AP Difficulty

I saw a video on youtube where this guy ranked all the AP classes he took in high school from easiest to hardest, which I found quite interesting considering classes with exams that have more generous curves and 5’s percentages to be near the top (although I know the characteristics of the population taking the class is a big factor too). So I thought it would be fun to ask the CC community to do the same to get a good idea of which AP classes are genuinely easy/hard and which are not.

Of course it varies from school to school, but try to rank solely based on conceptual difficulty.

My ranking (hardest at the top):

AP Physics C: E&M
AP Physics 2
AP English Lit
AP Physics C: Mechanics
AP Calc BC
AP Chemistry
AP Physics 1
AP US History
AP English Lang
AP Comp Sci A
AP Statistics
AP Comp Sci Principles

according to my kid, 3 tiers:
Just plain hard and time-consuming:
AP Physics C E&M
AP Physics C Mechanics
AP Literature
AP Chemistry

Time consuming but not that hard:
AP Calc BC
AP Biology
AP US History
AP English Lang
AP Comp Sci A
AP Macro/Micro (had Honors 1 semester combo class but took both AP tests)

Easy-peasy:
AP Psychology
AP Statistics
AP US Government

The self-selection of those who take each particular AP test is probably the dominant factor in the score distributions. For example, calculus AB is a subset of calculus BC, but calculus BC has a higher score distribution because it attracts stronger-in-math students.

This has been asked many times in the past. Here is my ranking:

The hardest and/or most-time consuming (which depends, in part, on the school/teacher/student) are: Calc BC (if taught as a one-year course after pre-calc), Physics C (if taught as a one-year course with mechanics and E&M)

A small step down to the next level: Physics C: E&M (if taught separately from Physics C: Mech), Bio, Chem

A small step down to the next level: Eng Lit, Eng Lang, USH, Spanish Lit

A small step down to the next level: World Hist, Euro Hist, Art Hist, Calc AB, Calc BC (if taught as a one-year class after Calc AB), Physics C: Mech (if taught separately from Physics C: E&M)

A small step down to the next level: Physics 1, Physics 2

A HUGE leap down to the next level: everything else

@skieurope You really think Physics 1 and 2 (2 especially) are both huge leaps down down from the history APs and Calc AB? I found that some of the stuff in those classes could be just as hard as Physics C (though most of it is lower in difficulty).

^^

My friend: CSP is as hard as CSA, Human Geo is harder than Calc BC.

??

@squ1rrel I had a hard time ranking CSP because I had taken it after CSA and already knew the programming portion thoroughly, but because that programming stuff is watered down and the rest of the concepts are fairly straightforward/memory-based in a way that most people would compare to AP Psych, I would put it as the easiest

I’m not sure about Human Geo though, but for a math person it could definitely be harder than Calc BC.

But hilariously, he won the 2018 Geography Bee nationals lmao.

My middle kid found Physics 1 to be the hardest course so far… not so much maybe that the material was that difficult/ inaccessible, but the teacher was very demanding. Kid scored a 5 and that’s one test where the percentage of 5’s is very low so maybe the teacher knows what he’s doing with being demanding. On top of the actual AP material there were also additional engineering projects each semester (building a catapult and a cardboard boat). Other AP classes so far have included APUSH, Calc AB, Comp Sci A, and AP Euro. I think Comp Sci was the easiest, or maybe Calc AB, although my kid is naturally better at STEM stuff than humanities.
My oldest thought AP Bio was the hardest and AP Psychology was the easiest, others she took were English Lit and Lang, Calc AB, Stats, Euro, and APUSH,.

Remember that some AP courses take a year in high school to cover what a one semester course (3-4 credits) in college would cover (or sometimes less than what a one semester course in college would cover). For example:

calculus AB
calculus BC (if starting after calculus AB)
computer science A
computer science principles
environmental science
physics 1, 2, C-M, C-E&M (if full year courses each)
psychology
statistics

On the other hand, some try to emulate what two semesters of college courses (6-8 credits) would cover:

biology
chemistry
calculus BC (if starting after precalculus)
physics 1 and 2 (if both are covered in one year)
physics C-M and C-E&M (if both are covered in one year)
US history

Of course, not all colleges will grant a semester or year of subject credit and advanced placement, if their own courses differ significantly (in either range of topics covered or depth of coverage or both) from what AP courses cover.

As I said, a lot is dependent on the student, the teacher, and the school. I’d say it’s definitely easier than physics C mech

My D’s list from hardest to easiest:

AP Physics E&M (she took both mechanics and E&M senior year so one semester each). Definitely the hardest.

Step down:
AP Chem
AP Physics Mechanics

Another step down:
AP Euro (first AP class as a sophomore so she felt it was difficult)
APUSH
AP Lang & Comp
AP Calc AB

Easiest:
AP Stats

My d16 took lots of APs; she said one of her hardest was AP Music theory; and it has one of the lowest pass rates.

I don’t think there’s any way to objectively evaluate how “hard” an AP exam is - completely dependent on the student’s aptitude and learning/preparation. I’m sure my D would find AP Chinese Culture to be much, much, much harder than she found Calc BC or Physics C.