How To Study For The Ap Psychology Exam?

AP® Psychology Study Guide Step 3: Test Yourself! – As you’ve hopefully already learned through your AP® Psych course, the key to solidifying any behavior is practice and repetition. This isn’t just a fact you need to remember for the exam – it’s also something you can apply in your studying! The best way to prepare for the AP® Psychology exam is to test yourself using practice exams from previous years and review questions from other sources.

When you’re first starting out with your reviewing and studying, don’t worry too much about setting a time limit on your practice exams.
You may even find it helpful to have your notes or a review book right next to you so you can immediately look something up that you don’t remember.
This will help you out in the beginning stages of your study plan.

Eventually though, as you get closer to the exam date and in order to get the most out of these practice sessions, it’s important that you set it up just like you would if it were the real thing. Sit at a desk in a quiet room with no distractions. Yes, that means turn your phone off and put it aside as well.

Set an alarm to give yourself only the amount of time you would have for each section if it were the real thing: 70 minutes for the multiple choice and 50 minutes for the free response.
Take your practice tests seriously; they will show you what areas you need to work on the most in your study plan.
After you’ve completed your practice test, go over your answers carefully.

Don’t just count up your score and call it a day, because the real learning comes from going back and finding the correct answers to the questions you got wrong. Make sure that you understand why it is that the answer you chose was incorrect. Was your knowledge of the material lacking or did you fall into a trap set by confusing wording? Being able to recognize what kind of tricks previous exams have used will help you prepare for them in your own exam.

Contents

1 How long should I study for the AP Psychology exam?
- 1.1 Is it hard to self study AP Psychology?
2 Should I self study for AP Psychology?
3 Can I study AP Psychology in a week?
4 Is a 3 on AP Psychology exam good?
- 4.1 Is Barron’s or Princeton Review better for AP Psychology?

How long should I study for the AP Psychology exam?

#1: Plan Out Your Time – How much time do you have before the AP Psych exam? You’ll need to take this into account when formulating your study plan. Think about how much time you can afford to spend studying for AP Psychology while considering the amount of other schoolwork you have. For example, if you think you’ll have about 10 hours to study, your plan might look something like this:

Take and score a practice test (2.5 hours) Go over your mistakes (1 hour) Review weak content areas and update your test-taking strategies (2 hours) Take and score another practice test (2.5 hours) Final review (2 hours)

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If you have more time before the exam, you might be able to go more in depth with your mistakes on the second practice test and even take a third or fourth test. Overall, your time should be split relatively evenly between taking practice tests and reviewing the material.

Your plan could change depending on your initial scores and how much you’re looking to improve. I’d say that you don’t need to spend more than 20 hours in total studying for AP Psychology. The amount of material isn’t overwhelming, and it’s not an especially difficult test, so this should be plenty of time.

(I’ll get more specific on how to use practice tests effectively in the next section.)

Is it hard to self study AP Psychology?

How hard is it to self study AP psychology? It’s pretty easy. The majority of the test is just memorization, and there’s a ton of resources online. I strongly recommend Barron’s notecards to help with the FRQ questions.

Should I self study for AP Psychology?

Step 1: Decide If Self-Studying Is Something You Should Do – Before we get into how to self-study, make sure it’s the right approach for you. You might self-study for a variety of reasons: your schedule doesn’t allow you to take an AP course when it’s offered at your school, your school doesn’t offer an AP course in a subject you want to study, you have a pre-existing knowledge base in a subject (like a foreign language you speak at home), and so on.

Some students also self-study for an AP exam while they are taking the non-AP version of a course. For example, you might self-study for AP Biology while you are taking Honors Biology and just supplement what you learn in class with the extra material that’s covered on the AP exam. These are all valid reasons to self-study.

When you do decide whether or not to self-study, you’ll need to consider how self-motivated you are, how much time you actually have to do extra studying outside of class, and how difficult the exam you want to take is. In general, you’ll want to self-study for an AP exam that is limited in scope, not too conceptual (so no Calculus!), and that you are interested in.

Some popular self-study choices include AP Environmental Science, AP Human Geography, and AP Psychology. For further info on self-study, as well as a guide to deciding whether or not to self-study, you can see my introduction to AP self-study, To help you choose a self-study exam, you can also see my list of Best APs to Self-Study,

Looking for help studying for your AP exam? Our one-on-one online AP tutoring services can help you prepare for your AP exams. Get matched with a top tutor who got a high score on the exam you’re studying for!

Can I study AP Psychology in a week?

Yes, it’s possible. You won’t retain anything after the test, but once the exam is over, who cares? Having said that, there really is no reason to self study AP Psych, or any other subject, in a week unless your only goal is to get college credit. That’s what I used.

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Is a 3 on AP Psychology exam good?

What is a good AP® Psychology score? – The College Board designates scores of 3 and higher as passing scores. Qualitatively, scores of 3, 4, and 5 are described as “qualified”, “well qualified”, and “extremely well qualified” respectively. In addition to looking nice on applications, high AP® scores can earn you college credit.

How many people get a 5 on AP Psych?

See how all AP students performed on the most recent exams. The score distribution tables on this page show the percentages of 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s for each AP subject. Download a PDF version of the 2022 score distributions.

2022 Score Distributions: AP Capstone


Exam	5	4	3	2	1
AP Research	12.6%	25.8%	44.3%	13.3%	4.0%
AP Seminar	11.6%	19.2%	51.8%	11.8%	5.6%

table> 2022 Score Distributions: Arts

Exam 5 4 3 2 1 AP 2-D Art and Design 10.8% 35.5% 40.3% 12.8% 0.5% AP 3-D Art and Design 6.4% 28.6% 38.5% 23.8% 2.6% AP Art History 14.1% 21.0% 26.3% 26.9% 11.6% AP Drawing 14.6% 38.1% 35.6% 10.3% 1.4% AP Music Theory 18.7% 17.7% 25.5% 23.7% 14.4%

table> 2022 Score Distributions: English

Exam 5 4 3 2 1 AP English Language and Composition 10.4% 21.1% 24.2% 29.8% 14.5% AP English Literature and Composition 16.9% 27.3% 33.7% 14.1% 7.9%

table> 2022 Score Distributions: History & Social Science

Exam 5 4 3 2 1 AP Comparative Government and Politics 15.9% 24.3% 30.3% 16.7% 12.9% AP European History 13.5% 21.0% 24.4% 29.7% 11.4% AP Human Geography 14.9% 18.7% 19.6% 15.0% 31.8% AP Macroeconomics 16.4% 20.0% 15.4% 15.1% 33.1% AP Microeconomics 17.7% 22.5% 18.8% 16.9% 24.2% AP Psychology 17.0% 22.2% 19.1% 13.1% 28.5% AP United States Government and Politics 12.0% 10.9% 25.8% 25.7% 25.7% AP United States History 10.8% 15.6% 21.9% 23.0% 28.8% AP World History 13.2% 21.9% 27.0% 23.7% 14.3%

table> 2022 Score Distributions: Math & Computer Science

Exam 5 4 3 2 1 AP Calculus AB 20.4% 16.1% 19.1% 22.6% 21.7% AP Calculus BC 41.2% 15.6% 20.1% 16.4% 6.8% AP Computer Science A 27.3% 20.4% 19.9% 10.4% 22.1% AP Computer Science Principles 11.4% 21.0% 31.1% 19.9% 16.6% AP Statistics 14.8% 22.2% 23.4% 16.5% 23.1%

table> 2022 Score Distributions: Sciences

Exam 5 4 3 2 1 AP Biology 15.0% 23.1% 29.7% 21.6% 10.5% AP Chemistry 12.5% 17.0% 24.5% 23.6% 22.5% AP Environmental Science 8.9% 27.4% 17.5% 25.9% 20.3% AP Physics 1 7.9% 17.0% 18.3% 27.1% 29.6% AP Physics 2 16.3% 18.1% 35.3% 24.1% 6.3% AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism 31.5% 23.6% 14.3% 18.1% 12.5% AP Physics C: Mechanics 26.4% 25.7% 21.3% 15.6% 11.0%

table> 2022 Score Distributions: World Languages & Cultures

Exam 5 4 3 2 1 AP Chinese Language and Culture 49.3% 19.6% 18.0% 5.3% 7.8% AP French Language and Culture 13.1% 23.7% 34.8% 22.3% 6.0% AP German Language and Culture 20.0% 19.1% 26.5% 22.9% 11.6% AP Italian Language and Culture 22.6% 20.6% 27.3% 18.6% 10.8% AP Japanese Language and Culture 48.5% 9.8% 17.1% 7.5% 17.1% AP Latin 11.2% 16.1% 29.8% 24.8% 18.2% AP Spanish Language and Culture 23.6% 28.5% 29.7% 15.0% 3.3% AP Spanish Literature and Culture 8.1% 22.8% 33.4% 23.8% 11.9%

What is the pass rate for AP Psychology?

The Pass Rate – The pass rate offers valuable information on the difficulty of AP Psychology. So is AP Psychology hard? Over 70% of students who take this exam passed the test, and more than 1 in 5 test-takers earned a perfect score. As the following data shows, the AP Psychology exam reports a nearly identical pass rate to other AP classes.

AP Psychology Exam Pass Rates


AP Class/Exam	Pass Rate (3 or Higher)	Perfect Score (5)
AP Psychology	71.3%	22.4%
All AP Classes	71.13%	19.57%

Source: College Board Prospective students can look at the pass rate and the number of perfect scores to determine whether AP Psychology is hard. All AP classes challenge students, but exam data shows that the AP Psychology test ranks similarly to other AP classes in terms of difficulty.

What AP exam has the lowest pass rate?

1. AP Physics 1 – Despite a reputation as one of the most difficult AP classes, Physics 1 is also one of the most popular—144,526 students took it in 2022. Physics 1 has the lowest pass rate of any AP exam (43.3%) along with one of the lowest percentages of students scoring a 5 (just 7.9%).

Is there an essay on the AP Psychology exam?

How many questions are on the AP Psychology exam? – There are 100 multiple choice questions and 2 essay questions on the AP Psychology Exam.

Is there a break in AP Psychology?

Collect a Section I booklet from each student. Check that each student has signed the front cover and sealed the booklet. Confirm that the number of answer sheets you collected matches the number of exam takers. There is a 10-minute break between Sections I and II.

What to do after the AP Psych exam?

Read or research and learn something beyond what you already know. You may alternatively choose to create an AP Psychology review game of your own design from one unit or multiple units.D. Type a one-page summary or script (double-spaced) and a Works Consulted (informal bibliography, so I can follow up).

Is a 3 on AP Psychology exam good?

Is Barron’s or Princeton Review better for AP Psychology?

Barron’s AP Psychology – Barron’s AP Psychology 10th Edition by Weseley & McEntarffer Pros: Tons of full length practice tests in multiple formats. Cons: Some readers find the content too densely packed. Best For: Supplemental study aid for the duration of the course and leading up to the exam.

Our Rating: 5 / 5 Our top pick for best AP Psychology review book is Barron’s AP Psychology. It contains a wealth of information covering all of the concepts and themes covered in the AP Psychology course and test. It also comes bundled with a number of full length practice tests, both in print and online.

The full list of features include:

Diagnostic test, 3 full length practice exams, and 3 bonus online tests.Abnormal psychology chapter updated with latest information from the DSM-5.15 multiple choice questions at the end of each chapter.Analysis of the free response section of the exam with a sample essay.

You can’t go wrong supplementing your assigned class book with this guide. It has a comprehensive review of material, and great practice questions that really comes in handy leading up to the test. If you only pick up one book from this list, we think you’ll be best off with this one!

Sabrina Sarro