A thread for the 2015-2016 ap gov students
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I’m taking this along with AP Euro, AP Macroeconomics, and AP English Lit and possibly AP Environmental Science
Pretty big politics geek so this class should be fun next year
I’m taking it next year as well. Not really excited for it to be honest.
@deeeznuts HAHA GOTEEM (Sorry I couldn’t resist
In an effort to try to make this reply sorta on topic of the thread, what prep book, if any, should I get? I heard Ethel Wood is good for compgov, but US?
Any prep book suggestions?
I would suggest the Princeton Review just because I hear so many great things about it. I am transitioning from AP US History to AP Gov, so I am only familiar with the Kaplan Book. The Kaplan book is fair but I was too lazy to get the Princeton Review book because it came out during winter. So, I would most likely recommend the PR.
I’m contemplating take this class over the summer
I took this class this year and I’d recommend PR review, but read your actual textbook first. The questions are easy, but the curve is ridiculous. I studied a lot, so I hope I got a 5. Good luck! Some suggestions -
- Know your amendments
- Know SCOTUS decisions, esp. Marbury v. Madison
- Know the difference between Civil Rights & Civil Liberties
- Really understand the 14th amendment esp and its implications (selective incorporation)
- Understand the 3 branches and how they check and balance e/o
That’s all I can think about off the top of my head.
I’m actually really excited for this class! I’ll be studying using Princeton review.
Hi! I’m also going to be taking this class next year! Really excited as I love politics and government. I’m not sure what textbook my school uses, but is the textbook usually enough to prepare one for the exam? Would a prep book be necessary?
Tips:
-MC is really easy. Most of them are repeat questions and knowing the basics of each unit (assuming your teacher covers each unit of the course) should get you by with a 50/60 (5 range). On practice tests I was scoring 55/60 or higher. There are often a few very weird questions that they throw on the MC though, but don’t get phased by those. I had no idea what one MC question was talking about, but I took a guess and apparently almost all of my peers put that as well.
-FRQ is usually easy. It generally requires you to explain some part of government. Kind of a way to see if you actually understand stuff, rather than if you just memorized it for the MC. Can be tricky because some of the topics can be a little tough.
Overall: Pretty easy exam, spend more time prepping for FRQ than MC to succeed.
@Thatuser I personally feel that I need a prep book, but if you don’t think you need one you don’t have to get one. It’s has all the information you need to know though, and it’s much more concise than textbooks. Most prep books also come with 2 practice tests which would be very useful.
I’m taking this class next year! I’m excited for it.
Does anyone have summer assignments? I have to keep tabs on 5 supreme court cases (current) and create an overview of the candidates for 2016 (fuck u republicans for having too many candidates)
I don’t have any summer homework!
I don’t have any summer homework either!
Pro tips from last year:
Know:Amendments, Key Court cases and what they relate to (Marbury v Madison, McCullogh V Maryland, Brown V Board, Roe V Wade/Griswold V Connecticut, and one other one I’m complete blanking on right now), and key clauses in the constitution (you’ll know them when you see them)
READ THE NEWS- this, in my opinion, is more useful than any review book.
Remember: Fractions involved in votes and ratifications.
Don’t forget: Your fourth grade government lessons.
obergefell v hodges and king v burwell are the two most heated scotus rulings as of now
This is a really really really easy test and class. It’s basically a bunch of memorization and recall, if you read your textbook you should be fine. If you’ve taken APUSH, you’ll probably already know some of the stuff, and other things you learn are stuff you’ve naturally picked up from living in the US or just plain common sense. Make sure you know your court cases and amendments, those always come in handy!
I used PR to review for the test, I thought it was excellent and covered everything I needed to know, and the practice questions are pretty helpful. MC is so easy; if you know the material well enough in class, that section should be a breeze. The main thing is to practice the FRQs, honestly.
Good luck everyone!