AP United States History

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How it works

This is what Magna tells you about your answer

Below is a real free response answer going through Magna. Watch what comes back: not just a score, but which rubric points the answer earned, which it missed, and what the missing ones needed. That is the difference between practicing and guessing.

Feedback arrives in seconds. You rewrite, resubmit, and see whether the fix earned the point.

The question bank

Everything in AP United States History, covered

9
units matched to the College Board CED
104
topics, each with its own question set
10,500
questions across multiple choice and free response
Seconds
to get feedback on a written answer

Free response, actually graded

Write a long or short FRQ and get a point-by-point breakdown against a rubric aligned with official Advanced Placement (AP) scoring criteria. You see which points you earned, which you missed, and what a full-credit answer includes.

Multiple choice that teaches reasoning

Every question comes with a worked explanation, not just a letter. You learn why the wrong answers are wrong, which is where most AP United States History points are lost, and Ask Magna is there if the explanation still leaves a gap.

Practice built around your gaps

Magna tracks what you get right and stops feeding you those. Your next set weights toward the topics you keep missing.

You choose the shape of the practice

Pick the unit, the question type, the difficulty, the length. Build a 10-question warm-up or a full timed set.

Skill Builder and Ask Magna

Learn how to solve the problem, not just this problem

Most question banks answer a wrong answer the same way: here is the solution, here is why. It makes sense, you move on, and the next hard question leaves you exactly as stuck. Reading a solution is not the same as being able to produce one.

AP exams reward that less than most courses, because they are built from graphs, experiments and scenarios you have never seen. Memorizing worked examples does not help. Having a method does.

Skill Builder

Skill Builder takes a hard question apart in front of you, asking each underlying skill as a smaller question before handing the original back. You end up with the sequence rather than the answer: what to identify first, what that tells you, what comes next. Because it follows skills rather than content, the same sequence works on the next unfamiliar question.

Ask Magna

Your AI tutor, on every question. Got it wrong and still cannot see why? Ask. Ask Magna works through the reasoning with you rather than handing over the answer, so you leave understanding the concept, not just the letter. It is there on multiple choice, on free response feedback, and on anything you want explained again.

Getting started

Three steps, no setup

Pick your target

Choose a unit, a topic, or the whole course. Choose MCQ, FRQ, or a mix.

Answer like it’s exam day

Timed or untimed. Type your free response the way you would write it.

Get scored and go again

Rubric-aligned feedback in seconds. Open Skill Builder on anything that stumped you, ask Magna if it is still unclear, and your next set weights toward what you missed.

The evidence

More students scored 4s and 5s after a class started using Magna

In a year-over-year AP Government study at the same school with the same teacher, students using Magna had stronger outcomes after accounting for Unit 1 baseline performance. Both cohorts sat the same Unit 1 assessment before Magna was introduced, so the comparison is not just that the second class was stronger.

3.25x
higher odds of scoring a 5
2.25x
higher odds of scoring a 4 or higher
12% → 35%
share of the cohort scoring a 5
40% → 67%
share of the cohort scoring 4 or higher

Quasi-experimental study, not a randomized trial. AP US Government at a single high school, 2024 cohort (no Magna) vs. 2025 cohort (with Magna), same teacher, logistic regression controlling for Unit 1 baseline, p<0.05. Results in other AP courses, including AP United States History, may differ.

75.8%
of surveyed students said they prefer Magna to AP Classroom for free response practice
4+ hrs
saved on a full class set of written responses, graded in the first pass
Used by students now attending
Stanford UC Berkeley Carnegie Mellon Georgia Tech UCLA UIUC UW-Madison
For teachers and departments

Assign the written practice you want to, without the grading pile

You know written practice moves scores, and you know what it costs: a class set of 30 is an evening, and by the time they come back the unit has moved on. Magna grades them against the rubric the moment a student submits. You keep the judgment and override anything you disagree with. What you get back is the evening, plus a view of which rubric points the whole class is missing.

Get your evenings back

Magna handles the first pass on every written response in seconds, saving the 2 to 4 minutes a teacher spends grading each FRQ by hand. On a full class set, that is 4+ hours back per assignment.

See the class, not just the scores

Per-topic and per-rubric-point breakdowns show you where the class is losing points, before the unit test tells you.

Aligned to the CED, not to us

Questions map to the College Board units, topics, and skills, so what you assign matches what you teach.

The whiteboard conversation, for thirty students at once

When a student is stuck, you break the problem down with them: what do we know, what does that tell us, what comes next. Skill Builder runs that same sequence for every student who needs it, on any question, without you at the board.

Course coverage

All 9 units, all 104 topics

Every topic in the College Board course description has its own question set. Expand a unit to see the topics covered.

Period 1: 1491-16077 topics
1.1 Contextualizing Period 11.2 Native American Societies Before European Contact1.3 European Exploration in the Americas1.4 Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, & Conquest1.5 Labor, Slavery, & Caste in the Spanish Colonial System1.6 Cultural Interactions Between Europeans, Native Americans, & Africans1.7 Causation in Period 1
Period 2: 1607-17548 topics
2.1 Contextualizing Period 22.2 European Colonization2.3 The Regions of British Colonies2.4 Transatlantic Trade2.5 Interactions Between American Indians & Europeans2.6 Slavery in the British Colonies2.7 Colonial Society and Culture2.8 Comparison in Period 2
Period 3: 1754–180013 topics
3.1 Contextualizing Period 33.2 The Seven Years’ War (The French and Indian War)3.3 Taxation Without Representation3.4 Philosophical Foundations of the American Revolution3.5 The American Revolution3.6 The Influence of Revolutionary Ideals3.7 The Articles of Confederation3.8 The Constitutional Convention & Debates Over Ratification3.9 The Constitution3.10 Shaping a New Republic3.11 Developing an American Identity3.12 Movement in the Early Republic3.13 Continuity and Change in Period 3
Period 4: 1800–184814 topics
4.1 Contextualizing Period4.2 The Rise of Political Parties & the Era of Jefferson4.3 Politics & Regional Interests4.4 America on the World Stage4.5 Market Revolution: Industrialization4.6 Market Revolution: Society and Culture4.7 Expanding Democracy4.8 Jackson * Federal Power4.9 The Development of an American Culture4.10 The Second Great Awakening4.11 An Age of Reform4.12 African Americans in the Early Republic4.13 The Society of the South in the Early Republic4.14 Causation in Period 4
Period 5: 1844–187712 topics
5.1 Contextualizing Period 55.2 Manifest Destiny5.3 The Mexican–American War5.4 The Compromise of 18505.5 Sectional Conflict: Regional Differences5.6 Failure of Compromise5.7 Election of 1860 to & Secession5.8 Military Conflict in the Civil War5.9 Government Policies During the Civil War5.10 Reconstruction5.11 Failure of Reconstruction5.12 Comparison in Period 5
Period 6: 1865–189813 topics
6.1 Contextualizing Period 66.2 Westward Expansion: Economic Development6.3 Westward Expansion: Social & Cultural Development6.4 The “New South”6.5 Technological Innovation6.6 The Rise of Industrial Capitalism6.7 Labor in the Gilded Age6.8 Immigration & Migration in the Gilded Age6.9 Responses to Immigration in the Gilded Age6.10 Development of the Middle Class SOC 2 6.11 Reform in the Gilded Age6.12 Controversies over the Role of Government in the Gilded Age6.13 Politics in the Gilded Age6.14 Continuity and Change in Period 6
Period 7: 1890–194515 topics
7.1 Contextualizing Period 77.2 Imperialism: Debates7.3 The Spanish–American War7.4 The Progressives7.5 World War I: Military and Diplomacy7.6 World War I: Home Front7.7 1920s: Innovations in Communication and Technology7.8 1920s: Cultural & Political Controversies7.9 The Great Depression7.10 The New Deal7.11 Interwar Foreign Policy7.12 World War II: Mobilization7.13 World War II: Military7.14 Postwar Diplomacy7.15 Comparison in Period 7
Period 8: 1945–198015 topics
8.1 Contextualizing Period 88.2 The Cold War from 1945 to 19808.3 The Red Scare8.4 Economy after 19458.5 Culture after 19458.6 Early Steps in the Civil Rights Movement (1940s and 1950s)8.7 America as a World Power8.8 The Vietnam War8.9 The Great Society8.10 The African American Civil Rights Movement (1960s)8.11 The Civil Rights Movement Expands8.12 Youth Culture of the 1960s8.13 The Environment and Natural Resources from 1968 to 19808.14 Society in Transition8.15 Continuity and Change in Period 8
Period 9: 1980–Present7 topics
9.1 Contextualizing Period 99.2 Reagan and Conservatism9.3 The End of the Cold War9.4 A Changing Economy9.5 Migration and Immigration in the 1990s and 2000s9.6 Challenges of the 21st Century9.7 Causation in Period 9
Comparison

How Magna compares

AP Classroom provides official course resources and practice. Magna complements it with immediate, point-by-point feedback on written responses.

MagnaMost AP question banksAP Classroom
Multiple choice with explanationsYesYesLimited
Free response practiceYesYesYes
Scored point by point against the rubricYesVaries, often self-scoredTeacher grades by hand
Tells you which rubric point you missedYesNoTeacher review
Rewrite and resubmit against the same rubricYesNoNo
Breaks a hard question into guided sub-problemsYesNoNo
AI tutor on any questionYesVariesNo
Class-level view of missed rubric pointsYesVariesTeacher reports
FAQ

Questions, answered

How does the free response grading work?

You write your answer, and Magna scores it point by point against a rubric built for that specific prompt and aligned with official AP scoring criteria. You see which rubric points you earned, which you missed, and what a full-credit response contains. Rubrics are developed and reviewed by subject-matter experts and practicing AP teachers.

What is Skill Builder?

Skill Builder breaks a hard question into the sub-problems it is really made of. It identifies the skills the question requires, asks you each one separately as a smaller multiple choice or short-answer question, then asks you to connect the pieces and solve the original. Instead of reading someone else’s solution, you build your own, and you come away with a method that works on the next unfamiliar question rather than just the answer to this one.

What is Ask Magna?

Ask Magna is an AI tutor built into the platform. On any question, you can ask why an answer is right, why yours was wrong, or for a concept to be explained another way. It works through the reasoning with you rather than handing you the answer.

Can my teacher assign this?

Yes. Teachers can assign question sets and see class-level results by topic and by rubric point. If your school does not use Magna yet, ask them to book a demo, or set yourself up with an individual account.

Does Magna replace AP Classroom?

Most teachers use both. AP Classroom provides official course resources and practice. Magna complements it with immediate, point-by-point feedback on written responses, plus added volume. In a survey of 66 AP students at one California high school, 75.8% said they prefer Magna to AP Classroom for free response practice.

How much does Magna cost?

Start with 7 days of full access, which unlocks everything, including free response grading, Skill Builder, and Ask Magna. No credit card required. After that, paid plans start at $79.99 per year. If you would rather not pay, you keep free access to the full multiple choice bank. Schools and districts have separate plans with teacher tools and class reporting.

What happens after my 7 days of full access?

Nothing you have done disappears. You move to the free plan, which keeps the complete multiple choice question bank and worked explanations across every topic. Free response grading, Skill Builder, Ask Magna, and detailed insights resume when you upgrade.

Get started

Start with one free response answer

Write one free response answer and see what the rubric actually says about it. That is usually enough to know whether this is worth your time.

No credit card required.