The AP Microeconomics exam will take place on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at 8:00am local time.
| Section I: MCQ | Section II: FRQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Exam Weighting | 66.66% | 33.33% |
| Number of Questions | 60 | 3 |
| Allotted Time | 70m | 60m |
Starting with the 2023 exam, a four-function calculator is permitted for use on both sections of the exam. This four-function calculator is presumably for students who have trouble with basic math; the AP Micro exam doesn’t have computationally or mathematically intense problems.
| 1-2 Weeks Before the Exam | Review the units that you’ve historically done the worst on. Make sure you understand the underlying concepts. And if you have any friends taking AP Micro, study with them! Studying with your friends is typically easier (and more encouraging) than studying on your own. |
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| The Night Before the Exam | Make sure you get enough sleep. Getting enough sleep is infinitely more important than studying for an extra 2-3 hours. Also, pack your bag for the morning with pencils, pens, and any snacks so you aren’t stressed trying to find your stuff in the morning. |
| During the Exam | Take deep breaths and stay calm. Even if you do poorly on a section or feel demotivated, do not give up. You should give it your absolute all during the exam. After you’re done with the exam, take it easy. I recommend eating ice cream and watching your favorite show on Netflix. |
| Tip #1 | You have 70 minutes for 60 Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs). Therefore, I advise that you spend 1 minute / MCQ – to leave a buffer of 10 minutes (for checking your answers). |
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| Tip #2 | If you stare at an MCQ for longer than 20 seconds and don’t immediately know how to solve it, skip it. I like to write ‘sk’ next to the MCQ. |
| Tip #3 | Once you’ve gone through all 60 MCQs (and either completed them or skipped them), use your remaining time to revisit the questions you’ve skipped. |
| Tip #4 | Draw graphs whenever possible. Drawing graphs on the page is much better than trying to envision them in your head. And your graphs don’t have to be pretty or labeled – they just have to make sense to you. |
| Tip #5 | 1-2 minutes before the MCQ section ends, you should scan your bubble sheet to ensure you’ve bubbled an answer for all 60 MCQs. If you find you’re missing an answer, bubble in at least a guess – since there is no penalty for guessing. |
| Tip #6 | Make sure to underline what the problem is asking for. The people who create the exam questions can try to trick you, so it's important to make sure you're giving the answer that matches what the question is actually asking. |
| Tip #1 | Start with the easiest Free Response Question (FRQ) and save the hardest one for last. This way, you'll build confidence and momentum as you tackle the FRQ section. It also increases your chances of earning more points because you'll be able to answer the easier FRQs first. |
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| Tip #2 | If a part of an FRQ only asks you to identify something (so without saying "Explain") you only need to write the answer. The AP exam graders will give you full points for that part if you provide the right answer, and you don't have to explain it. |
| Tip #3 | Make your FRQ graphs big and neat, and always label your graphs. You don’t want to lose points for missing simple labels, and once you draw a super small graph, it’s really annoying to adjust / make annotations on. |
| Tip #4 | You should aim to spend 30 minutes on FRQ #1 and 15 minutes each for FRQ #2 and FRQ #3. If you spend more than 35 minutes on FRQ #1 or more than 20 minutes on FRQ #2 or FRQ #3, move on. Don’t spend too much time on one FRQ. |
| Tip #5 | If you think your answer(s) or explanation(s) are incorrect, just cross them out with an X. Don’t waste time erasing your incorrect answers; AP exam graders ignore crossed-out information. |
| Tip #6 | Write the question part next to your answer for that question part. For example, if you’re answering part (b)(ii), write “(b)(ii)” next to your work. |
CollegeBoard has released a bunch of Free Response Questions (FRQs) from previous exams. These 18 FRQs are the best way to prepare! They cover about 95% of the FRQs that might show up on the actual exam. If you want to find them, just search the names of the FRQs on Google – and you should find them pretty easily. When you're practicing, spend 30 minutes on the FRQs labeled #1, and 15 minutes on the FRQs labeled #2 and #3. Once you finish an FRQ, you can check it off in the ‘Done?’ column.
| Done? | FRQ Name | Unit # | Key Topics Covered | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB 2016 Micro FRQ #2 | Unit 1 | Utility Maximization, Marginal Analysis | 15m | |
| CB 2018 Micro FRQ #3 | Unit 1 | Utility Maximization, Marginal Analysis, Opportunity Cost | 15m | |
| CB 2014 Micro FRQ #3 | Unit 2 | Supply & Demand, Market Equilibrium, Tax Revenue | 15m | |
| CB 2016 Micro FRQ #1 | Unit 2 | Shifts in Supply & Demand, Price Floors and Ceilings, Elasticity | 30m | |
| CB 2015 Micro FRQ #1 | Unit 3 | Perfect Competition, Cost Curves, Short Run vs. Long Run | 30m | |
| CB 2017 Micro FRQ #1 | Unit 3 | Perfect Competition, Cost Curves, Cost Curve Shifts | 30m | |
| CB 2017 Micro FRQ #2 | Unit 3 | Cost Curves & Calculations, Labor and Capital Inputs | 15m | |
| CB 2016 Micro FRQ #3 | Unit 4 | Monopolistic Competition, Profit Maximization | 15m | |
| CB 2019 Micro FRQ #1 (Set 1) | Unit 4 | Monopoly, Profit Maximization, Fixed Costs | 30m | |
| CB 2019 Micro FRQ #1 (Set 2) | Unit 4 | Monopoly, Labor Market, Entry and Exit | 30m | |
| CB 2019 Micro FRQ #3 (Set 2) | Unit 4 | Game Theory, Dominant Strategies, Nash Equilibrium | 15m | |
| CB 2022 Micro FRQ #1 (Set 1) | Unit 4 | Monopoly, Regulation, Total Revenue | 30m | |
| CB 2022 Micro FRQ #3 (Set 2) | Unit 4 | Monopoly, Returns to Scale, Taxes and Subsidies | 15m | |
| CB 2014 Micro FRQ #2 | Unit 5 | Labor Market, Equilibrium Wage & Quantity, Minimum Wage | 15m | |
| CB 2018 Micro FRQ #1 | Unit 5 | Labor Market, Monopoly, Marginal Revenue Product | 30m | |
| CB 2013 Micro FRQ #3 | Unit 6 | Externalities, Government Intervention, Deadweight Loss | 15m | |
| CB 2022 Micro FRQ #2 (Set 1) | Unit 6 | Market Failure, Wage & Profit Calculations, Labor Market | 15m | |
| CB 2022 Micro FRQ #1 (Set 2) | Unit 6 | Externalities, Labor Market, Government Intervention | 30m |
| Unit Name | Basic Economic Concepts |
|---|---|
| MCQ Exam Weighting | 12-15% |
| Key Concepts | Scarcity & Choice, Opportunity Cost, Production Possibilities Curve (PPC), Comparative and Absolute Advantage, Marginal Analysis, Utility Maximization |
| Key Resources | Jacob Clifford, Khan Academy, Fiveable |
Unit 1 is aptly called ‘Basic Economic Concepts’ – probably because this unit is really, really easy. This unit takes you through fundamental economic questions like “What is scarcity?” and “Why do countries trade?”
The most important part of this unit is understanding the connection between opportunity cost and the production possibilities curve. You should also fully understand that countries will trade goods based on their comparative advantages, not on their absolute advantages.
Additionally, an utility maximization FRQ will show up on the AP exam from time to time, so be sure that you understand the equation MUa / Pa = MUb / Pb and its relation to consumer utility maximization.
| Unit Name | Supply and Demand |
|---|---|
| MCQ Exam Weighting | 20-25% |
| Key Concepts | Supply, Demand, Shifts in Supply and Demand, Elasticity, Market Equilibrium and Market Disequilibrium, Consumer and Producer Surplus, Price Floors and Price Ceilings |
| Key Resources | Jacob Clifford, Khan Academy, Fiveable |
Unit 2 forms the foundation of AP Micro by introducing the concepts of supply and demand. This unit has the second-highest weighting for the MCQ section, so it’s important that you understand supply and demand, equilibrium, disequilibrium, and elasticity.
There are several different shifters of supply and demand – but it’s important to remember that a change in price does not shift a supply or demand curve: a change in price causes a movement along the supply or demand curve. And the intersection of the supply and demand curve determines the equilibrium price and quantity.
The key tactic you have at your disposal (for supply and demand) is drawing the graph and the supply and/or demand shifts. This will help you determine what happens to the equilibrium price and quantity.
Unit 2 also introduces the concept of elasticity – and there are a few equations to describe different types of elasticity, but you should know that the ‘% change in quantity demanded’ almost always goes in the numerator of the fraction.
The exam FRQs will sometimes include concepts from Unit 2 – most typically concerning elasticity or price floors and ceilings. Make sure you can determine whether a price floor or ceiling is binding or nonbinding.
| Unit Name | Production, Cost, and the Perfect Competition Model |
|---|---|
| MCQ Exam Weighting | 22-25% |
| Key Concepts | Production, Cost Curves, Accounting vs. Economic Profit, Explicit vs. Implicit Costs, Short Run vs. Long Run, Perfect Competition, Entry and Exit Decisions, Production Functions, Allocative & Productive Efficiency |
| Key Resources | Jacob Clifford, Khan Academy, Fiveable |
This is perhaps the most important unit in AP Micro – partly because it’s the most heavily weighted unit in the MCQ section – but also because cost curves consistently show up in at least one and sometimes two FRQs per exam.
There are a lot of cost curves, but four are the most important: the MC (marginal cost) curve, the ATC (average total cost) curve, the MR (marginal revenue) curve, and the AVC (average variable cost) curve. You have to have these curves down cold if you want to score a 5 on the exam.
The notion of perfect competition is also very important in this section. You should know how to draw a perfect competition graph, and analyze entry and exit decisions (for other firms) in the long run. Also, perfectly competitive firms are both allocatively (P = MC) and productively (P = min ATC) efficient, but only in the long run.
The most important equation – in perhaps all of AP Micro – is the fact that all profit-maximizing firms will produce the level of output where MR = MC. This is incredibly important.
Also, there’s consistently 1 or more exam MCQs on accounting and economic profit – make sure you know the difference, and make sure you know how to calculate both. And finally, make sure you can do the calculations for all of the cost curves.