<p>The only exam I feel pretty solid on. Whole year course, and our test is now pushed back by the school to one of the make up days. 6 weeks to study…with 4 free periods during the day for a week or two since I’ll be done in my other AP classes. </p>
<p>Teacher said we have two units left, and will probably have a week or two in May just for review. </p>
<p>im just trying to find some practice tests to gauge where i am.</p>
<p>I got a 75% on the diagnostic test in Kaplan - which is right on the 4/5 border - so I’m fairly confident about this test. I should be able to get a 5 with a bit of studying, especially considering the fact my class is only a semester long so we have only covered 2/3 of the material. </p>
<p>I don’t do as well on the free response section (very weird - I am typically much better at free response questions than multiple choice). Does anyone have any tips or resources for the FRQs? </p>
<p>id just say brain dump and write as much as you can because that optimizes your chances of picking up points assuming youre not contradicting.</p>
<p>I find the FRQs quite difficult for AP US Government and Politics. I mean, I do very well on multiple choice, usually
50+/60 questions. But the FRQs are killing me right now. I am using this link <a href=“http://blue.wths.net/faculty/desecki/AP%20Government/FRQ%20packet%202013.pdf”>http://blue.wths.net/faculty/desecki/AP%20Government/FRQ%20packet%202013.pdf</a>.
It organizes the past FRQs into units, so I just do unit by unit and I look up the solutions on AP Central. While taking the test, I usually forget details that should be included. Sometimes, I don’t know what the certain words in parts are. I think this suggests I should study vocabulary more in depth.
Has anyone else experienced similar problems? Does anyone else have any suggestions? (can be books good for FRQs) </p>
<p>P.S does Crash Course have anything good specifically for FRQs.
I am using PR and Barrons. PR is pitiful for review, its only around 100 pages and the rest is practice tests :(. Barrons is fine. </p>
<p>@College123college Here are 1 real official practice test. Please use it efficiently, as it is a real test that has been given in the past. Take it seriously. I advise that you take one now, and diagnose your weakness, review ALL questions wrong or right, then a week later take the other test.</p>
<p>1999 Released Exam
<a href=“http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/us-gov-released-exam-1999.pdf”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board;
<p>For FRQs: (All Real):
<a href=“http://blue.wths.net/faculty/desecki/AP”>http://blue.wths.net/faculty/desecki/AP</a> Government/FRQ packet 2013.pdf.
Look up solutions on AP Central.</p>
<p>Other Exams:
These are some mocks.
<a href=“http://www.mymaxscore.com/images/stories/docs/MMS_GovPol_PracTest_WebFINAL.pdf”>http://www.mymaxscore.com/images/stories/docs/MMS_GovPol_PracTest_WebFINAL.pdf</a></p>
<p>Some Helpful resources:
<a href=“AP US Government & Politics Review | AP Practice Exams”>http://www.appracticeexams.com/ap-government</a>
<a href=“AP GOVERNMENT EXAM REVIEW”>http://mrfarshtey.net/apgov_exam_review.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.learnerator.com/ap-us-government-&-politics”>http://www.learnerator.com/ap-us-government-&-politics</a>
<a href=“AP U.S. Government Vocabulary - Study Notes”>http://www.apstudynotes.org/us-government/vocabulary/</a></p>
<p>@baileyj57 I don’t know of any specific resources intended for FRQs only but I am using this.
<a href=“http://blue.wths.net/faculty/desecki/AP”>http://blue.wths.net/faculty/desecki/AP</a> Government/FRQ packet 2013.pdf.
It is a collection of a bunch of FRQs categorized by topic. You can find sample answers, guidelines, etc. Right here
<a href=“AP United States Government and Politics Exam – AP Central”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board;
Good Luck, I am also having a tough time with FRQs, If you find anything else good for FRQs please report back.</p>
<p>I’m taking the course right now (full year class), and to be completely honest, I’m more worried about this exam than I am for my AP Calc BC exam (I’m not a social studies person). Would Barron’s or Crash Course be better for a prep book? I need to buy one this weekend. I’m starting my own review and getting ahead, since we haven’t even covered all of the material in class yet and the exam is less than a month away…</p>
<p>My friend has Barron’s and I have Kaplan for this class, and we both agree that Kaplan is far better. I don’t know how good Crash Course is, but I wouldn’t recommend Barron’s. </p>
<p>I’ll look into that. It seems like everyone on this thread is used Crash Course. Thanks!</p>
<p>I’ll look into that. It seems like everyone on this thread is used Crash Course. Thanks!</p>
<p>@baileyj57 why is barrons not good? is it too in-depth or something</p>
<p>Personally, if that’s the reason, I’ll probably get Barron’s. The reason I prefer Barron’s to anything else is that it is very in depth, and even if it is harder than the actual test, that means I will for sure be prepared using it. </p>
<p>Get AMSCO and Crash Course…I think the combo of the two work the best. </p>
<p>I haven’t been reading the textbook (The American Pageant) since September…</p>
<p>Barron’s is only slightly more in-depth than Kaplan. However, we both prefer Kaplan because it’s more interesting to read, has more practice questions at the end of each chapter, and it has a lot of easy-to-understand charts that help with things like court cases, amendments, committees, etc. </p>
<p>We borrowed these books from our teacher though, so they are older editions (Kaplan is 07 and Barrons is 04), so it may very well be different with the newer versions. </p>
<p>Honestly, at this point the “interest” level in a book should be negligible. The Exam is in 25 days, get a book and read it. To answer the questions, Barron’s is very indepth, the questions are great, if you understand the book very well then you are set for a 4/5(prbly 5 if FRQs are good). Crash Course however, is consolidated, it is easier to read than Barron’s. It covers many important topics that WILL show up. It is shorter also.</p>
<p>If you need a better description of Crash Course, here.
This is copied from this post -> <a href=“AP US Government and Politics: Which book is the best? The ultimate test! - AP Test Preparation - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/877612-ap-us-government-and-politics-which-book-is-the-best-the-ultimate-test-p1.html</a></p>
<p>Special Thanks @“dark knight” for reviewing the books.</p>
<h2>Review:</h2>
<p>AP US Government and Politics Crash Course - 179 pages/$9.56 on Amazon</p>
<p>The Crash Course book is direct, well-organized and solely focused on key information that will translate into points.</p>
<p>First, the all-important scale. Here is the official 2009 AP US Government and Politics scale:</p>
<p>91 - 120 = 5
79 - 90 = 4
62 - 78 = 3
42 - 61 = 2
0 - 41 = 1</p>
<p>The test included 60 multiple-choice questions worth 1 point each. Twenty-five (25) of these questions involved key terms. The test also included 4 essay questions worth 15 points each.</p>
<p>As noted above, 25 of the 60 multiple-choice questions on the 2009 exam tested key concepts. Chapter 2 in Crash Course contains a glossary of 88 key terms organized by topic. Anyone who has studied AP US Government knows that 88 terms is actually a relatively small number of those in a typical AP Government text. The Crash Course glossary produced 21 hits out of 25 questions. (The other 4 terms were defined elsewhere in the book). That is both amazing and efficient. So if you reviewed the 88 terms in the Crash Course Key Terms chapter you could earn 21 of the 91 points you need for a 5.</p>
<p>Crash Course (Continued)</p>
<p>The Crash Course success was not limited to the Key Terms chapter. The book includes a thematic chapter that reviews 30 key Supreme Court cases. Keep in mind that many teachers give their students lists with well over 50 Supreme Court cases. Even so, Crash Course insisted that all students had to do was study these 30 cases. Were they right? Yes, the 2009 exam included 4 multiple-choice questions on SC cases and all 4 were in the Crash Course top 30 chapter.</p>
<p>Teachers and texts also provide their students with long lists of Congressional acts. The Crash Course Key Acts of Congress chapter discusses just 10 acts. However, once again, Crash Course scored hits. The 2009 exam had two questions about key acts and both were in this chapter.</p>
<p>So if you just ready the Key Terms, Key Supreme Court Cases, and Key Acts of Congress chapters you would score 27 points.</p>
<p>Crash Course (Conclusion)</p>
<p>All in all, Crash Course scored hits on 56 of the 60 multiple-choice questions. I have carefully examined the Crash Course book to see how it performed on each of the four free-response questions. Crash Course provided clear and complete answers for 24 of the 25 points. This would earn a student 58 points.</p>
<h2>It is of course true that you could study any of the textbooks and if you remembered all the facts you would score a 150 out of 150. What makes Crash Course so unique is that it is relatively brief and therefore extremely efficient. If you are using a copy please share your thoughts.</h2>
<p>As you can see above, Crash Course was amazing for the released exam.
Other people rave about Crash Course here.
<a href=“How to cheat on AP GOV (you want to read this) - AP History & Social Sciences - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/history-social-sciences/1363549-how-to-cheat-on-ap-gov-you-want-to-read-this.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/1039982-rea-s-crash-course-ap-government.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/1039982-rea-s-crash-course-ap-government.html</a></p>
<p>It is common that many people use Barron’s as a supplement to Crash Course.
So if you feel comfortable, buy both.</p>
<p>My teacher is awful, this is the most boring course I have ever took. I couldnt tell you one thing I learned. I did well on our midterms because I crammed right before. I think I’ll do okay on the mc, but the frqs Im doomed for. I feel like there’s no point in studying because I’m not going to do well, at least with APUSH the course was interesting and I felt like I was getting something out of it.</p>
<p>How are you all going to learn the court cases? Do we need to know all of them, or just the really significant ones (like Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, etc.)?</p>
<p>@rkepp12 I heard that some teachers make their students memorize lists over 50+ cases. That is crazy!
<a href=“http://quizlet.com/5210850/top-30-supreme-court-cases-flash-cards/”>http://quizlet.com/5210850/top-30-supreme-court-cases-flash-cards/</a>
The link above has REA Crash Course’s 30 top court cases. The list has many hits and will be sufficient for a 4 or a 5. 30 is also quite a bit though.
No need to fret, I remember the court cases by key words.
Meaning, when I hear Marbury v. Madison I instantly think Judicial Review, or when I hear Bakke I think quota for Med School. IDK what works best for you but if you click the quizlet link and click the “Learn” box you can repeat the list many times to infuse it in.</p>
<p>I looked on Quizlet before, and apparently I just didn’t look hard enough. Thank you! I’ll be sure to use that for studying!</p>