP 3, students generally earned half of the available pts here. https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap24-frq-microeconomics-set-1.pdf“

• “AP Microeconomics Short FR questions: students scored significantly higher on Q3 than Q2; on Q3, students receiving AP 5s generally answered each part correctly. Students earning AP 4s answered all but one part correctly, students earning 3s could answer 3 parts correctly. https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap24-frq-microeconomics-set-1.pdf“

How to (self) study for AP Micro, with advice from alumnae

Let’s turn back to those alumnae reviews. Many students who’ve taken the course also have great advice on how to study – and self-study – for the exam, including what to practice and the best resources. We’ve collated a selection for you:

1. Memorizing the graphs and practicing past tests are a great help – especially for FRQs

“I would just say use common sense as much as you can, learn opportunity cost well (cause it’s the basis of pretty much all of micro) and memorize the few graphs that are in micro and how to label them’ – Score: 3

“DO all the ap frqs from the college board website. I did 10 years of frqs of form As and Bs until the point that I started to feel like the questions are the same. They are pretty much the same” – Score: 5

2. There are some great (online) resources available

“Use Professor Clifford to get a solid understanding (if you only watch his videos, you’ll get a 3 or 4). Then, just go over the barrons, or whatever textbook you have, for that stretch for a 5.” – Score: 5

“The College Board YouTube viewers are a lifesaver. Barron’s alone does not contain enough material for you to feel completely comfortable with the exam. Sitting down and watching almost all of the AP Micro videos with Mr. Pedlow taught me so much more things that Barron’s failed to cover.” – Score: 5

“ACDC Econ is a lifesaver for this class. I had a really good teacher but he explained stuff better and faster than my teacher ever could. Even if you have a bad teacher you could still do well if you watch his videos.” – Score: 5

Best books and test prep resources for AP Microeconomics

If you’re looking for the best books to study to help you ace AP Microeconomics, we’ve crunched the numbers on the available textbooks. Check out the winners, according to reviews from successful AP students, in our overview of the best AP study guides for every subject.

Where next?

Find out how AP Microeconomics compares to other classes: click here for our popular, definitive overview of all AP Classes ranked by difficulty.

Or compare how AP Micro compares to the other economics course with our deep-dive into AP Macroeconomics.

If you’ve found our analysis helpful, have a question for our Data Analyst and AP expert, William – or just have some thoughts to share: please leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Good luck!