Get Started with AP Microeconomics

AP Microeconomics is one of the easier AP classes offered by Collegeboard with only a 17.7% 5 rate. Although it has a reputation for being easy, AP Micro actually has a lot of critical thinking and data analysis involved. There are a lot of graphs you have to memorize and remember, and it's important to make sure you've got a hold of all the vocabulary terms and formulas as well as be confident in your abilities to connect them to the aforementioned graphs. If you are enrolled in the AP Classroom for your class, make the most of the practice resources and videos provided for you there. Here is an in-depth overview of AP Microeconomics plus the resources, notes, and videos I used to get a 5.

Units and Weighting

As you can see from the table, Unit 3: Perfect Competition is the unit with the most weight (most amount of questions) on the AP Microeconomics exam. However, it is followed close behind by Units 2 and 4. This exam is weighted in a staggered way, with medium emphasis on Units 1 and 5 and little emphasis on Unit 6. It's important to remember that each unit builds on the others in some way, and the graphs and models learned will often be compared to past knowledge from earlier units. It is also good to recall that the FRQs will often combine multiple units into one question, so you should know how all the units are interconnected.

AP Micro
Unit Notes

AP Micro Notes PDF

Here are the notes that I personally made while studying for the AP Microeconomics exam. Pages 1 to 63 are all detailed notes and problems recorded extensively with separate categories for each of the key terms and vocab. Pages 63 onwards are the review and prep pages, going unit-by-unit according to Collegeboard guidelines. These are helpful for cramming before the exam and recalling all the necessary information and connections.

Lecture Videos & Other Resources

If you're self-studying AP Microeconomics or just need that extra help in concepts or units you don't quite understand, video lectures can be the fix for you. There are always the AP Classroom videos, but if you don't find those to your taste, here are the ones I used to help clarify and review for the exam.

Mr. Clifford Econ

Jacob Clifford has been a known name in the AP Economics game for years. He has multple viddeos on each of the collegeboard topics for both the Macro and Micro exams, plus cram reviews and full prep for the night before. He's eneergetic and has a great teaching style, going over key concepts quickly.

Fiveable

Fiveable is one of my favorite resources. If you don't have a textbook, Fiveable's study guides for each unit and chapter will serve the purpose just as well. They also have a variety of videos, FRQ examples, and cheatsheets.

SS Microecon

These Simple Studies Review PDFs contain to-the-point, comprehensive bullet points perfect for quick review and recall.

ReviewEcon

I like ReviewEcon's videos because while Mr. Clifford goes for speed and concise review, this channel goes over economics concepts more in-depth and helps you grasp a lot. While his videos are longer and he's not as concise, hes more comprehensive and a little easier to understand.

Exam Format

Section I: Multiple Choice

60 Questions | 1 Hour 10 Minutes | 66% of Exam Score

Questions require the use of economics content knowledge and reasoning across the range of course topics and skills in skill categories 1, 2, and 3.

Section II: Free Response

3 Questions | 1 Hour (includes a 10-minute reading period) | 33% of Exam Score

1 long free-response question (50% of section score).
2 short free-response questions (each worth 25% of section score).
Students will be asked to:
- Make assertions about economic concepts, principles, models, outcomes, and/or effects
- Explain economic concepts, principles, models, outcomes, and/or effects
- Perform numerical analysis
- Create graphs or visual representations