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

Is AP Psychology easy or hard? Read on to discover why we’ve given AP Psych 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 hard is AP Psychology?

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

• AP Psychology is considered very easy, with class alumnae rating it 3.5/10 for overall difficulty
  • That makes it the 2nd-easiest class out of the 28 large AP classes we surveyed
• The pass rate is slightly lower than other AP classes, with 61% graduating with a 3 or higher
• AP Psychology is very widely-taken (approximately 320,000 entries a year)
• And 98% of alumnae would recommend the class

Alumnae recommendations: the tl;dr

AP Psych alumnae found the course heavily based in vocab and definitions: if you’re great at memorisation, develop good study skills, and have the right test prep resources you may find this course easy and enjoyable.

Taking a visual comparison:

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

We’ve only highlighted AP Psychology and related scientific classes (Environmental Science, Biology and Chemistry) 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 deep-dives into AP Environmental Science, AP Biology and AP Chemistry if you want a full comparison of science 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 Psych

If you want to know more about how AP Psychology 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 Psych is considered very easy, with class alumnae rating it 3.5/10 for overall difficulty, making it the 2nd-easiest class out of the 28 large AP classes we surveyed.

2. The AP Psych pass rate in 2024

In 2024, the AP Psych pass rate was slightly lower than the all-AP average, at 61%. 

A high percentage of students received a 1 (27%), more double the all-AP-class average. However, the number of students who attained a 4 or 5 was fell exactly in line with the all-AP averages of 23% and 18% respectively.

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 – although some subjects remain steady. 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.

The AP Psychology pass rate is one of those that has varied significantly over the past 5 years of exams. 2020 saw the highest pass rate of 71%, which then fell significantly in 2021 to just 55% with a large percentage of students failing with a 1. Although the pass rate has since risen slightly, this proportion has remained the same.

4. How time consuming will AP Psychology be?

AP Psychology 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. 1 = least time needed, 10 = most time. The average rating for AP Psychology was 4.7/10 (vs the average across all AP classes of 5.4/10).

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

AP Psychology 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. 1 = easiest to self study, 10 = hardest to self study. The average rating for AP Psychology was 3.4/10 (vs the average across all AP classes of 5.7/10).

Reviewing the course: 86 alumnae share their experiences

If you’re looking forward to taking AP Psychology, 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.

An impressive 98% of AP Psych alumnae would recommend the class.

The majority of the reviews focus on course enjoyment and ease, the importance of vocabulary and memorisation, and helpful resources and study techniques.

1.      Many students really enjoy AP Psychology and found it easy to study

“THIS WAS MY FAVORITE CLASS EVER. The teacher was amazing, it’s a fascinating course and it’s fairly easy. Pay attention in class, do the minimal required reading, and you’ll be good.” – Score: 4

“Literally the easiest AP test to get a 5 on, go for it!!” – Score: 5

“Very easy ap course as long as you make sure you avoid as much confusion between terms as possible. you might feel kinda bad about it when you leave the testing room (i sure did), but things turned out fine (4’s and 5’s) for everyone i knew from my class so don’t sweat it too much after you’re done” – Score: 5

“My first ap course, which i self-studied. overall fun and applicable to you and your experiences, although there is a bit of memorizing. taking notes helps.” – Score: 5

“Pretty easy overall. Do the practice tests and you’ll be fine.” – Score: 4

“’Literally just pay attention in class and review your vocab the day before the exam. The threshold to get a 5 is super low for this exam. Also, watch one of those cram videos the day before.” – Score: 5

“’If you love to memorize a lot of facts and/or love concepts [involving] the mind and such, this is the class for you! If you don’t then this will be a snooze but easy AP class. Take notes (I know from personal experience). Study and you’ll be fine.” – Score: 1

“This exam is not hard at all as long as you are exposed to the material previously (before you start studying for the exam) the FRQ was actually fun to write during the exam and I walked out with an easy 5. flash cards are your best friend” – Score: 5

“’As long as you break it down into bits and pieces and don’t cram the entire thing the night before, it should be a pretty easy 5. quizlet was helpful too” – Score: 5

2.      There’s a lot of memorisation required!

“Being able to memorize is key” – Score: 5

“’This class is mostly just memorizing facts, but I found it easy because the concepts were interesting to me. It also incorporates a mini – portion of statistics, and taking AP stats with this class works great (if you were planning to take that class too).” – Score: 5

“I self studied this over the course of one weekend before the AP test. It wasn’t hard- just time consuming due to the sheer volume of memorization the test requires. However, make absolutely sure you know the structure and location of the parts of the brain as well as the sensation and perception unit before you take the exam.” – Score: 5

3.      Whilst some students found AP Psych time consuming …

“If you’re self studying, it can be very time consuming if you start late, but as long as you read the Barron’s book thoroughly and take notes, a 5 is pretty much guaranteed.” – Score: 5

“Only reason this course was time consuming for me was that we had a huge textbook and I read and took notes (both digital and handwritten) on every page, and I’m a very slow reader. 100% could’ve just paid attention in class and taken no notes outside of school and would’ve likely received a similar mark.” – Score: 5

“DO YOUR WORK! While the class can feel really slow and time consuming practice is extremely helpful” – Score: 4

4.      … others found they could self-study the course quickly: but it requires discipline!

“I learned half of the information the weekend before the test and got a 5. The Barron’s book and the crash course psych videos (I didn’t even finish those actually) should be all you need to self study this course. Good luck!” – Score: 5

“I self-studied this course in literally 2 days before the course, using Barron, and got a 4 on the exam. Honestly, I don’t recommend cramming until the very last day unless you have the determination and memorization skills for this exam. Although Psyc is an easy course, It has a lot of material and you need good memorization skills to go well on the exam. During the exam, I felt that the multiple choice was easy and the written response was moderate(probably because I never took the practice tests for the exam).” – Score: 4

“Self-Discipline is the key to a good score.” – Score: 4

“’Super easy to self-study” – Score: 5

5.      For a few, the quantity of required units and vocab was challenging

“I came into Psychology wanting to learn [specifically] about the more scientific aspects of brain function (the biological perspective, if you will.) However, Psychology can be challenging in that you have to learn 14 units and a variety of perspectives; you don’t pick and choose your focus. However, I’m glad I got a glimpse into the whole scope of psychology because it gives me insight into what focus I want to pursue in college.” – Score: 5

“’The class was very heavy on vocabulary, so as long as you know and understand the vocab, you should be fine.” – Score: 5

What does it take to succeed in the AP Psych 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 Psychology? Course Outline & Requirements

According to College Board:

“The AP Psychology course introduces students to the systematic and scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes.”

AP Psychology is an introductory college-level course. There are no prerequisites for AP Psych, although students are required to read college-level textbooks.

You will develop skills in inquiry-based investigations, data analysis and scientific study. And you will develop an understanding of concepts such as:

• The biological bases of behaviour
• Sensation and perception
• Learning and cognition
• Motivation, emotion and personality
• Developmental psychology
• Testing and individual differences
• Treatment of abnormal behaviour
• Clinical and social psychology

The exam consists of one 2-hour exam, in two sections. 66.7% (70 minutes) of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and 33.3% (50 minutes) of free-response questions (FRQs).

For more details, see: College Board’s AP Psychology 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 Psychology exam results:

• “AP Psychology classrooms are recovering from pandemic learning loss; mastery of course content improved this year, but continues to lag behind pre-pandemic levels of achievement.”

• “AP Psychology students continued to show strong understanding of Clinical Psychology (Unit 8), but also scored very well on questions about the Biological Bases of Behavior (Unit 2) and Sensation / Perception (Unit 3). ~30% of students earned all such MC points.”

• “As is often the case, the most challenging unit for AP Psychology students was Motivation, Emotion, and Personality (Unit 7); Unit 4 (Learning) and Unit 6 (Developmental Psychology) were similarly challenging; the average MC score on these units was ~50% correct.”

How to (self) study for AP Psych, 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. Being able to memorize vocab and definitions is vital for success

“For studying I basically just went through old exams and notes that our teacher provided/textbook material. You should really practice writing about specific terms because that’s what you’ll be doing on the FRQs, which is why practice exams are great.” – Score: 5

“Try to write a real-life example or some kind of acronym or picture to connect the word to the definition. There’s so many vocab words so this would help a bunch. Also, Kahoot the night before with friends is fun! :)” – Score: 5

“You need to know the vocab and how to apply it! Practicing the FRQ and MC exams were really important in me getting a 5.” – Score: 5

“Sensation/Perception along with Motivation and Emotion are important concepts! Do not skip over these” – Score: 5

“GOTTA study the big names cause they’re a big part of the course.” – Score: 4

“Study vocab!!! I practically just GLANCED at the words in the Barron’s AP Psychology before the test and got a 4. My best friend studied the Barron’s vocab cards for about 1 or 2 weeks before the test and got a 5. I paid attention during class but hardly studied at home unless we had a quiz or test coming up. Even the FRQs just try to make sure you know the meaning of a couple terms.” – Score: 4

“>75% of the material will be based in vocab. Quizlet shall be your God. Know the vocab, and you know the stuff. A lot of it is pretty self-explanatory and the connections between each term are easy to see. The textbook is super entertaining to read the author is a hoot.” – Score: 5

2. Flashcards are your best friend

“Flash cards were very useful for me and it’s helpful to look at how the concepts apply to real life” – Score: 5

“Just pay attention in class and do your homework; also flash cards and quizlet are your best friend ((:” – Score: 4

“Get the flashcards! this test is all about knowing the vocab” – Score: 5

“’This test is not difficult at all, so long as you know the vocabulary and some examples you should be fine. i recommend quizlet or making flashcards!” – Score: 5

“It’s the largest vocab test you will ever see. Go through the material with the prep books, taking good notes as you go. Start using the flashcards about 4 months before the test.” – Score: 5

3. Having the right test prep resources is essential

“For the prep, I recommend using barrons because it pretty much has the entire course layed out for you in there. Final tips for using barrons(or any of your study material), Study the material, highlight the main points, memorize the content: processes, important people, parts of the body& brain etc; and you should be all set for the exam.” – Score: 4

“You could watch all the crash course videos, study the vocab extensively through quizlet, then practice the frqs with the ones released by college-board, all the week before the exam and have a decent chance of getting a 5. And this video pretty much covers everything you need to know.” – Score: 5

“For my class personally, simply reading each chapter thoroughly was enough to get an A because the content on the tests were taken directly from our textbook (Myers 8e). As for the AP exam, I found that Barron’s was great and 5 Steps was useful if you needed more questions on sections you struggled on.” – Score: 5

“If you can read and recall most of Myers’ Psychology for AP, you will get a 5. This textbook being well- written combined with psychology being pretty darn relevant and interesting makes it a fun read.” – Score: 5

“Easiest way to score a 5 is to read the Barron’s book review section and do the practice problems at the end of each chapter. Google the Barron’s AP Psych Quizlet and do Quizlets for each chapter to remember the vocab. Then do practice tests for thicc 5” – Score: 5

4. Think about real-world psychology

“Reviewing other psychology findings is a must. Psychology is a field of observing and theorizing interactions and reactions that social activities have on an individuals conscious and subconscious mind. Paying attention to your friends and seeing how they respond to scenarios and situations is helpful, personally I like to read psychology books (not school ones but ones from social engineer’s). Social engineering is basically using the knowledge of psychology and using it in the real world, paying attention to SE can be useful in further understanding psychology” – Score: 4

Best books and test prep resources for AP Psychology

If you’re looking for the best books to study to help you ace AP Psych, 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 Psychology compares to other classes: click here for our popular, definitive overview of all AP Classes ranked by difficulty.

Or compare how AP Psych compares to the other science courses with our deep-dives into AP Environmental Science, AP Biology and AP Chemistry.

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!