AP World History SELF-STUDY

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

<p>I'm currently a sophomore and I am taking AP European History this year. I am highly interested in history and international relations (I will probably major in this for college) so I have heard that AP World History can probably be the most important course you can take in highschool for this field.</p>

<p>However, my high school doesn't offer the class any longer. So my only option is to self study it. I figure that it might be wise to take the test this year, in May, along with my European history test, since they <em>should</em> overlap I assume, I would just then have to learn about Africa, Americas, and Asia really. </p>

<p>So if you guys recommend this, what resources do you know of (like websites and study books)? Also where can I find a GOOD text book and cheap (well atleast not a fortune - I dont want to pay $200 for a book). </p>

<p>If I decide to commit to this, I will most likely start studying after Christmas break... which would give me 4 months to study. </p>

<p>Also, what are some tips you guys can give me for it? How many hours should be viable to commit to reading and doing other things some of you might suggest?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>World History AP isn't gonna do you good for international relations. Try AP Government (US or Comparative). And for goodness sake use the search function for best study book. There are a thousand threads on it.</p>

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<p>Barrons's and also Princeton Review's Cracking the AP World Exam are two good books for AP world</p>

4

<p>Um, actually AP World History really isn't that big of a deal in and of itself for college. It's known as one of the not-really APs, like AP Environmental Science...So if you're going to take the initiative to self-study, go ahead and self-study AP Econ or AP Government (as said above, US or Comparative)...Colleges like it when you self-study, so make it worthwhile!</p>

5

<p>Use Princeton Review for AP World History. That's what I did - it's not a hard test at all, but you better be a good writer.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the responses. </p>

<p>@jimbob, I think I will still take World History because I know I have a genuine interest in it... and if your saying its easy... then thats good! :D</p>

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<p>Just because you have genuine interest doesnt mean you will score well. There are specific ways to write the DBQ answers to get a full score and it took me a month to master this. World History is fun, but unless you are sure you can handle the exam self study, dont do it because the average score in the nation is a 3.</p>

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<p>does Barron's AP World Book do as good a job as PR's? i just bought it bcuz i couldnt find BR at the book store i was at. the time periods are different than in my school textbook. do u think that'll matter</p>

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<p>i meant PR at the book store</p>

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<p>Barrons World History is good. I usually dont trust Barrons when it comes to a History AP, but it has decent amazon ratings (4/5). PR is more reader-friendly and has an amazon rating of 4.5/5. I never tried Barrons, but personally PR and Petersons were very helpful to me.</p>

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<p>thanks, i wanted PR but couldnt find it</p>

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<p>Although the World History AP is a "not-really" AP, the same can be argued for AP Economics.</p>

<p>Use Barrons -- that book got me a 5.</p>

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<p>Ok, so I have the basic idea of which prep book now, its pretty much between Barrons and PR.</p>

<p>But what about a text book? And also some good websites I should use to follow my studies?</p>

<p>Thanks for all the replies btw!</p>

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<p>PR is enough IMO.</p>

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<p>A-san, I take AP World History and I have to argue that it can be called a real AP, because it is just as hard as APUSH or AP European History. I have to know a lot of information and the DBQ, in my opinion, is very difficult, but on a better note, A-san, I would tell you to use Princeton Review: Cracking the AP World History Exam if you want a good synopsis of everything that is going to be on the exam, but if you want to go into minute details about everything, I would recommend you use Barron's How to Prepare for the AP World History Exam. But like I said, it is just my opinion.</p>

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<p>AP World History is definetly a strong AP, though it might not be offered in many places. Sometimes it depends on your teacher. My teacher is like crazy hard. The school year is like half over and we are already like 2/3 done with the book. The information is very extensive. Also the essays are hard too. I think that this might be harder than like AP Biology.</p>

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<p>Right now I'm using the AP edition of World Civilizations by Peter Stearns as my AP World textbook. It does a good job explaining and analyzing the subject and so far its done well for me.</p>

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<p>Also, if you're going to self-study, you'll need to spend a lot of time on it, especially because you're not in a classroom. You'll need to spend a lot of time on it because, although there are patterns to history, the subject requires mostly memorization.</p>

19

<p>Ok guys, thanks for the advice :)</p>

<p>I have done a quick search, and I have got a list of 3 different textbooks for world history, please comment:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>World Civilizations: The Global Experience Third Edition - Stearns, Adas, Schwartz, Gilbert</p></li>
<li><p>Traditions and Encounters Second Edition - Mc Graw Hill Jerry H. Bentley Herbert F Ziegler.</p></li>
<li><p>Glencoe World History 2005</p></li>
</ol>

<p>What do you guys think?</p>

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<p>I would go with World Civilizations: The Global Experience.</p>