Not all AP exams are created equal. Some courses have much lower pass rates and more demanding content. Here is how AP courses compare in difficulty.
How We Rank Difficulty
- Pass rate — Lower pass rates suggest harder exams
- 5 rate — What percentage of test-takers earn the top score
- Content volume — How much material you need to master
- Skill type — Writing-heavy vs. problem-solving vs. memorization
Commonly Cited Hardest AP Exams
- AP Physics 1 — consistently low pass rate
- AP US History — massive content volume plus 3 essay types
- AP Chemistry — challenging problem sets and lab concepts
- AP English Literature — subjective scoring on literary analysis
- AP European History — broad time span and complex causation chains
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