Whether you are planning to take the AP Microeconomics or AP Macroeconomics Exam, your exam will include 60 multiple-choice questions and 3 free-response questions.
Let’s break that down in handy chart format:
Each AP exam receives a numerical score of 1 to 5 with each score meaning the following:
5 = Extremely Well Qualified
4 = Well Qualified
3 = Qualified
2 = Possibly Qualified
1 = No Recommendation
Colleges decide for themselves the minimum score they will accept for college credit and/or advanced placement. The American Council on Education recommends the acceptance of grades of 3 or above, and many colleges adhere to these standards. About 60 percent of students who take the microeconomics or macroeconomics AP exam receive a score of 3 or higher. Check the website of the college(s) of your choice to learn the school’s policy on granting credit or advanced placement.
Each year, the AP Test Development Committee works with experts at ETS (Educational Testing Service) and the College Board to create a formula that converts the raw score on an exam into a composite score, which is then used to determine what grade (from 1 to 5) each test taker receives. As such, we can’t tell you how many questions you need to get right in order to get a 5.
What we can tell you is that the 60 multiple-choice questions are worth 66 percent of that raw score, and that the first of the free-response questions is worth twice as much as each of the other two. If you’re trying to determine which test (Microeconomics or Macroeconomics) to take, give yourself 1.1 points for each correct multiple-choice question, 18 points for the first free-response question, and 8 points for each of the following two free-response questions.
If you want to get a sense of how frequently each grade is assigned for both the Microeconomics and Macroeconomics Exam, check out the data below. That and your raw score should give you a rough idea of how your score may be converted.
|
AP Microeconomics – 2018 Score Distributions |
||
|
Score |
Number of Test Takers |
Percentage |
|
5 |
18,827 |
21% |
|
4 |
25,070 |
27.8% |
|
3 |
17,238 |
19.1% |
|
2 |
13,823 |
15.4% |
|
1 |
15,074 |
16.7% |
|
Total |
90,032 |
100%* |
|
AP Macroeconomics – 2018 Score Distributions |
||
|
Score |
Number of Test Takers |
Percentage |
|
5 |
28,910 |
19.7% |
|
4 |
33,109 |
22.6% |
|
3 |
23,790 |
16.2% |
|
2 |
24,640 |
16.8% |
|
1 |
36,224 |
24.7% |
|
Total |
146,673 |
100%* |
*Data from The College Board, May 2018 AP Exam administrations
We’ll go into in-depth analysis of AP Economics content in Part IV, but here’s a broad overview determined by the College Board of the content topics that you’ll need to know for your AP Exam. NOTE: The College Board will be modifying the outlines below in a new Course and Exams Description for the 2019-2020 course year. This book will still cover all the material for the exam, but in a potentially different order than your AP Course, one that’s designed to help maximize your test-prep.
|
AP Microeconomics |
|
|
Content Areas |
Anticipated percentage of questions within multiple-choice section |
|
Basic Economic Concepts |
8–14% |
|
The Nature and Function of Product Markets: Supply and Demand Theory of Consumer Choice Production and Costs Firm Behavior and Market Structure |
55–70% (entire section – subsections below) 15–20% 5–10% 10–15% 25–35% |
|
Factor Markets |
10–18% |
|
Market Failure and the Role of Government |
12–18% |
|
AP Macroeconomics |
|
|
Content Areas |
Anticipated percentage of questions within multiple-choice section |
|
Basic Economic Concepts |
8–12% |
|
Measurement of Economic Performance |
12–16% |
|
National Income and Price Determination |
10–15% |
|
Financial Sector |
15–20% |
|
Stabilization Policies |
20–30% |
|
Economic Growth |
5–10% |
|
Open Economy: International Trade and Finance |
10–15% |
Different colleges use AP Exam scores in different ways, so it is important that you go to a particular college’s website to determine how it uses AP Exam scores. The three items below represent the main ways in which AP Exam scores can be used.
College Credit. Some colleges will give you college credit if you score well on an AP Exam. These credits count toward your graduation requirements, meaning that you can take fewer courses while in college. Given the cost of college, this could be quite a benefit indeed.
Satisfy Requirements. Some colleges will allow you to “place out” of certain requirements if you do well on an AP Exam, even if they do not give you actual college credits. For example, you might not need to take an introductory-level course, or perhaps you might not need to take a class in a certain discipline at all.
Admissions Plus. Even if your AP Exam will not result in college credit or allow you to place out of certain courses, most colleges will respect your decision to push yourself by taking an AP Course or even an AP Exam outside of a course. A high score on an AP Exam shows mastery of content that is more difficult than what is taught in many high school courses, and colleges may take that into account during the admissions process.
There are many resources available to help you improve your score on the AP Economics Exams, not the least of which are your teachers. If you are taking an AP class, you may be able to get extra attention from your teacher, such as obtaining feedback on your free-response answers. If you are not in an AP course, reach out to a teacher who teaches Economics, and ask if the teacher will review your writing or otherwise help you with content.
Another wonderful resource is AP Students, the official site of the AP Exams. The most recent updates of the following items can be found at AP Students:
course description, which includes detailed information about what content is covered
sample multiple-choice questions for both AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics
sample free-response questions for both AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics
exam practice tips
information about exam fees and reductions
The AP Students home page address is http://apstudent.collegeboard.org.
The AP Microeconomics Course home page address is https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-microeconomics.
The AP Macroeconomics Course home page is https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-macroeconomics.
Finally, The Princeton Review offers tutoring for the AP Economics Exams. Our expert instructors can help you refine your strategic approach and add to your content knowledge. For more information, call 1-800-2REVIEW.
Review your diagnostic reflection from this page and the Overview of Content Topics on this page and, next to each one, indicate your rank of the topic as follows: “1” means “I need a lot of work on this,” “2” means “I need to beef up my knowledge,” and “3” means “I know this topic well.” Then answer the following questions.
How many days/weeks/months away is your AP Economics Exam?
What time of day is your best, most focused study time?
How much time per day/week/month will you devote to preparing for your AP Economics Exam?
When will you do this preparation? (Be as specific as possible: Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00 to 4:00 P.M., for example)
Based on the answers above, will you focus on strategy (Part III) or content (Part IV) or both?
What are your overall goals in using this book?
Based on your answers to these questions, you should now have a better understanding of how to study for the exam. Use your answers to customize a study plan that meets your specific needs based on the amount of time you have until test day. It is important to tailor your study plan to your schedule and topics you need to further review.