Hi all. My school doesn’t offer AP U.S Government and Politics but I want to be a Political Science Major. So I figure I learn it myself and take the AP test. Few questions for any teachers or people who have taken the course.</p>
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<li>What textbook do you recommend using and is there online chapter outlines (I have a virtual copy of The Challenge of Democracy 11th Edition)?</li>
<li>What did you get on the AP test?</li>
<li>Compared to APUSH (which I am taking this coming year), how hard is the course?</li>
<li>Do I need to know any special writing skills (such as DBQs) for the test?
Thanks!</li>
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<li><p>[Government</a> in America People, Politics, and Policy: Robert L. Lineberr Martin P. Wattenberg: 9780137151592: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Government-America-People-Politics-Policy/dp/0137151594/ref=sr_1_23?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373354840&sr=1-23&keywords=Ap+government+and+politics]Government”>http://www.amazon.com/Government-America-People-Politics-Policy/dp/0137151594/ref=sr_1_23?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373354840&sr=1-23&keywords=Ap+government+and+politics)
I Would definitely advise against using an online book for studying. Trust me, it will hinder you ability to memorize. </p></li>
<li><p>5: My class had the highest average in our state. </p></li>
<li><p>Similar type of class (very factual/memorization based). But APUSH has literally 4x as much information. </p></li>
<li><p>Special writing skills? Not at all. Your essays can be basic and boring, as long as they are clear and saturated with facts. The objective is to write an extremely factual response, not an eloquent one. Do no compromise clarity by using complex words And sentences.</p></li>
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<li>Princeton Review was great.</li>
<li>4, but apparently the curve is nearly nonexistent. I had a high B in the class.</li>
<li>I only took honors American history, which I found a lot harder than AP Gov.</li>
<li>Elaborate a lot. Seriously, write everything you know that helps answer the question. Generally you’re not penalized for writing something incorrect as long as you write as much correct stuff as they want.</li>
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<li><p>My class used Government in America. There are online outlines for the 12th edition at [Government</a> in America, Twelfth Edition](<a href=“Site Retired”>Site Retired)
As someone who already knew a lot about government, I found some of the stuff kind of laughable. So much stuff was pretty basic knowledge for the NPR listening crowd.</p></li>
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<li>I even had time to draw a picture of Ruth Baser Ginsburg in my multiple choice and got so excited when they asked a question about my favorite SCOTUS case. A lot of my friends did really well because we concurrently do something called We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution.</li>
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<li><p>I’m taking APUSH this coming year also due to scheduling issues this year. My friends have discussed how gov is a lot easier than APUSH because there isn’t as much rote memorization and because the textbook is so much smaller. (To put it into perspective, APUSH gets a test a week. AP gov had 6 total unit tests and some smaller quizzes.)</p></li>
<li><p>Writing skills? Nope. It’s really simple. Answer the question directly and completely. Maybe give an example. Never write more than a couple of pages for a FRQ.</p></li>
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<li><p>We used Government in America ([Government</a> in America: People, Politics, and Policy (15th Edition): George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, Robert L. Lineberry: 9780205806379: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Government-America-People-Politics-Policy/dp/0205806376/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373931401&sr=1-1&keywords=government+in+america]Government”>http://www.amazon.com/Government-America-People-Politics-Policy/dp/0205806376/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373931401&sr=1-1&keywords=government+in+america)).</p></li>
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<li>The test really isn’t that hard as long as you study a sufficient amount.</li>
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<li><p>Very easy. AP Government really doesn’t require much synthesis on your behalf like APUSH does with its DBQ. It’s a lot more rote memorization.</p></li>
<li><p>No. As long as you can write lots of factual information in a fairly short amount of time. It’s nothing like AP English where you have to have a sort of stylized way of writing.</p></li>
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