Which one should I take? I’ve heard that AP Human Geo is easy, and that colleges know this so they aren’t as impressed compared to the others. which one is the easiest? most interesting to you?
I also have to factor in the difficulty of the AP tests which I know nothing about…
(im going to be a sophomore)
To be honest, I think it all comes down to your choice. I’m assuming you would like to pursue history or have an interest in history, seeing that you are choosing between three history-related classes. These three classes, although they all fall under the “history” category, encompass different material. For US History, you go into depth about the formation of our nation as well as how we came to who we are today. For AP Euro (which I took as a sophomore last year and I personally didn’t like since I hate history), it basically goes through what happened in Europe from the Renaissance and the Reformation to the Second World War and the Cold War (maybe a little farther than that, I don’t recall exactly). I’ve never taken AP Human Geography before so I can’t give you my input on that. However, when it comes to narrowing down your choice to one class, I would suggest considering what you really like about history. Do you want to know more about our country? Or about the countries that have influences us on the other side of the world? Hope that helps. I’m willing to answer any questions about AP Euro if you have any.
I did AP Euro and APUSH together this year, I wouldn’t recommend it but if you can handle it then do it.
AP HG is probably the easier of the three. I feel APUSH will be easy for me because I’m so interested in the US History.
AP US History: This course is pretty much what is says. It covers history in the United States from the American Revolution to the present.
AP European History: This course covers history in Europe from the renaissance all the way to the Cold War (I believe it actually goes a little further now).
AP Human Geography: Basically this class deals with globalization and how we humans have affected the Earth’s surface positively and negatively. It also deals with the diffusion of ideas throughout the world (basically globalization).
Of the three it really depends on how interested you are in history. If this is your first AP, I would personally take AP HG because it’s a simple course that lets you slowly into how AP classes are. If it isn’t, I’d encourage more than one.
APHG is the easiest and by far the most interesting, IMO.
I’ve taken all three (APUSH exam today woooo) but I really liked the content of Euro and US, HUG is really relevant to current events and everything but you’re right about it not counting for college credit/being valued by colleges. Euro gets you out of the general history req. so if you’ve already taken AP World take US, if you haven’t it’s really up to you because both of the AP’s are pretty easy. It’s probably easier to prepare (aka cram) for the AP for US than Euro.
I took AP Human Geography and I would have to say it is one of the easier AP courses. I literally studied the week before and got a 5. My friends at another school just finished taking AP Euro this May and I can say that it was way more rigorous and challenging for APHG and that it focused particularly on European culture, history, and influence on the world (Our offers APWH instead of AP Euro). As for APUSH, I am taking that my junior year and according to my friends who were juniors who took the class, the class is a bit of review, but is still very tedious, and from what they told me it helps if you love U.S. History or have great insight on it. Honestly, as it has been said before, the choice is yours. If you are looking to impress the most in my opinion APUSH is the best in my opinion. If you are looking for an course load the is easy and you know you will do extremely well-on without as much effort APHG. If you are looking for a course that is more specified and narrowed down topic wise AP Euro is your choice. I hope this helps !
Adding my 2 cents: also consider the fact that USH has an SAT II test, while Euro and HG do not!
I self-studied Euro this year and found it a super awesome experience even just for the knowledge – back in September I researched both Euro and USH and found Euro to be much more interesting (YMMV - Canadian here). Again though, if you want an advantage for SAT IIs, maybe go with either USH or even World.