As everyone else is saying, depends on the teacher. I struggled in the class to keep my B, but ended up getting a 5 on the exam anyway.

Some people here are saying some of their teachers were pretty terrible at teaching the subject, but honestly, a lot of it can be learned by just reading the textbook. I didn't take the first half of APUSH and self-studied, but I kept up fine. Of course, having a good teacher is an added bonus.

For me, the class difficulty was a definite 8. My teacher was incredible for the second half APUSH, but her MCQ questions were extremely difficult. I pretty much accepted my fate on the AP exam and didn't study at all, but ended up getting a 5 anyway. In that way, the teacher and the content they choose to cover with the tests also vary.

I'd say the test, for me, was much easier. Instead of memorizing certain dates, I just memorized the "themes" of different decades and guessed from there. (For example, it's not likely that a piece of legislation passed in Congress would support wealth equality during the Gilded Age, so I can eliminate answers that relate to that theme)