title: "AP Microeconomics 7-Day Cram Plan" description: "A comprehensive 7-day study plan covering all 6 CED units: demand elasticity, firm behavior, market structures, factor markets, externalities, and FRQ workthrough drills." date: "2026-01-15" examDate: "May AP Exam" topics:
- Basic Economic Concepts
- Supply and Demand
- Perfect Competition
- Imperfect Competition
- Factor Markets
- Market Failure
You have seven days until the AP Microeconomics exam. This plan lets you review each of the 6 CED units with deeper dives into practice FRQs and graph variations. Aim for 3-4 focused hours per day.
Day 1: Economic Fundamentals (3 hrs)
What to review (60 min)
- Scarcity and opportunity cost: production possibility curve (PPC), comparative advantage (trade, specialization), marginal analysis (why firms choose at the margin).
- Allocative efficiency (): resources allocated to highest-value uses.
- Productive efficiency: minimum ATC, no waste.
What to practice (2 hrs)
- 15 MCQs on PPC, opportunity cost, comparative advantage.
- 1 short FRQ: interpret a PPC graph, identify opportunity cost, explain shift due to technology.
💡 Insight: Many students skip Unit 1, but the exam often includes 1-2 questions on PPC and opportunity cost. Don't underestimate.
Day 2: Supply and Demand Deep Dive (3.5 hrs)
What to review (90 min)
- Determinants of supply: production costs, technology, expectations, number of sellers.
- Determinants of demand: income, preferences, substitutes/complements, future prices, number of buyers.
- Elasticity: price, income, cross-price; midpoint method .
- Total revenue test: elastic demand, falls when rises; inelastic, rises when rises.
- Surplus, shortage, equilibrium: graphical + algebraic.
What to practice (2.5 hrs)
- 1 FRQ: find equilibrium from equations, calculate elasticity at a point, analyze shift in demand.
- 20 MCQs (half calculator, half conceptual).
- Sketch 5 S&D graphs with different scenarios (tax, subsidy, demand shift).
⚠️ Common trap: Students mix up "quantity demanded changes" (movement along demand) with "demand changes" (shift of the whole curve). These are NOT the same.
Day 3: Perfect Competition + Cost Curves (4 hrs)
What to review (90 min)
- Cost curve relationships: MC intersects AVC and ATC at their minimums; AVC always below ATC (by AFC).
- Profit max rule: (general for all firms).
- Perfect competition special case: , so set to maximize profit.
- Shutdown rule: ⟹ shut down (avoid fixed costs if revenue doesn't cover variable costs).
- Long-run equilibrium: entry/exit until , zero economic profit.
What to practice (2.5 hrs)
- 1 full FRQ: given cost data (TC, ATC, MC columns), identify profit max quantity, calculate profit/loss, sketch the firm graph.
- 1 side-by-side market + firm FRQ: analyze long-run adjustment after demand increase.
- 25 MCQs on cost curves and firm decisions.
Day 4: Monopoly and Deadweight Loss (4 hrs)
What to review (90 min)
- Monopoly firm: price maker, faces the market demand curve, (because must lower price to sell more).
- Profit max: still , but then charge the price on demand curve at that quantity.
- Deadweight loss: monopoly underproduces (restricts output below socially efficient level), creating a DWL triangle between demand and .
- Price discrimination: first-degree (perfect, charge each customer their max willingness to pay), second-degree (quantity-based), third-degree (market-based).
- Allocative efficiency lost: at equilibrium.
What to practice (2.5 hrs)
- 2 monopoly FRQs: one with deadweight loss shading and calculation, one with price discrimination scenario.
- 20 MCQs on monopoly behavior, barriers, and surplus.
Day 5: Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly (3.5 hrs)
What to review (60 min)
- Monopolistic competition: many firms, differentiated products (brand loyalty), short-run profits possible, long-run zero profit (demand shifts down until tangent to ATC).
- Excess capacity: firm produces less than minimum ATC (unlike perfect comp, where long-run output is at minimum ATC).
- Oligopoly: few firms, strategic behavior, game theory (Nash equilibrium, dominant strategies).
- Kinked demand: price stickiness; competitors match price cuts but not price increases.
What to practice (2.5 hrs)
- 1 game theory FRQ: fill in payoff matrix, identify dominant strategies, explain Nash equilibrium.
- 1 monopolistic competition long-run graph FRQ (show entry of new firms, demand shift, zero profit).
- 18 MCQs on market structures and game theory.
Day 6: Factor Markets and Externalities (4 hrs)
What to review (90 min)
- Labor demand: derived demand, MRP = MP × P, downward-sloping (diminishing marginal product).
- Wage determination: competitive labor market (), monopsony (, employer has wage-setting power).
- Externalities: positive (spillover benefits, like education) and negative (spillover costs, like pollution).
- MSB vs MPB, MSC vs MPC: social includes external benefits/costs.
- Deadweight loss of externalities: misallocation of resources; Pigouvian tax/subsidy corrects.
- Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient: measure income inequality.
What to practice (2.5 hrs)
- 1 full externality FRQ: graph with MSB/MSC, identify DWL, propose Pigouvian tax/subsidy.
- 1 labor market FRQ (competitive + monopsony comparison).
- 22 MCQs on factor markets, externalities, public goods, inequality.
Day 7: Full Practice + Review (4 hrs)
What to practice (3 hrs)
- 35-40 timed MCQs (mix all topics).
- Timed FRQ set: 1 long (10 pts), 2 short (5 pts each) — full exam simulation.
Review (1 hr)
- Skim last-minute review checklist for formulas and traps.
- Review any FRQs where you lost points.
Score boundaries
Approximate ranges out of 120 total points:
- 5: ~80+
- 4: ~65-79
- 3: ~48-64
- 2: ~35-47
- 1: below ~35
You only need ~67% correct to score a 5. You can leave questions blank and still earn the top score.
Ready to start?
Open the AP Microeconomics topic library → and follow the day-by-day plan above. Good luck.