Hello all! I know there are loads of posts like this, but I’m still really uneasy about the AP World Exam coming up on March 17th… I just started with my Princeton Review Book this week (it’s my spring break), am getting Barron’s flashcards this weekend, and have been watching John Green’s Crash Course World History videos on YouTube. I found a pretty good cram packet online and have started using that as well… but I feel like I’m not retaining anything!</p>
I have a 97/A in WHAP right now and have read the book (Strayer, Ways of the World), taken notes, and worked very hard all year, and I wasn’t worried about the exam until we did a timed essay in class… and I had no idea what was even going on in the time period designated by the prompt (I ended up getting a 0 for not addressing the prompt properly, anyhow). I flipped through my Princeton Review book and realized that I remembered pretty much nothing (e.g. …wait a hot second… what did the Mongols do? When were they? Good God, am I expected TO ACTUALLY KNOW THIS?!) And now I am certifiably FREAKING OUT.</p>
I feel like I left studying until the last minute (well, month) and am panicking. A lot. So if any of you lovely souls could let me know a good study plan/schedule for the next four weeks, enlighten me as to how you studied/are studying for the exam, and just let me know any words of wisdom, I would be so grateful. x</p>
One thing the PR world history book lacks is (iirc) a timeline. Find a decent timeline and go through it, making sure you understand cause and effect more than exact dates. For example, rather than learning the specific years for each chinese dynasty, learn the order, and figure out what caused the collapse and rise of each. </p>
If you know a few dates, you can infer many. For example, Industial Revolution was 1800s. German and Italian unification were late 1800s. Understand that thia nationalistic unification led to imperialism in that time period as well.</p>
Earlier in history, consider the black plague. Know that it was in the 1300s and was close to the time of the hundred years war. Understand how the Renaissance spurred the Protestant Reformation, which spurred the Catholic/Counter Reformations and the English Reformation. The English Reformation set off a series of events with the Tudors and Stuarts that led to the English Civil War.</p>
Cause and effect is extremely important. Essay graders want to see that you know more than facts. Learning the links in history will help you to remember the details.</p>
you should be fine if you get through princeton review. take the first practice test and then determine what you need to reinforce. then take the 2nd one and you should be fine. essays are very important and the sections in pr about doing them are very accurate if you follow the grading rubric.</p>