<p>For everyone who's taken this course before, how difficult do you think it would be to self study? I'm definitely a history oriented person, and I got a five on the APUSH test last year, but I also had a fantastic teacher. I'm a little worried about not having the discussion element that a class adds. </p>
<p>If you've taken this class or self studied it, I'd like to know
1. how difficult you thought the exam was
2. if you took APUSH also, which test was harder
3. What textbooks/review books you used and if they were any good. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Exam was insane. It was the only test in my life that I didn't finish (left 8 blank, probably got 20 wrong). DBQs are okay, but they're much different from AP USH DBQs. In the latter, you throw in as much information as you can, but in Euro they want big ideas and analysis. It's more like the history of philosophy and western man's attitudes.</p></li>
<li><p>Euro much harder, but it might have been because I took it a year earlier. I had time left over after completing the MC and essays. Kind of sloughed through the Revolution DBQ and got a 5 anyway. (I got a 5 on Euro too, but it was dang difficult).</p></li>
<li><p>Princeton Review! Barrons is icky. Text: McKay. It's difficult to get through, but gives you all the info you need.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I too am a history oriented person who took both AP Euro and US last year... i personally loved Euro, i think it was my most enjoyable class in HS so far, but i HATED US, evne though the curriculum is awesome. The main differences: the teachers. My Euro teacher was a great person who knew how to get the main things down and make even the most dry areas of history fun. My US teacher was a crazy liberal who spent all her time bashing president bush and governator (im from CA). I got a 5 on Euro, a 4 on US. I think: </p>
<ol>
<li>Euro was VERY easy for me (reflects the teachers ability)</li>
<li>US was harder for me, but thats because i was extremely ready for Euro and only moderately prepared for US</li>
<li>I find the PR best for Euro. If you want a heavy textbook to read for more details, try "The Western Expericne" its a 1000- or so page textbook but really covers everything you need to know for the AP Exam</li>
</ol>
<p>I self studied Euro and most of world history and got a 5 on WH and a 4 on Euro, I recomend REA as well as the giant Ehap review. If you read through REA and know how to approach and discern the right answer in history questions you should be fine. I lucked out and had WH questions about trade on the euro test that I was familiar with last year. However as long as you're motivated to do well I wouldn't fret.</p>
<p>Euro is just way more conceptual. My teacher wasn't that great; we only got through like 50% of the material in the book. He just taught us the most obvious concepts. It just seemed like nothing was too specific in Euro. I particularly like the REA practice book, but found a lot of the information irrelevant to the test since it was conceptual. You find yourself reading about the Bourbons and memorizing all the French kings, when you really only need to remember the one or two of the biggies. The DBQ was a little weird my year (2004). It talked about poverty, but since we don't go that much indepth with material, you couldn't really pull out actual facts and events to prove your point. I had to pretty much rely on generalizations during that time period. I think European history has easier questions but it's harder to get a 5 than on APUSH. APUSH, you can study all the facts in just a 200-250 year span, but the European history questions seem a little more arbitrary. I ended up getting a 4 on Euro with about a week of review in REA.</p>
<p>Euro may be a harder test than U.S but two things make the exam easier in the long run: 1. The DBQ requires no outside information. 2. The curve is much nicer. I took both last year and got two 5's. Really if you have some background in European history already than just get Modern European History and REA and you are set.</p>
<p>wow- you don't need outside info on the DBQ? awesome. </p>
<p>I've decided that I'm going to do this class as an independent study with a friend of mine. We're still going to get credit for it, but we don't have to take the class. The reason for that is supposedly that it doesn't fit into our schedules, but the real reason is that the teacher is awful. In three weeks of school they've barely finished one chapter, and he, like drpatel's teacher, spends a ridiculous amount of class time making bush jokes. As relevant as that is to 14th century Europe, I think I'll pass.</p>
<p>good luck to everyone else taking this class/test!</p>