AP Psychology Score Calculator
Just put an approximation of what you think you’ll get on each section into the AP score calculator above (aka, how many questions you expect to get right for the MCQ and FRQ). Once you press the button, the AP Psych Score Calculator will calculate & then show you your projected score based on what you entered. This can help you plan out the approximate number of minimum/max amount of questions you can miss to get still the 5 that you want!
Pretty accurate! This AP Calculator is based on the CED & previous years’ point breakdowns released by the College Board.
So, the weights of each question and the composite raw score are very accurate. Your final score, between 1-5, is calculated based on previous years’ exam curves. Remember, NO AP psych calculator can predict your exact score because the College Board does not release official cut points, but our AP Psychology Score calculator can give you a pretty good idea of what the benchmarks are for your AP Psychology score approximately.
The AP Psychology exam consists of two parts: a multiple-choice section and a free response section.
The multiple choice section (section i) has 75 questions, worth 66.7% of your final score, and will take you 90 minutes to complete. They will ask you to apply concepts from all units of AP Psychology, so make sure you are prepared by using AP Psychology notes made by AP Psych students!
The free-response section (section ii) has just two questions, worth 33.3% of your final score, and will take you 70 minutes to complete.
The first question is an article analysis question (AAQ), where you will be given 1 summarized peer-reviewed article and in order to earn the 7 points, you will need to address 6 parts:
Research method
Research variable
Statistic interpretation
Ethical guideline
Generalizability of the study
Argumentation and application
If you provide these components in your answer, you should be set to earn full credit on question 1!
The second question is a bit different. Here, you will be given 3 summarized peer-reviewed articles on a common topic. Like question 1, you can earn up to 7 points, but for only three question parts:
Provide a claim
Provide 3 pieces of evidence from the sources to support the claim
Provide reasoning to justify why your provided evidence supports the claim and apply related content from the course
Do all that, and you’re set to earn a 5 on the AP Psychology exam!
Earning a score of 4 or 5 on the AP Psychology exam demonstrates to colleges that you have a great understanding of the material and typically makes you eligible to skip college-level courses.
If you got a score of a 4 or 5, great work!
The AP Psychology pass rate, like for all exams, is a score of 3. It is the mid-range of scores, showing that you have a moderate understanding of the course, and can be worth college credit, depending on your college. To see if your college will accept your score, check the AP Credit Policy.
The AP Psychology grading scale, like all AP exams, is scored on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1s and 2s not earning college credit, 3s possibly getting credit, and 4s and 5s earning college credit.
These scores vary year from year, so make sure to look at the AP Score Distributions for the most up-to-date information. Collegeboard does not publish the official cutoffs, so your best bet is to do as many AP practice exams as possible & make sure to focus extra on the most highly weighted questions.
Here is the 2024 AP Psychology Score distribution:
18% of students got a 5, 23% got a 4, 20% got a 3, 12% got a 2, and 27% got a 1.
While these AP Psychology scores are not too different from last year, they still vary due to the difference in exam difficulty and student preparation. The same will be true for next year!
Yes, like all AP exams, the AP Psychology exam is curved each year to ensure fairness between the administration of exams and difficulty.
This curve varies from year to year, depending on student performance and exam difficulty. For this AP Psychology score calculator, we take the previous curves into account to approximate your final score as accurately as possible.
AP Psychology is often rated as easy to medium difficulty by students who have taken it.
The difficulty of the AP Psychology exam, like many AP courses, depends on various factors such as your familiarity with psychological concepts and your ability to handle rigorous, college-level coursework. Generally, AP Psychology is perceived as a pretty easy class, one that freshman and sophomores should be able to manage.
The AP Psychology exam requires students to understand and apply a wide range of psychological concepts, theories, and research methods. The exam tests your knowledge across major topics such as the biological bases of behavior, sensation and perception, learning, cognition, and psychological disorders. You'll need to be able to explain how psychological principles are applied in various contexts and analyze case studies or scenarios using appropriate terminology.
The hardest part of the exam is how much you need to remember across these units, as well as the ability to connect them to real-world examples. In 2024, 61% of students earned a passing score (a score of 3 or higher) on the AP Psychology exam, which is not bad compared to some of the other AP exams, like AP Human Geo with a pass rate of 56%.
You definitely need to know how to apply and connect psychological concepts to different scenarios; that will be a huge help. You also need to be prepared to do a lot of critical thinking, as a significant portion of the exam requires you to analyze and synthesize information.
You will also need to be familiar with the format of the multiple-choice questions and understand the nuances they contain. Take numerous AP Psychology practice tests; you need all the preparation you can get.
When you're studying, remember that practicing and reviewing must go hand in hand to get you that 5. Study each psychological topic and spend at least a week reviewing all the major theories, studies, and key terms the AP Psych exam will cover. You need to become a master at these concepts; start with the basics and build your way up.
Make sure you understand the following psychological concepts and the components within them:
Biological Bases of Behavior: including the structure and function of the brain, neurotransmitters, and the nervous system.
Cognition: including memory, problem-solving, language development, and intelligence theories.
Developmental Psychology: including stages of development, major theorists like Piaget and Erikson, and attachment theories.
Social Psychology: including group behavior, social influence, and key experiments like those by Milgram and Zimbardo.
Abnormal Psychology: including psychological disorders, diagnostic criteria, and treatment methods.
By thoroughly understanding these psychological concepts and taking a ton of AP psych practice tests as well as applying them in different contexts, you can be well-prepared for the AP Psych exam. With consistent study habits and a solid grasp of psychological principles, achieving a 5 on this exam is definitely within reach.
The right resources also matter when it comes to studying. Here are some free resources that have been recommended by AP Psychology teachers and students:
Ultimate AP Psychology Study Guide (broken down by unit)
The exact date for the release of your AP Psychology scores varies from year to year, but it is typically early to mid-July after your AP Psych exam.
In 2024, it fell on July 8th, a Monday, so it is likely that next year it will also be released on a Monday, which will fall on July 7th. But for the most up to date information, make sure to check the College Board for official updates.
Just put an approximation of what you think you’ll get on each section into the AP score calculator above (aka, how many questions you expect to get right for the MCQ and FRQ). Once you press the button, the AP Psych Score Calculator will calculate & then show you your projected score based on what you entered. This can help you plan out the approximate number of minimum/max amount of questions you can miss to get still the 5 that you want!
Pretty accurate! This AP Calculator is based on the CED & previous years’ point breakdowns released by the College Board.
So, the weights of each question and the composite raw score are very accurate. Your final score, between 1-5, is calculated based on previous years’ exam curves. Remember, NO AP psych calculator can predict your exact score because the College Board does not release official cut points, but our AP Psychology Score calculator can give you a pretty good idea of what the benchmarks are for your AP Psychology score approximately.
The AP Psychology exam consists of two parts: a multiple-choice section and a free response section.
The multiple choice section (section i) has 75 questions, worth 66.7% of your final score, and will take you 90 minutes to complete. They will ask you to apply concepts from all units of AP Psychology, so make sure you are prepared by using AP Psychology notes made by AP Psych students!
The free-response section (section ii) has just two questions, worth 33.3% of your final score, and will take you 70 minutes to complete.
The first question is an article analysis question (AAQ), where you will be given 1 summarized peer-reviewed article and in order to earn the 7 points, you will need to address 6 parts:
Research method
Research variable
Statistic interpretation
Ethical guideline
Generalizability of the study
Argumentation and application
If you provide these components in your answer, you should be set to earn full credit on question 1!
The second question is a bit different. Here, you will be given 3 summarized peer-reviewed articles on a common topic. Like question 1, you can earn up to 7 points, but for only three question parts:
Provide a claim
Provide 3 pieces of evidence from the sources to support the claim
Provide reasoning to justify why your provided evidence supports the claim and apply related content from the course
Do all that, and you’re set to earn a 5 on the AP Psychology exam!
Earning a score of 4 or 5 on the AP Psychology exam demonstrates to colleges that you have a great understanding of the material and typically makes you eligible to skip college-level courses.
If you got a score of a 4 or 5, great work!
The AP Psychology pass rate, like for all exams, is a score of 3. It is the mid-range of scores, showing that you have a moderate understanding of the course, and can be worth college credit, depending on your college. To see if your college will accept your score, check the AP Credit Policy.
The AP Psychology grading scale, like all AP exams, is scored on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1s and 2s not earning college credit, 3s possibly getting credit, and 4s and 5s earning college credit.
These scores vary year from year, so make sure to look at the AP Score Distributions for the most up-to-date information. Collegeboard does not publish the official cutoffs, so your best bet is to do as many AP practice exams as possible & make sure to focus extra on the most highly weighted questions.
Here is the 2024 AP Psychology Score distribution:
18% of students got a 5, 23% got a 4, 20% got a 3, 12% got a 2, and 27% got a 1.
While these AP Psychology scores are not too different from last year, they still vary due to the difference in exam difficulty and student preparation. The same will be true for next year!
Yes, like all AP exams, the AP Psychology exam is curved each year to ensure fairness between the administration of exams and difficulty.
This curve varies from year to year, depending on student performance and exam difficulty. For this AP Psychology score calculator, we take the previous curves into account to approximate your final score as accurately as possible.
AP Psychology is often rated as easy to medium difficulty by students who have taken it.
The difficulty of the AP Psychology exam, like many AP courses, depends on various factors such as your familiarity with psychological concepts and your ability to handle rigorous, college-level coursework. Generally, AP Psychology is perceived as a pretty easy class, one that freshman and sophomores should be able to manage.
The AP Psychology exam requires students to understand and apply a wide range of psychological concepts, theories, and research methods. The exam tests your knowledge across major topics such as the biological bases of behavior, sensation and perception, learning, cognition, and psychological disorders. You'll need to be able to explain how psychological principles are applied in various contexts and analyze case studies or scenarios using appropriate terminology.
The hardest part of the exam is how much you need to remember across these units, as well as the ability to connect them to real-world examples. In 2024, 61% of students earned a passing score (a score of 3 or higher) on the AP Psychology exam, which is not bad compared to some of the other AP exams, like AP Human Geo with a pass rate of 56%.
You definitely need to know how to apply and connect psychological concepts to different scenarios; that will be a huge help. You also need to be prepared to do a lot of critical thinking, as a significant portion of the exam requires you to analyze and synthesize information.
You will also need to be familiar with the format of the multiple-choice questions and understand the nuances they contain. Take numerous AP Psychology practice tests; you need all the preparation you can get.
When you're studying, remember that practicing and reviewing must go hand in hand to get you that 5. Study each psychological topic and spend at least a week reviewing all the major theories, studies, and key terms the AP Psych exam will cover. You need to become a master at these concepts; start with the basics and build your way up.
Make sure you understand the following psychological concepts and the components within them:
Biological Bases of Behavior: including the structure and function of the brain, neurotransmitters, and the nervous system.
Cognition: including memory, problem-solving, language development, and intelligence theories.
Developmental Psychology: including stages of development, major theorists like Piaget and Erikson, and attachment theories.
Social Psychology: including group behavior, social influence, and key experiments like those by Milgram and Zimbardo.
Abnormal Psychology: including psychological disorders, diagnostic criteria, and treatment methods.
By thoroughly understanding these psychological concepts and taking a ton of AP psych practice tests as well as applying them in different contexts, you can be well-prepared for the AP Psych exam. With consistent study habits and a solid grasp of psychological principles, achieving a 5 on this exam is definitely within reach.
The right resources also matter when it comes to studying. Here are some free resources that have been recommended by AP Psychology teachers and students:
Ultimate AP Psychology Study Guide (broken down by unit)
The exact date for the release of your AP Psychology scores varies from year to year, but it is typically early to mid-July after your AP Psych exam.
In 2024, it fell on July 8th, a Monday, so it is likely that next year it will also be released on a Monday, which will fall on July 7th. But for the most up to date information, make sure to check the College Board for official updates.
