**Official AP Comparative Government 2013 Thread**

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
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<p>By now, many of us on CC know which AP classes we are taking. I was bored and decided to make a thread. This should be a center where we can come for help and guidance. Post how you are taking the course (school or self study), info on supplies, helpful notes and practice test/reviews, and how you are pacing yourself to prepare for the exam. I have done some research, and unfortunately there aren't many review books for this course, so we will have to do the work on our own, and we can help each other through this thread. In my research, I found 2 books that should be sufficient for most people to get a 5, if studied timely and throughly. First is a textbook, Introduction to Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas, which is very popular for people taking this course. Although it may seem expensive, it is available used for very cheap on amazon found here Amazon.com: Introduction to Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas (9780618604470): Mark Kesselman, Joel Krieger, William A. Joseph, Ervand Abrahamian, Christopher S. Allen: Books . And then the other book is a review book, definitely the most known for this course, AP Comparative Government and Politics: An Essential Course Book and Study Guide. This is VERY high rated. Those will be what I purchase, and maybe some other people have some insight on those books. This is supposedly one of the easier AP exams to self study for, but not as easy as exams like Psych, Environ Sci, and Human Geo. Well, lets get posting, and hopefully this thread helps everyone achieve that 5 :) (BTW this is a repost, because I carelessly forgot to add tags to the other one, so no one will find it)</p>

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<p>BTW I am self studying.</p>

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<p>I’m self-studying, and currently still loking for a textbook but I will also be using AP Comparative Gov. and Politics: A Study Guide by Ethel Wood, as a companion.</p>

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<p>Don’t sweat Comp. Gov. right now. </p>

<p>It’s an insanely easy class.</p>

<p>After taking AP Government in school last year, I self-studied Comp. in 4 days before the exam. (Even though there is no direct overlap, having taken AP Government helps a lot.) </p>

<p>Day 1 - 2 countries
Day 2 - 2 countries
Day 3 - 2 countries
Day 4 - Review</p>

<p>The Ethel Wood book and <a href=“https://sites.google.com/a/ans.edu.ni/ap-comparative-government-politics/ap-exam-review-material[/url]”>https://sites.google.com/a/ans.edu.ni/ap-comparative-government-politics/ap-exam-review-material&lt;/a&gt; are the materials I used.</p>

<p>I got a 5 on both government exams.</p>

<p>P.S. There was a free response question about China’s environmental policy and I knew nothing about it, so I wrote, “It’s China… there is no environmental policy, duh.” and then proceeded to doodle on that page.(Needless to say, I did do well on the other FR questions and that saved me. The curve is quite generous though.)</p>

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<p>I would spend a little longer than 4 days, because of the lengthy intro unit and the plethora of vocab terms. I found that there was a lot of overlap between different AP tests (I took 21 total, so there was definitely more overlap), but taking AP government will really help you.</p>

<p>Here’s a link to the Ethel Wood book that I used [Amazon.com:</a> AP Comparative Government and Politics: An Essential Coursebook and Study Guide, 5th ed. (9780983176640): Ethel Wood: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Comparative-Government-Politics-Essential-Coursebook/dp/0983176647/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337120489&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Comparative-Government-Politics-Essential-Coursebook/dp/0983176647/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337120489&sr=1-1), but i’m sure there is a more updated one by now.</p>

<p>Good Luck to you all! I’m sure you will do fantastic.</p>

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<p>Isn’t it a bit early for this thread? Lol I don’t want to think about APs.</p>

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<p>Is this a hard self study? Im either self studying this or Macro. Any advice?</p>

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<p>^Macro should be easy since it’s a semester class, I took Micro which according to my teacher is harder than Macro, and IMO micro is the easiest AP exam</p>

<p>Great thread, it’s always good to start early! I only bought Ethel Wood’s study guide, so it would be great if someone could post info that’s on the exam but not on the study guide!</p>

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<p>Hey I’m new here, going to self study this, and maybe World History over the course of my sophomore year. My school has an IB system so I have no idea what AP is about (people don’t really take AP where I come from, and the ones that do self study), so I was wondering if anyone could inform me on the basics of AP, this exam in particular? i.e. What are the most important things to look out for, how long should I self study, how many people self study (and get 4-5s?) etc.? Thanks!</p>

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<p>Hmm just flicking through the multiple choice practice questions provided by CollegeBoard, I think you might need to know something about different types of democratic systems… And CGPGrey has a lot of great YouTube videos on them that I used for a presentation once: Check them out! Hope they’re useful.

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<p>@goldmind @SleepingAway This is usually taught as a semester course as well. I think this will be a bit easier, because people usually know more about government than economic systems, and 6 countries seems like it shouldn’t be too much info to remember.</p>

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<p>I’m thinking of self studying AP comp gov through ethel wood’s study book, and I’m just wondering what edition of the book I should order. Besides price, is there a difference between the 4th and 2nd editions?</p>

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<p>Planning on self-studying this as well.
I’m ordering the Ethel Woods book. Do I have enough time to study it?</p>

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<p>@supersmartguy1 i think you do. i just ordered a few days ago and I won’t get it until beginning of march or end of this month. I’m taking AP Government as well in school.</p>

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<p>Does anyone have practice tests or released exams? Anything other than what’s in the Ethel Woods books? </p>

<p>I’m DESPERATE.</p>

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<p>Anyone else taking this test? :slight_smile: No one in my school has even heard of it.</p>

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<p>Yeah. I’m not only taking the test, but also the course as well.</p>

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<p>What do you recommend focusing on? I’m reading the Ethel Woods book right now.</p>

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<p>I am doing an independent study at school of this for next year. Full year or half semester? Do I need anything other than ethel wood?</p>

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<p>I’m finding this AP to be extraordinarily easy to self study, mainly due to the overlap with APHUG, APUSH, APUSGOV, APWH, and AP Euro. Good luck everyone!</p>