I’m trying to decide on self-studying AP Gov next year to try to get out of one of the core classes at my main college choice. Since I have a good APUSH background and I am sort of interested in the subject, I think it is a good choice. Basically what I am asking for is some tips/book recommendations and random stuff.</p>
Hopefully I get some answers from people who self-studied it.</p>
Thanks!</p>
If you are reasonably informed and keep up with some current events, this exam will be a total cake-walk</p>
I think it’s really easy.</p>
I’m self-studying for it, so I haven’t taken the test yet, but I think it’s really easy. On my practice tests I’m getting 5’s no problem.
That being said, I’ve been involved in politics since I was 10. So, if you are well-informed, then it will be a piece of cake.
Even if you don’t know much about government, you could still do pretty well if you just read the textbook yourself and learned some basic terms.</p>
I used 5 steps to a 5 for test review, and The American Democracy as my primary textbook.</p>
I say, self-study and get the credits out of the way.</p>
Good luck!</p>
Thanks. How much did the textbook cost you?</p>
REA’s Crash Course seems really good. I’ll only have one day to review (exam next Tues. Until then, reviewing completely for bio), and I’ve read through the book once. It’s a nice, short read of around 200 pages with minimum fluff and lists of key cases/material/etc. Reading through it once, I got a 5 on a mock. If I remember, I’ll come back on Tuesday and tell you how much the material overlapped with the exam.</p>
Thanks, that would be nice to know.</p>
I bought the book off Amazon for about $9.</p>
[Amazon.com:</a> Used and New: The American Democracy](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0073103497/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0073103497/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new)</p>
Also, for some supplemental readings I bought this:
[Amazon.com:</a> Used and New: The Lanahan Readings in the American Polity](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1930398093/ref=tmm_pap_used_olp_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1304776098&sr=1-1&condition=used]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1930398093/ref=tmm_pap_used_olp_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1304776098&sr=1-1&condition=used)</p>
If you decide to buy these books, I can give you the reading schedule that I used. Also, if you are interested in taking some tests for The American Democracy, they are online, so you don’t have to buy a separate teacher’s manual.</p>
One last thing, I suggest buying a released AP exam from College Board. It really boosted my test-taking confidence.</p>
I hope this helps.</p>
A schedule would be very nice! Thanks so much for your help/tips.</p>
Send me a message if you decide to go with that plan. You’re totally welcome! If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.</p>
In a word - yes! The best textbook is Government in America by Lineberry and the best prep book is REA’s Crash Course.</p>
What is REA? I see everyone talking about it, but I have no idea what it is. Can someone please explain? Thanks!</p>
^REA is the publisher of a book called AP US Government and Politics Crash Course. You can buy online at Amazon or at any Borders or Barnes and Noble. The book provides a surprisingly good summary of all the key points.</p>
Holy **** that test was easy…I got around 2-3 wrong and knew everything but one points on one out of four essays. Read the Crash Course book and familiarize yourself with modern democratic/republican practices (I didn’t know what a super delegate was). </p>
Book has around 150 pages of material in an easy to read format. If you’ve ever taken a US History class, you know more than half. If you’ve prepared/are preparing for US History, just review the vocabulary (88 words), the 30 SC cases (you don’t really have to know all these, 4-8 questions on then. Maybe one question on an “obscure” one.), and the top 10 acts of Congress. As an added bonus, they have the 20 other topics that come up in FRQs.</p>
If you know a lot of the vocabulary in the book and familiarize yourself with the unfamiliar cases/acts/vocab/topics, this test is one of the easiest ones I’ve taken so far. (Bio(self studied)+USH were harder, Env Sci(self studied) was easier). I spent a total of 4 hours or so preparing (not including a mock) and am pretty sure I got an easy 5.</p>
Nice to know! I was definitely going to get the Crash Course.</p>
Thanks!</p>
Get Barron’s for AP US Gov. I liked that, it’s really good. Yeah, easy self-study course, you should be just fine.</p>
I basically self-studied it because my teacher taught us NOTHING! I’m not kidding- we sat around in class talking, doing other homework, telling stories, watching non-gov movies, and listening to music EVERYDAY. I read the textbook, Barron’s book, and Barron’s flashcards, got a 4. I only read the book once and went through the flashcards once (didn’t even get through all of them). It’s a pretty easy test. This was sophomore year by the way, and was my first AP test ever.</p>
5 on the exam.</p>