How to cheat on AP GOV (you want to read this)

Test Preparation AP History & Social Sciences
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Ok, I’m going to be honest, I had an amazing teacher all year and could’ve walked in without any study and just got myself a 5 on the AP (I got a 5 on all the practice, previously-released ones I took)</p>

But still. I feel the need to give thanks where it’s due.</p>

I would like to introduce you to Larry Krieger, a very popular guy around here. I’m sure you’ve heard of him, he’s an acclaimed author around here. He understands very well how APs and SATs are made and knows that TCB just re-uses stuff (especially for APs). So he takes the Gov AP every year and updates his book with relevant information that he knows will appear in the upcoming APs.</p>

The results are uncanny. The book is a crash course, maybe 1/3 the length of any other review book and I swear it has more useful information than anything else. I don’t know how he does it. I honestly hold the man very highly.</p>

But enough fluff. If you’re taking the U.S. government AP, make sure you go on amazon and buy his $10 e-book for Kindle (you don’t need an actual Kindle - just download Kindle for PC or iPhone, etc.) or just buy the hard cover. I promise you won’t regret it. Just make sure you learn every single thing he says. Read the book 5 times if you can.</p>

It took me 8 hours to read the whole book (and btw, I re-read almost every single page, so I pretty much read the book twice in 8 hours. This was also the night before the AP). Needless to say I walked out of the AP knowing I missed only 3 questions and that I answered every single FRQ to the best of my knowledge. So there you go.</p>

It’s funny, there are times when he literally says “they’re going to ask you this question, and they’re going to put this answer as one of the options. They’re trying to trick you, DON’T PICK that answer” and literally the same exact question with the same exact incorrect answer was on there. The second I saw the question I stopped and just thought “wow… holy crap”</p>

And no, I am not a paid spokesperson. I just feel like Larry doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. If you’re also dealing with SAT stuff, I recommend you buy his 300 essential vocab words book too. Trust me. I went from missing 8 vocab questions (out of 19) to missing one question… <3 u Larry</p>

EDIT: I also know Larry Krieger has an account on these forums and chimes in here and there… well, if you’re reading this, thank you for saving my butt so many times. I’m you’re biggest fan :-)</p>

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<p>His AP Euro Crash Course book and his APUSH book (The Essential Content) are both exceptionally good.</p>

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<p>Wow IceQube, on it again.</p>

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<p>Everything that Larry Krieger writes (or works on) is pure gold. I owe my AP Euro, APUSH, and SAT CR to his books. It’s a shame that he doesn’t write all the REA Crash Courses, but the ones that he does write are very, very much worth the time and money.</p>

<p>It also looks like he’s started his own test prep company ([Insider</a> Test Prep | The Essential Resources for SAT and AP Test prep](<a href=“http://insidertestprep.com/]Insider”>http://insidertestprep.com/)). As IceQube mentioned above, the Insider Test Prep APUSH guide is the old DH guide (which was fabulous) and it seems like his 300 Essential Words is mostly lifted from Direct Hits as well. I wonder how Ted Griffith feels about that. :P</p>

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<p>I also had a great teacher for AP Gov (class average 3.8) and I got a 5 without the book. Having said that, his vocab books are indeed the best. Here is a great analysis of Grand Master Larry’s CR books:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1262981-best-sat-vocab-book.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1262981-best-sat-vocab-book.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I agree with everything here. I took APUSH this past year and only used Krieger’s Crash Course book. He also wrote two more books for the subject: Direct Hits which stopped printing before I could buy it and Essential Content which was published with his own company before the AP exam (too late for me to buy). I just found out I got a 5 on the AP exam and I had gotten a 760 on the USH subject test, thanks to that little book directing my studying.
Excited to use his books for Gov next year :slight_smile: GO BUY HIS BOOKS, DITCH PR!</p>

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<p>Good decision. Dark knight found that PR for AP Gov is mediocre compared to Crash Course. Crash Course for Gov all but aces the 2009 released exam - and Crash Course was published before the 2009 exam was ever released! </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/877612-ap-us-government-politics-book-best-ultimate-test.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/877612-ap-us-government-politics-book-best-ultimate-test.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In fact, reading Crash Course alone for AP Gov would net you a near perfect raw score - as in 114/120 points - well beyond what is needed for a 5. </p>

<p>I’m also taking AP Gov next year and CC is definitely on the top of my list :D. Thank you Mr. Krieger!</p>

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<p>Yes, I recommnnt reading that thread ^ </p>

<p>I honestly just want people to see this post in the future. If you’re taking gov, us his, or whatever else he has written on, please buy his books. Seriously. </p>

<p>Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using CC</p>