Hello everyone! How are you all today? Hope you are all well.
I am a freshman in high school, currently in World History 1 Honors. Next year, they will allow us to take AP World History instead of World History 2 or World History 2 Honors, if we wish. My county does not allow freshmen to take AP courses, so sophomore year will be the first year we, students, will be allowed to take one.
I plan on double majoring in government/political science and film, so I think it is a good idea for me to take AP World History as it is a social science course, however, I have a 96 in my World History 1 Honors course, so I am not exactly sure if it is a good idea to take AP because so much people in my school have told me they think it is one of the hardest AP courses in our school. I am not sure if I will be able to handle the course work.
I am supposed to be taking Honors Chemistry, Honors English 10, Honors Algebra 2, Spanish 3 or 4, Orchestra, and P.E. alongside a social studies class. What do you guys think is the best choice?
I have a bunch of friends taking AP and similar schedules the county over from yours, and they’re doing fine. If you like writing and are fascinated by the patterns and connections in history (and are good at memorizing things in context), then go for it!
@awesomepolyglot Thank you! I think I will go with AP because of your recommendation and my teacher’s recommendation. A lot of my friends are going to be taking it too, and I guess the class will help me for where I am going.
It sounds like you made the right choice. APWH is good for you as long as you’re interested in the subject and good at summarising and analysing textbook readings (and if you aren’t, you’ll become good at it quite quickly).
Just so you know what to expect, there is a lot of writing involved.
Also, you might want to consider taking the SAT II Subject Test in World History after doing APWH. It’s what I plan on doing, and it’s the perfect time to do it because all the content is still relatively fresh in your mind from APWH. It’ll help you stand out from other applicants when applying to college, especially if you want to go into government/political science.
@Kastelano Thank you for your answer! I will be sure to be thinking about taking the SAT Subject Test for World History. Thanks for also telling me what to expect fro the work. I am interested in the subject, so I guess I may find it enjoyable.
Parent here: Given how well you are doing and given your interest in history, I would definitely say take the AP World History.
However, monitor yourself. If you are not doing as well as you like, then do some or all of the following:
0) GO TO CLASS, READ THE CHAPTERS, AND DO THE HOMEWORK!
Go to Teacher’s office hours early in the semester and Ask this question: “I know this is a really difficult class-- what are some of the common mistakes students make and how can I avoid them?”
If you have problems with the homework, go to Teacher’s office hours. If they have any “help sessions” or “study sessions” or “recitations” or any thing extra, go to them.
Form a study group with other kids in your class.
Don’t do the minimum…for STEM classes do extra problems. You can buy books that just have problems for calculus or physics or chemistry whatever. Watch online videos on line about the topic you are studying.
If things still are not going well, get a tutor.
Read this book: How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. It helps you with things like time management and how to figure out what to write about for a paper, etc.
For tests that you didn’t do well on, can you evaluate what went wrong? Did you never read that topic? Did you not do the homework for it? Do you kind of remember it but forgot what to do? Did you learn to “recognize” but not “recall”?
How much time outside of class do you spend studying/doing homework?
If you run into any social/health/family troubles (you are sick, your parents are sick, someone died, broke up with boy/girlfriend, suddenly depressed/anxiety etcetc) then immediately go to the guidance counselor and talk to them.
At the beginning of the semester, read the syllabus for each class. It tells you what you will be doing and when tests/HW/papers are due. Put all of that in your calendar. The teacher may remind you of things, but it is all there for you to see so take initiative and look at it.
Make sure you understand how to use your online class system…Login to it, read what there is for your classes, know how to upload assignments (if that is what the teacher wants).
If you get an assignment…make sure to read the instructions and do all the tasks on the assignment. Look at the rubric and make sure you have covered everything.
If you are not sure what to do, go EARLY to the teacher’s office hours…not the day before the assignment is due.
Take advantage of any "re-do"s teachers allow…your teacher wants you to learn the material. Future material depends on it so you need to have the foundation. By explaining what went wrong you really understand it. Take advantage of this.
@bopper Thank you so much for your answer. Your answer was incredibly helpful. However, I have already done step 6, so I find it funny how I have read it already. Anyways, thank you for answer. It was very informative, and I will keep this list with me as I move on from now on.
I’m currently a sophomore right now taking AP world , along with all honors courses.
I was very scared going into AP World, because of the workload, and because it was my first AP.
It’s almost second semester, and I have to say that it is not hard. Yes, the workload can be tedious and long, but as long as you have the motivation to do your work and study, you will be fine.
If you are intrigued with world history, it will make the class much more easier. If you are not interested in the subject, I advise that you do not take it.
The class is consisted of mostly essays, daily quizzes, tests, and lots of notes for homework. There are lots of essays/writing in AP world, so be prepared to learn different types of essay formats. Also, you will be writing DBQ’s which will all be timed.
In AP world, there will be a lot of document analysis, so being a good reader/interpreter of context is a very important asset in this class.
To conclude, I definitely think you should take AP World if you are willing to do the work! The class is interesting and it will help you prepare for future AP’s !