<p>Do you guys think self-studying it is doable? I plan on getting the Ethel Wood book. Do you think a textbook is necessary, and if so, which one?</p>
<p>I got a 5 and only used my textbook for two out of six of the countries -- for the others I used Ethel Wood + the Ken Wedding (sp?) What You Need To Know book. I'm not sure what textbook would be good to use since mine really sucked and didn't even cover some of the material. And my class was practically self-studying since we had four teachers that year and three of them didn't know their subject. So yes, self-studying is definitely doable.</p>
<p>That's great. I ordered the Ethel Wood book and the Ken Wedding book right after I created this thread. I remember hearing that the Ethel Wood book didn't cover a small portion of the material. I hope the Ken Wedding book would be able to fill that stuff in... Thanks! Any other comments?</p>
<p>My friend self-studied as a junior last year and made a 5.. and he didn't even really study that much. I think he really started focusing only about a month before the test.</p>
<p>This year, I'm self-studying for Psych and, possibly, Comparative Gov. Psychology is already turning out to be pure memorization of facts, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'm just gonna wait until I get my study books to see if I think I can do it. Any other comments?</p>
<p>The Ken Wedding book is only so-so. It says things like "Do you know the reasons for and consequences of event X? You'll need to on the exam!" but then doesn't explain what they are. </p>
<p>Ethel Woods is great though. It's probably good enough to get you a 5 regardless of whether or not you use a textbook (even if it skips a few things, you don't need a 100% for a 5).</p>
<p>Self-study is entirely possible...it's really just a matter of memorization and recognition of trends and patterns. Some multiple choice questions can be tricky (the AP exam has some pretty rigid definitions for otherwise loosely defined terms like "legitimacy" or "liberal"), but the FR section is completely straightforward if you know your stuff.</p>
<p>Yeah, I just got my books today, and both of them seem good, but the Ethel Wood one seems better for actually teaching the material. The Ken Wedding one seems too brief and simple. I guess I will only take advantage of its practice tests. </p>
<p>I skimmed through the Ethel Wood book, and i seems like nearly every definition or concept that is described is immediately followed by an exception.</p>
<p>Is the Ethel Wood book updated to reflect the new exam? I remember reading somewhere that it wasn't...</p>
<p>Her second edition just came out last year or so.</p>
<p>
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Is the Ethel Wood book updated to reflect the new exam? I remember reading somewhere that it wasn't...
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</p>
<p>Yes it is. It has the proper six countries (UK, Russia, Mexico, Nigeria, Iran China) and the practice exams at the end reflect the new FR organization.</p>