Are you wondering how long students have to complete each Advanced Placement exam? The College Board offers AP exams in May of each school year. While designed to allow students to earn college credit, these exams are more important — at America’s highly selective universities — as factors in the admissions process.

Strong AP scores can be a differentiator in elite college admissions. At Ivy Coach, we’ve had students present 15-20 5’s on AP exams, which wowed admissions officers. Likewise, when students take AP courses and don’t self-report certain AP exam scores, admissions officers are inclined to presume students didn’t perform well on these exams, which is detrimental to their cases for admission.

But just how long are these super important AP exams? Let’s dive in!

What Are Advanced Placement Exams?

Advanced Placement exams, commonly called AP tests, are standardized exams created by The College Board to assess a student’s mastery of the curriculum in an Advanced Placement class. Most AP courses offer corresponding AP exams (except for courses like AP Art and Design which requires the submission of an art portfolio).

How Long Is Each AP Exam?

AP Exam	Test Length
African American Studies	Pilot Program
Art History	3 Hours
Biology	3 Hours
Calculus AB	3 Hours, 15 Minutes
Calculus BC	3 Hours, 15 Minutes
Chemistry	3 Hours, 15 Minutes
Chinese Language and Culture	2 Hours, 15 Minutes
Comparative Government and Politics	2 Hours, 25 Minutes
Computer Science A	3 Hours
Computer Science Principles	2 Hours
English Language and Composition	3 Hours, 15 Minutes
English Literature and Composition	3 Hours
Environmental Science	3 Hours
European History	3 Hours, 15 Minutes
French Language and Culture	3 Hours
German Language and Culture	3 Hours
Human Geography	2 Hours, 15 Minutes
Italian Language and Culture	3 Hours
Japanese Language and Culture	2 Hours, 15 Minutes
Latin	3 Hours
Macroeconomics	2 Hours, 10 Minutes
Microeconomics	2 Hours, 10 Minutes
Music Theory	2 Hours, 40 Minutes
Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism	1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Physics C: Mechanics	1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Physics 1: Algebra-Based	3 Hours
Physics 2: Algebra-Based	3 Hours
Precalculus	2 Hours
Psychology	2 Hours
Spanish Language and Culture	3 Hours
Spanish Literature and Culture	3 Hours
Statistics	3 Hours
United States Government and Politics	2 Hours, 25 Minutes
United States History	3 Hours, 15 Minutes
World History: Modern	3 Hours, 15 Minutes

AP Exam Timing and Structure BreakdownStudents Do Not Need to Take AP Courses to Take AP Tests

Many students think that if they don’t take an AP course at their high school, they can’t sit for an AP exam. But that’s not the case. If students (or their parents) ask their high school to administer an AP exam — even if the student didn’t take the corresponding course — they will typically oblige. That said, the high school needs to be told in the early fall about the student’s intention to take the exam(s) as, otherwise, they won’t have the test to administer.

The Reporting of AP Exams

All AP exams are self-reported on The Common Application (elite schools do not request AP score reports from The College Board). Students can list as few (or as many) AP exams as they’d like to submit to colleges. For those students who have so many excellent AP scores that they can’t fit in the AP testing section, we encourage these students to list their other impressive scores in the Additional Information section of The Common App.

Ivy Coach’s Prep for AP Exams

If your child needs tutoring for an AP exam, Ivy Coach offers prep for most AP courses and tests — in all sciences, math, English, most histories, and some foreign languages. So fill out our free consultation form, and we’ll be in touch to delineate our tutoring services.