APUSH Score Calculator
Enter your MCQ, SAQ, DBQ and LEQ points
Frequently Asked Questions
55 multiple-choice questions make up 40% of the composite (60 points). 3 Short-Answer Questions (3 points each, 9 raw) make up 20% (30 points). The Document-Based Question (DBQ, 7 raw points) makes up 25% (37.5 points). The Long Essay Question (LEQ, 6 raw points) makes up 15% (22.5 points). Composite total: 150.
Roughly 113 or more out of 150 composite points (about 75%) typically earns a 5. APUSH has one of the lower 5-rates among AP exams — recent years show about 14% of students scoring a 5.
The DBQ is scored on a 7-point rubric covering thesis, contextualization, evidence from documents, evidence beyond the documents, and analysis/reasoning. It's the single highest-weighted free-response question.
No. College Board does not publish exact current-year cutoffs before scores are released. This calculator uses recent historical data for an estimate.
APUSH composite score formula
| Section | Raw points | Composite weight |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple choice (55 questions) | 55 | 60 points (40%) |
| 3 Short-Answer Questions (SAQ) | 9 (3 each) | 30 points (20%) |
| Document-Based Question (DBQ) | 7 | 37.5 points (25%) |
| Long Essay Question (LEQ) | 6 | 22.5 points (15%) |
| Total composite | — | 150 points |
Approximate AP score cutoffs (recent years)
| AP Score | Composite (out of 150) |
|---|---|
| 5 | 113+ |
| 4 | 95–112 |
| 3 | 75–94 |
| 2 | 55–74 |
| 1 | below 55 |
Example: 40 MCQ correct (out of 55), 6 SAQ points (out of 9), 5 DBQ points (out of 7), 4 LEQ points (out of 6) gives a composite of (40/55)×60 + (6/9)×30 + (5/7)×37.5 + (4/6)×22.5 = 43.6 + 20 + 26.8 + 15 = 105.4 — in the 4 range.