Hi guys, I’m in high school and new to college confidential,
Anyway im a freshman this year and decided to take AP World HIstory in a month yikes. I didnt think much about taking the test until I realized that if I do poorly it might reflect on my resume and such uhoh. I already have plenty of background knowledge through doing activities such as Quiz Bowl and History Bowl but was wondering if the thread could give me any help in my situation. I have not signifigantly studied and dont really know how to study especially as this is my first AP, also im not too scared about multiple choice and responses/essays as much as I am about the DBQ, asi have already got poor grades on ones we did in school. Sorry for rambling but ideas?
Buy an AP prep book and do lots of practice problems!
Did you take the class? You don’t learn the test content through Quiz Bowl and Math Bowl.
It’s not so great to think you’re ready but have put no work into this.
yeah I took the class and I talked abt the competitions for that exact reason as I had to self study a crap ton in history before but am not sure if they correlate to the test.
The AP prep books are really helpful, but they are organized very differently. Go to the library or bookstore & look at the how they organize the info for review & pick the one that makes the most sense to you. They all have test taking tips, which can be very helpful.
There are also some good online resources (Paul Sargent has a YouTube on DBQs that is technically part of a study guide for Euro, but that segment is about all DBQs)… The actual grading scheme for the DBQ is on the Collegeboard website: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/rubrics-ap-histories.pdf. It is useful: the people who grade the exams read a lot of exams- hundreds a day- and they basically use the rubric to skim through your answer, ticking the elements as they find them in your paper. You basically just need to write the outline, with some connecting pieces, to get the points.
One thing that Sargent doesn’t mention is to be sure to think about whose voice(s) might be missing: is there a perspective that’s missing (usually people who don’t have power in the situation).
Also, can you talk to your teacher about what was lacking from the ones that you have done in class?
I liked DBQs when I was doing APs (yes, they had them in the Stone Age), b/c it was like a puzzle: what do these things have in common? which one of these doesn’t look like the others? etc.
I’m using Barron’s right now, and it’s very good. I recommend that.
I also recommend http://www.freeman-pedia.com/. It’s a very good site with lots of review info. AP World Wikipedia is nice as well! (AP Worldipedia) http://apworldipedia.com/index.php?title=AP_Worldipedia
Have a good day!