Is AP US History easy or hard? Read on to discover why we’ve given APUSH a difficulty rating of “Quite Hard”, 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 US History?

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

  • AP US History is considered quite hard, with class alumnae rating it 6.0/10 for overall difficulty
    • That makes it the 11th-most-difficult out of the 28 large AP classes we surveyed
  • The pass rate is slightly higher than other AP classes, with 72% graduating with a 3 or higher
    • N.B. This is a significant leap from the 2023 pass rate of just 48%
  • AP US History is extremely widely-taken (489,000 entries last year)
  • And 92% of alumnae would recommend the class
Overview graphic showing all 2024 data and alumnae ratings for APUSH with footnotes on assessments

Alumnae recommendations: the tl;dr

Although APUSH is considered moderately difficult, alumnae reviewers had differing opinions on the difficulty, which is not surprising given the large variations in historical pass rates.

However, alumnae enjoyed their experiences of the class, and found it manageable with a strong understanding of the underlying concepts and causation between different periods of US History.

Taking a visual comparison:

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

Bubble chart showing AP US History compared to all other main AP classes as rated by alumnae reviews

We’ve only highlighted AP US History and the related history classes (World History and European History). 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 World History and AP European History if you want a full comparison of the three history tracks!

Behind the scenes: our Data Analyst and methodology

Exam Study Expert founder William Wadsworth in a library. He is smiling.

Exam Study Expert founder William Wadsworth is a Cambridge University trained psychologist and data analyst. Since he first started crunching AP data in 2019, over half a million AP students have used his difficulty ratings analysis to choose their AP classes.

Additional research, graphics, and article review by Dr Kerri-Anne Edinburgh

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 APUSH

If you want to know more about how AP US History 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

APUSH is considered quite hard, with class alumnae rating it 6.0/10 for overall difficulty, making it the 11th-most-difficult out of the 28 large AP classes surveyed.

Graph showing difficulty ratings for APUSH from alumnae reviews

2. The APUSH pass rate in 2024

In 2024, the AP US History pass rate was 72%, slightly higher than the all-AP-class average of 68%.

The highest percentage of candidates received a 4 (33%), a solid 10% more than the all-AP average. Only 8% of examinees failed with a 1, which is impressive compared to 2023, as can be seen in the following section.

Graph comparing AP US History 2024 pass rate data to the all-AP average

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.

Indeed, a great of example of this fact is the difference between the 2023 and 2024 APUSH pass rates: a leap of 24% (from a very below-average 48%). Prior to that, over the last 5 years, the highest score was 59% in 2020.

The most impressive change has been the decrease of students failing with a 1, from over 20% to just 8% in 2024.

Chart showing the APUSH score distribution between 2020 and 2024

4. How time consuming will AP US History be?

According to the data from class alumnae, APUSH is rated as very time-intensive relative to other AP classes. That may make it a harder class for you.

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 US History was 7.3/10 (vs the average across all AP classes of 5.4/10).

Graph showing alumnae time required ratings for APUSH

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

According to class alumnae, AP US History is rated as quite hard 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 APUSH was 6.3/10 (vs the average across all AP classes of 5.7/10).

Graph showing alumnae self-study difficulty ratings for AP US History

Reviewing the course: 212 alumnae share their experiences

If you’re looking forward to taking APUSH, 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 your teacher and your personal preferences as a learner.

An impressive 92% of APUSH alumnae would recommend the class.

The majority of the reviews focus on course experience, the importance of overall concepts and different topics, the need for steady preparation, and helpful study methods. We’ve collated a selection that give a variety of advice on common topics:

1.      Students have a lot to say about their experiences of APUSH, some positive …

I LOVED this class!! Recommend it to everyone! APUSH is 100% worth it if you like history even vaguely. If you don’t mind reading it’s not bad. The work is just time consuming, not hard. Then all you have to do is learn the writing style.” – Score: 5

“This was my first AP class so mastering the essays was a little difficult. In spite of this, the general familiarity most students have with US History makes the test self studyable if one puts in the review time.” – AP US History Score: 5

“Learning history is fun, so go for the details.” – Score: 4

2.      … and some less positive

“Definitely my most time consuming class. I had to read the textbook every night and ended up reading the entire thing as part of my homework over the course of the year. I don’t really know how I pulled a 5 but study for the DBQ since you don’t need to know stuff and can get easy points if you study the format.” – Score: 5

“Genuinely don’t think it’s that impossible to get a 5 but I slacked my ass off this year. Harder than World and you will need to put in the work to study, and I think no matter what school you go to, teachers will demand a lot of workload.” – Score: 4

“APUSH is a pretty time consuming class. You need to be at-it frequently re-studying your history so when exam time comes it isn’t an overload of stuff to review.” – Score: 5

“The class itself is interesting but the workload destroys the experience. The amount of time it takes to get an A in this class parallels that of three AP classes combined. If you like history or are going into a related major, take this class. Otherwise, you’re better off taking a different AP (or a non-AP, of course) and saving yourself the time.” – Score: 4

“If you are not good with history, obviously going to need to put work into this class. Be prepared to write, and with hard work it’s doable. AMSCO book is 10/10.” – Score: 5

“You’ll have to pull all nighters a lot.” – Score: 5

3.      Opinions on class difficulty varied a lot

“I would say that APUSH is not hard, it’s just a lot of work.” – Score: 5

“This is a hard class, but rewarding if you can find the patterns in history; take it if you know the teacher is good” – Score: 4

“This was one of the easiest AP classes. … STUDY ALL OF THE TIME PERIODS!!!!” – Score: 5

“Self studied bc we had no teacher until February! Very difficult but I pulled through with a three. Just take in as much info as possible and try to memorize important events much as possible.” – Score: 3

“The class is not that hard, but it is at times just dates and specifics memorization. But if you know the general time periods in which things occur you won’t be far behind” – Score: 4

“This is a hard course. I didn’t read the textbook and it came back to bite me in the ass whenever we had a test in class. … On top of that, expect it to tank your grade a bit if you aren’t 100% on top of things.” – Score: 4

Not a very difficult AP class, as long as you stay diligent on readings from your textbook. Our teacher gave us practice FRQs and multiple choice type questions every few weeks, which were great for helping us prepare for the format of the AP exam.” – Score: 4

“Boring class, medium hard tests, ridiculously difficult MC on the AP exam” – Score: 2

“Again, your class may require you to take detailed notes. I self studied it. Relatively easy.” – Score: 5

4.      Knowing the format of the AP US History exam is crucial

Understand how to interpret FRQ questions and whether they’re asking for CCOT, Causation, etc. I would spend roughly 2-3 hours a night with my notes.” – Score: 5

SAQ: usually there are big events and big concepts on one question, so kind of go over them and their cause – effects, cartoons and posters need some practice; FRQ: DBQ just needs practice, if you do them in school that’s good enough; LEQ think about overall flow chart esque stream of changes over a certain period in a certain theme. ap course outline helps.” – Score: 5

“Practice your free responses a lot. Know the rubrics for those inside and out. It’s a matter of memorization, and memorization of a lot depending on your teacher, so be ready to buckle down, get disciplined, and have a blast.” – Score: 5

“Do practice short answers/DBQs/LEQs, one of the practice questions I did was literally in the same style as one of the short answers. Overall, the class was super fun but a lot of hard work.” – Score: 5

“The essays are formulaic recall forms basically, if you follow their outline you’ll get close to max score no matter your writing skill.” – Score: 5

“Mastering the DBQ and memorization is what will get you the best scores” – Score: 4

“’Like the other history APs, success on the APUSH exam is 50% memorization and mastery of the content and 50% understanding the rubrics and scoring criteria.” – Score: 5

5.      Focusing on the overall concepts and big picture is important for success …

“Focus more on why an event happened and what other events it caused than specific details. They focus a lot on the big picture.” – Score: 5

“Study, pay attention to the course material, focus a lot on economic and social changes, less on the military periods. Try to enjoy yourself, and find interesting points in US history.” – Score: 5

Focus on the events and what causes them and the effects that came afterwards. Especially when it comes to the society, culture, economy, politics, and ideas of the US.” – Score: 3

“Take very very close note at continuities and changes in American history through all respects. Note how culture, politics, economics, and international reations continue or change and analyze what each necessary fact means to the greater whole of American history. Pay attention to the why and when factors when you discuss an event.” – Score: 4

“You should be learning the concepts all year and the big ideas (Manifest destiny, slavery use throughout the colonies are two big themes of APUSH). Don’t forget to study more recent US history either- that’s notorious for showing up on the test despite less class time to learn it.” – Score: 4

Memorize the general trends and events of each time period (and apply that knowledge to stuff you don’t know) and you are guaranteed a 4+” – Score: 5

Background knowledge of American history helps” – Score: 5

6.      … and there are lots of topics alumnae felt were important

“Study everything. On my AP exam they mentioned WW II exactly once and had 10 questions on early spanish and french settlers.” – Score: 5

“Make sure to not only study the general info and facts of the course, but to also understand how those events connect to each other (Bacon’s Rebellion led to the widespread implementation of slavery; discrimination against the Irish in the 1800s is similar to the nativism and increased racism in the 1920s; etc). Also, carefully read the MC and SAQ questions; a lot of the time, you will overthink them if you do not.” – Score: 4

“Study feminism, immigration, Civil Rights, Slavery, Progressivism, and American Independence in depth, you are guaranteed to have a FRQ and/or Short Answer on it.” – Score: 4

“Concentrate on general themes of each of the 9 eras, in terms of mainly political timelines. Don’t forget to focus in each era on how the U.S’s role in the world changed and how it’s economy transformed to suit the world market. Focus on era themes and connect specific ideas to certain people or groups.” – Score: 5

“If you don’t have much time, focus only on 1754-1787, 1820-1865, and 1914-present. The bulk of the content revolves around Revolutionary, Civil, and World Wars. There are some things in there about Jefferson and Adams and other more minor things, and smaller wars and Natives Americans and other shit but that’d take way too long. If you wanna quick pass, just study those 3 big time periods. Forget about 1350-1750.” – Score: 5

What does it take to succeed in the APUSH 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 US History? Course Outline & Requirements

According to College Board:

“In AP U.S. History, students investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes from approximately 1491 to the present. Students develop and use the same skills and methods employed by historians.”

There are no prerequisites for APUSH. Students are expected to read college-level textbooks.

You will develop skills in:

  • Identifying and explaining historical concepts, sources and situations
  • Comparing and explaining primary and secondary source evidence and arguments
  • Contextualizing and making connections between historical developments and processes
  • Constructing, corroborating and supporting evidence-based historical arguments
  • Using reasoning about comparison, causation, continuity and change

The exam consists of one 3 hour 15 minute exam, in three sections. Section 1 consists of 40% (55 minutes) of multiple-choice questions (MCQs); Section 2 is 20% (40 minutes) with 3 short answer questions; and Section 3 is 40% (1 hour 40 minutes) for 2 free-response questions (25% document-based and 15% long essay).

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

  • “The APUSH score distribution is psychometrically derived from large-scale campus research, which found that a significantly broader proportion of APUSH students now outperform their college peers in subsequent college history courses.”
  • “In many ways the findings on APUSH students’ strong success when placing ahead in college is unsurprising: tallying of instructional hours has found that APUSH students now typically spend many more hours in instruction on this material than those taking a college USH survey.”
  • “AP US History MC questions: such impressive scores here, the strongest I’ve seen in any subject this year so far, but esp on questions re: 1754-1800 (Unit 3), in which 39% of APUSH students answered every question right, & on questions on content from 1945 – present (Units 8-9).”
  • “The single lowest scoring component of this year’s APUSH exam (Set 1) was Short Answer #1 (origins of the 19th century women’s rights movement); avg score was 44%. SAQs that ask students to compare two different historians’ views are often the most challenging.”

How to (self) study for APUSH, 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. APUSH success often comes down to the study methods you pick – choose wisely!

Taking practice tests was very helpful (as it is in any ap course) because I could actually hone my skills for specific requirements on each free response type. Also, making flashcards for the things I wasn’t immediately familiar with in each period was very helpful, but time consuming … Looking through various forms of studying is the most important thing (ex. youtube videos, practice tests, flashcards, reading textbook, listening to textbook…)” – Score: 5

“- Take good notes that you can review later! – Practice mock exams from Collegeboard or other online places. – Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you don’t understand something. – Going along with the third point; DON’T CRAM LAST MINUTE! I know someone who did and it didn’t go well for them.” – Score: 5

“’Read and Reread the AMSCO. It has everything you need for the exam in it. Also, I made a giant table with each time period on one axis, and each theme on the other axis, and filled it in with evidence to use during the LEQ/DBQ, and that was really helpful.” – Score: 5

“Make sure to start studying 2 months before the exam, at least 1hr a day. Know the overall picture, but it is better to know the specific dates of most events in each period. Print out FRQs from past years’ tests and write DBQs and etc, around the month before, you should be practicing writing.” – Score: 5

“READ THE TEXTBOOK. Make sure you are taking notes and reviewing along the way as it is a nightmare to try to cram study. Be able to identify important people, places, and events for every decade.” – Score: 5

2. Doing well in APUSH requires dedicated study (all year)

Start practicing writing thesis statements and short answers VERY early on. Also, for the test, focusing on the DBQ and spending more time on that while only starting an introductory paragraph and counterargument for the LEQ can help you get a stronger score. The DBQ weighs more in score than the LEQ and often, it’s just a matter of cramming in as many documents as possible.” – Score: 5

“You should pay attention all year in class and do not study last minute for the exam.” – Score: 4

“Try to review first semester material during winter break. Also, a few days before the exam, maybe a week before max (so that you remember it all), watch all of Adam Norris’s playlists on the 9 periods. That legit is the reason I got a 5.” – Score: 5

“Make sure to keep up with reading your textbook. That allows you to be very engaged and take good notes during lectures. And learn how to write a dbq, it killed my chances of a 5.” – Score: 4

“Be sure to practice writing the responses well it’ll help, also don’t leave studying to the last minute you need to really go over all the information.” – Score: 4

Study a bit every week and don’t lose your notes. Practice writing essays if you can and know what each party stood for in each time period” – Score: 5

“My APUSH teacher basically had us doing notes on the weekend and exam prep (DBQ, Multiple Choice, LEQ, etc.) or discussion on the week’s notes (via Socratic Seminar) in class, with a lecture once in a while.” – Score: 5

3. There are some great test prep resources available

“Look for summaries of chapters from your text book. Use online text book resources. When reading summarize each text on a stickie note.” – Score: 4

“If you want to make sure you get a 5, read the textbook and take detailed notes on whatever lectures you may have. Jocz Productions and Adam Norris are amazing resources on YouTube.” – Score: 5

“I didn’t use AMSCO and REA until about a month before the exam. AMSCO was a bit too much for a short review, so I would recommend it for someone who is self-studying (it’s 700 pages). REA was a really helpful refresher, it’s quick and concise and covers all of the topics on the exam from what I know.” – Score: 4

“Personally, I found AMSCO and The American Pageant to be very dense, so I used the chapter summaries on APNotes.net to make timelines and define the significance of key terms and events. Before unit tests, I read the corresponding chapter of PR the week before, and I reread all of it the month before the AP exam. I also read the REA Crash Course book the night before and morning of.” – Score: 5

“With this course, it’s crucial to read your textbook. Don’t skim it, study it and understand the content. I also cannot recommend the YouTube channel Adam Norris enough as a supplement to your class.” – Score: 5

“I just watched and took notes on all the jocz chapter review videos, only read the princeton review once and mostly just used it for the practice exams, do A LOT A LOT OF DBQ/LEQ/SAQ practice” – Score: 5

Best books and test prep resources for AP US History

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

Or compare how APUSH compares to the other history courses with our deep-dives into AP World History and AP European History.

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!

Exam Study Expert founder William Wadsworth in a library. He is smiling.

Exam Study Expert founder William Wadsworth is a Cambridge University trained psychologist and data analyst. Since he first started crunching AP data in 2019, over half a million AP students have used his difficulty ratings analysis to choose their AP classes. William’s research on effective study strategies has been presented at top education conferences and reported in The Times, and he also hosts the top-rated Exam Study Expert podcast, with 1 million downloads to date.

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