My AP World History tests are notoriously hard. Average kids in the class get 50’s-60’s on them while I struggle to maintain 70’s and the top students get high 80’s. My test scores aren’t too much of a concern because we have test corrections where we get half the points back but my teacher has hinted that eventually there will be a point where we will stop having test corrections which worries me because I need to maintain an A. The test are the only thing that I struggle on because of the level of detail needed that I just do not possess because I can’t retain knowledge from so many pages of text. Everything else in the class is easy 100’s except for maybe the essays but I usually get 7’s-8’s on them so I don’t have a problem.
How did you guys succeed in AP World History.
They’re not particularly hard, but they are remarkably broad. I was VERY impressed at the depth of knowledge required for that course.
What seemed to work well was studying in groups where each student came with a certain load of detail they had interest in. Discussion ensued in which talking about it helped students retain the knowledge.
Wow my experience is way different with AP World History. I’m taking it now (sophomore), I think it has to deal with your teacher because I havent earned anything less than an 85% on the past 4 exams AND essays. (Earned a 95% in the class for my final semester grade) However the second AP world teacher in my school isnt as good and his students struggle as well.
In our class we have usually an hour of reading a night (maybe 8-11 pages on average) and we have to write a paragraph summary. What I do is have a post-it note stack for each unit and take bullet point notes on the important big ideas of each night’s reading bebefore I write my summary. It really helps with retaining the information; also at the end of the unit you can go back and look through it to study! Hopefully this helps
Does your school split this course as a two-year one or does it maintain it as one year, as my school does- depending on these circumstances the difficulty can be vastly different from school to school? I managed to do well enough in this course but if this is your first AP as it is usually for many students, you will feel a change in your grades as APs are more difficult than normal courses but you will have to get used to this as I assume you will be taking more throughout your high school career.
What you may find will help you greatly is purchasing an AP review book from i.e., Princeton Review or some other review company and just reviewing each section according to what your tests will be on. Take a look at John Green’s Crash Course videos if you need things to be verbally explained to you- I just started using these this year for APUSH and I find them to be somewhat helpful when I need clarification on certain subjects and time periods. Also, go to your teacher during any free periods or after school to get the help you need this should be a huge help considering your teacher is the one making and administering your tests. What helped me the most through World last year was just a my fondness for history, if you’re interested in something you’ll most likely do better than if you could care less and are just taking the course for AP recognition and credit. If this is the case and you do enjoy the class and it is two years I would say keep pushing ahead and try to maintain your grades next year, if it’s not I would seriously reconsider dropping the AP next year for maybe the honor’s version of World if your school offers it.
Message me if you have any more questions.